5th Class Trip to Microsoft – February 2023
On Thursday 9th of February, 5th Class gathered out St. John’s Senior School at 7.30am to go on our exciting trip to the Microsoft Headquarters in Dublin. The journey was longer than expected; over 2 hours. We got a little delayed in traffic on the Motorway.
Niamh, who works for Microsoft Dreamspace, met us at the door and welcomed us in. She showed us where the lockers were and asked us to wear our name tags. We all gathered in the Dreamspace area and she brought us on a short tour of the building. She explained that the building is designed like a harbour; water feature outside and land inside. The entrance had a metal shipping container on the 4th floor, which contained a café. The wooden staircase represented Mount Everest. She told us about the 6 floors; 2 underground for a car park and gym/shower area. The ground floor had lots of restaurants and cafes, which the employees can buy their meals at a reduced price. The second floor had lots of work areas and a Lego wall. Every floor had fridges to supply the staff with drinks like soft drinks, water etc. Other floors had things like yoga rooms, Xboxes, hair salons, a spa and sleeping pods. The employees could work where they want and in their own time. It was amazing!!!
Next, we came back to Dreamspace and we discussed professions of the past, present and how they might look in the future. We worked in groups to give our own thoughts on what future professions might look like. We also talked about Artificial Intelligence (AI). At 11 o clock, we were given lovely muffins and juice/water. After that, Niamh started to explain what Spheroes are. Spheroes are robotic spheres, which roll around the floor and are controlled by an App on a tablet. We were divided up into small groups and asked to set up a programme to give the Sphero instructions to follow. This was such interesting work and we put our coding skills to the test. When we finished that, Niamh gave us all a free water bottle and we prepared to leave.
Outside the building, we took a photo of our whole group at the Microsoft sign and then we ate our lunch. We left Dublin just before one o clock and were back in Kilkenny for 2.30pm. We sang songs on the bus and had great fun. Microsoft was an amazing place to visit and our visit has inspired many of us to some day work for this brilliant company.