




Resilience and Me
Every young person at some stage of their life will be faced with a situation that they will struggle to overcome and may find themselves momentarily ill-equipped to cope. Resilience and Me is a collection of stories from the students of Tallaght Community School. The students at TCS have shared their stories in the hope that anyone reading the book may be helped in some small way.
It is hoped that reading the stories of other young people who may have experienced similar struggles will support them in learning to talk about what is happening for them and that they will use the tools they see on these pages to build resilience.
All proceeds from the sale of Resilience and Me go to the authors’ nominated go to the authors’ nominated charities, WALK and JIGSAW.
Where it all began
The publication came about back in September 2020 when students were returning to school after the extended closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Melanie Martin, a teacher at the school, encouraged her students to reflect on a time they showed resilience in their lives to enable students to draw upon their own resources as they embraced a new and challenging school year.
Melanie was moved by what the students expressed, from stories of racism to the loss of a loved one, to more light-hearted stories like failing a theory test. She and her colleague Leah O’Shaughnessy decided to co-create a collection of stories from the resilient and inspiring students of Tallaght Community School.
The Stories
The stories will resonate with young people and adults from all walks of life and are a celebration of the students from TCS, both past and present. The spirit, strength and shared sense of community is experienced on every page of this book.