Good day, all!
As the midterm comes and goes, I’ve realized how quickly time is passing. Although I arrived on campus almost 10 weeks ago, I feel like the semester just started. It seems unreal that in a few days I will be registering for my spring classes.
As you may have heard, Embry-Riddle recently hosted the Wings and Waves airshow on the beach. I’d been to air shows before, but there was something extra special about sitting on the sand and watching the planes skim the water close to shore. As a member of the Avion, I got the privilege of interviewing two very prominent aviators, Maj. J.R. Williams, Thunderbirds pilot #5 and Cheryl Stearns, champion skydiver and parachute, both ERAU graduates. They were both really interesting to talk to, especially Cheryl Stearns, because she has broken records and gender barriers in aviation.
This is me interviewing Major Williams.
Thunderbirds planes up close.
The Snow Birds at Wings and Waves.
In addition to the exciting things I’ve done on campus lately, I also got to take my first trip to Universal Studios with the other ERRSA members for Halloween Horror nights. I am not a fan of scary movies or haunted houses or ANYTHING scary, but I still had a ton of fun. I got to ride all of the themed coasters from movies that I grew up loving like The Mummy and MIB, and it was a neat experience to see it all come to life. I hope to go again sometime so I can visit the other parks!
Now that midterms are over, I got to relax and go home over the weekend for fall break. It was nice to see my family and friends again after two months of school. However, the best part was the food. Now, the food here at ERAU is pretty good, but it is nothing compared to my family’s home cooking. Also, since I love to bake, it’s been hard not having constant access to a stove or oven here at school. I spent a whole day making two types of cupcakes, apple cinnamon and pumpkin, topped with ginger cream cheese frosting and butterscotch caramel. They were delicious!
I hope that you are all enjoying reading about my experiences. Feel free to email me with any questions or comments you have!
On Thursday night, some of McKay’s RAs planned a trip for residents to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando. A favorite among teens and young adults, HHN hosts a plethora of haunting creepy thrills, with scare zones scattered throughout the park, and, of course, haunted houses. The RAs drove us to Orlando on the university’s housing shuttles at around 6 pm. I have to be honest. I am what you would call a wimp when it comes to scary things. Especially mummies. I hate mummies. A lot. It’s probably one of the few things that really creep me out. My great friends, seeing as how much they love me, decided to go on the Revenge of the Mummy ride a few times. As a method of redemption, though, Jim and I went to see the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure show, which was a hilarious spoof of 2010’s pop culture icons and mishaps.
As the weekend came to an end, the reality of going back to class hit me. This week, I had a Physics exam, a computing test, and a while launch system project to finish. Not to mention a 6-page essay due. It all went well, nonetheless. Friday night, 
Speaking of, this week also marked a milestone for me. I finally got to fly!! Well, I didn’t pilot the plane, but I went on an observer flight. It surprises me I have been at this school so long without going up in the air!!
So many things to do, so little time to do them all—that saying seems to be the story of my life right now. I’ve been keeping busy with classes, ROTC, my job, Silver Wings, my friends, and thinking about the future. For the first time, Embry-Riddle granted all students a Fall Break this past weekend, and I hope they continue with it in the future. Having a four-day weekend was great and allowed me to get some rest and get caught up on homework. Unfortunately, I seem to get sick at least once every school year and this year was no exception. I wasn’t feeling very good last weekend and decided if I wasn’t better by Monday that I would go to Health Services. I went and they diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection. They prescribed lots of rest and to flush my system with fluids. I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to skip some classes and get better faster rather than attend class and take forever to get better. Now, I’m feeling a lot better and am hoping I can avoid getting sick until I’m back at home.
I had a presentation last week in my Strategic Management class and I enjoyed doing all the research for it. I had to find an article on an aerospace company that had changed strategy within the last year. The company I choose was AeroVironment and I learned so much new information about unmanned aircraft systems. Overall, I think the presentation went pretty well but I’m still waiting on my grade. For my Professional Selling class, we had our first sales call and boy was I nervous; however, I calmed down once it started and looking back on the video you can’t really tell that I was nervous. I’m excited for the next one coming up this week and I think I’m more prepared because I know what to expect. I think pretty soon we will start registering for next semester’s classes—hard to believe!
I mentioned earlier how I was busy thinking about the future. I graduate in May but I will be staying another year because of ROTC, so I want to start work on my MBA; however, this means I have to take the GMAT (a standardized test like the ACT/SAT) and fill out the application for graduate school. I’m working on studying for the GMAT and the application but they both are just going to take some time. This summer I really want to get an internship and last week I attended a workshop hosted by Career Services on how to get one. I think there is a pretty good chance I will be able to find one. Speaking of Career Services, they are putting on multiple workshops throughout this month in order to prepare us for the Career Fair in November. I haven’t gone to the Career Fair these past two years, so I’ve decided that I’m going to go see what it’s all about this year. I’ll be sure to let you know all about it!
These past two weeks were so much fun, but also filled with studying. Last weekend, I went with nine friends to St. Augustine, the nation’s oldest city. We rented an Embry-Riddle plane, and met up with the guys in the other two aircraft at St. Augustine airport. The FBO, Galaxy Aviation, was kind enough to drive us to downtown St. Augustine, where we ate and toured historical sites (like the fort). At Embry-Riddle, there certainly isn’t a shortage of pilots with their license, and it’s easy to escape to a different city each weekend.
