Anna Keyes, Amy O'Brien, Eleanore Robb and Alannah Wyrnn joined YMCA Cork last year, where they met online.

Celebrating its 10th year, Trend Micro’s What’s Your Story? annual video competition posed a very fitting question to Ireland’s youth, ‘How did the internet help you get through this past year?’ Leaders in cloud security, Trend Micro’s What’s Your Story? competition is an annual highlight in their Internet Safety for Kids & Families (ISKF) programme. It is designed to give young people a platform to educate themselves and others on responsible use of the internet and to nurture this safe space. Featuring a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet to summarise the roll the internet played in their lives last year, ‘I could be bound in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space’, it was Anna Keyes, Amy O'Brien, Eleanore Robb and Alannah Wyrnn from YMCA Cork who were crowned overall competition winners. In just two minutes they demonstrated how technology was intertwined in all of their individual interests from learning guitar with the assistance of YouTube tutorials to cooking along to Instagram lives. Commenting on their winning submission Alannah says, “It got personal. Lockdown allowed us the time to focus on our own personal needs and the internet was a huge support for personal development, growth and friendship”. While for Anna and Amy, it was the fostering of friendships which stood out most, “The internet allowed us to find like-minded people where we could learn and broaden our views on so many things that we are passionate about”. “What is amazing about our overall winners this year, is that before the cheque presentation they had never met in person before. The students from Ballydehob, Mitchelstown, Dunmanway and Carrigaline joined YMCA last year, where they met online. Our increased dependence on the internet this past year has created some challenges, but also great opportunities. In the case of these talented young people, they showed the world how the internet has positively impacted their lives and literally brought them together.”