Fall & Focusing on Commitments

Happy Fall everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, Florida (yes, once again).

The first month of the semester is almost coming to an end and it truly has flown by. I’ve been so busy with classes, working out, homework, RA obligations, and trying to balance my work and school life. A key aspect of being successful when having a lot on your plate that I talked about before is balance. More specifically that can be boiled down to time management, i.e. planning and prioritizing, but in addition to those is staying true to yourself and your principles.

View from my dorm in the morning, I try to start every day with a positive outlook!

When I first got to college everyone told me to sign up for as much as possible and get very involved, then once I figured out what I liked the most and what I wanted to devote my time to, to narrow down what I was involved in to only what was most important to me. Embry-Riddle offers so many amazing clubs, extracurricular activities, and organizations on campus, but realistically it would be impossible to spread yourself so thin by trying to do everything, we’re only human. A kind of time management “rule” I’ve come up with for myself that’s helped me through college and life in general is that once I commit to something, it becomes my priority.

For example, if I find out two weeks in advance that a teacher is holding a Supplemental Instruction (SI) session before a test, I put it in my calendar and commit to it. Then, (also hypothetical) a week before the SI session, I find out an organization I’m involved in is volunteering for an event on campus scheduled for the same day and time as the SI session. This now presents a dilemma, because volunteering with friends would be more fun and the organization might be something I really care about, but I have to stay true to my word. Rule of thumb: even if the commitment is only to yourself, hold yourself accountable to your commitments. Reliability is a great skill to have and now is the perfect time to develop it. When I commit to something I give 100% of my effort, and you should too!

Photo from an AFROTC event!

Outside of being extremely busy lately, I am still trying to make time for myself and keep a positive attitude. Classes are challenging, and maintaining balance is sometimes difficult too, but parting words my friends: when you look at all of your responsibilities and commitments as items you have an opportunity to participate in or complete, your to-do list becomes less of a dread and more of something you’re lucky to be a part of.

Just keep swimming folks! Will report back soon!

A Week in the Life of Skye

Hello all! We’re almost done with this week! It has been a crazy busy week so far. Exams, quizzes, papers, and everything in between. My week so far has been far from quiet and calm. Monday was my 50 minute Calculus class and another 12 of homework and studying. Tuesday went the same way but I prepared for my presentation on Year in Space for the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E.’s weekly segment of “Space News with Skye.” Yesterday, now that was one of the most packed days I have had in a while. Having an exam and dealing with my presentation, moving, CATIA homework, MATLAB homework, and COM 122 homework. I managed to get through it, but I did wake up at 4:00a this morning to finish my CATIA homework.

My presentation yesterday went great! I spoke about Scott Kelly and how he recently broke the record for the longest cumulative days in space spent by an America, 383 days, which he hit on October 16th. I loved the PowerPoint I made! It even had an epic picture of Scott Kelly while playing a video of his journey so far. Yes, I fell in love with a PowerPoint! Haha

The fun part about being involved is that today the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization/SGA is having a Research showcase in the Lehman Building Atrium from 11:00a-2:00p. Clubs and organizations that are involved in research get to showcase what they are all about. I have to honor or representing MEERS and the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. I printed out all the materials this morning and I am ready to go! If you have a chance, come stop by and say hi!

Speaking of involved, MEERS is going to be one of the featured Research projects on the ERAU Crowdsource website! We are filming/shooting the video and pictures today at 5:00p! There a few of us will be interviewed about MEERS and we get to showcase our project. Being involved on this project and seeing it now get featured is an honor. Thanks to our Project Manager Tim, and out Faculty Advisor Dr. Jason Kring this could not have been possible!

As for the rest of the week, today will be CEO/SGA presentation, classes, filming and packing the whole house. Moving day tomorrow-Sunday on top of a lot of homework and planning my schedule for the spring semester. I usually would have it planned out but since I added in my minor, I have to re-work my whole schedule. I also have a calculus test next week that I plan on studying for. Lots and lots to do! On top of all that I am excited because I will be planning the next segment of “Space News with Skye” as well as organizing and updating the Astro Skye website. Awesome fact: I met one of my fans in real life the other day! It was so awesome to meet a fan who enjoyed my work. It was definitely the highlight of my day!

With the work week almost done and a lot to do, it is going to be a busy weekend! Have a great day everyone!

Getting Involved 101

The biggest piece of advice that people tell you when you get to college is “get involved.” Anyone can tell you to get involved, but the real questions are ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ When you go out to get a job, any job at all, they will look at your education and what your skills are, but one question every company wants to know is “What did you do outside of class/school?” If you have nothing to demonstrate, you are less likely to get hired. Reason being is that there may be hundreds of people applying for that same position. Some will have more qualifications then the next person, but those qualifications will set them apart from you. “What makes you unique?” Getting involved and being able to say that you worked on ‘this’ and did ‘that’ sets you apart from everyone else.

How do you get involved? Here at Embry-Riddle, we have more than 130 clubs and organizations that will help you do just that. Even professors and students can help you get involved in research and final senior design projects. It sounds that simple and it is that simple. The only thing standing in your way is you. If you say every day that you want to get involved and you are going to get involved, but then you don’t, you are the one not letting yourself get involved. ERAU just had its Student Activities Fair where all the clubs and organizations lined up all the way from the library and down Legacy walk to show what they were all about. Students were able to learn about the club/organization and join if they pleased.

As a freshman coming in the Summer A term, I was already involved on the NASA NEEMO project and the MEERS project before I became an official ‘student’; but there was more I wanted to get involved in. Talking to some of the professors and graduate students on both the HF and ME side, I found out about some interesting research projects. Just by putting myself out there and showing that I am interested, a hard worker, and willing to work, they welcomed me in with open arms. Now I am in multiple clubs, organizations, and research projects…Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, Human Performance in Extreme Environments, Society 4 S.P.A.C.E, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and more!

Getting involved is great! You get to learn and experience new things as well as meet new people. It is great to put your involvement on your resume. However, a couple mistakes that people are likely to make are getting too involved, and getting involved just to get involved. Although college is known to be the best time of your life, you still have to focus in academics. Getting involved too much can cause you to pay less attention to academics and put them on the back burner. Academics come first. Also, when you get involved in something, make sure that you want to get involved. Don’t just get involved because you think it will look good on your résumé, get involved because you are truly passionate about it. There are plenty of things to get involved with on campus.

People ask me all the time, “how do you do it?” “How do you balance, academics, involvement, and socialization?” Honestly, academics come first. Whenever I get a homework assignment, I don’t procrastinate; I get it done. Every day I lay out what I need to do. Homework and studying comes first. Then I move on the clubs and organizations and then finally everything involving “Astro Skye.” It is all about balance. Some people have a higher tolerance than others, it depends on the person. So whether you are at ERAU now, or are a future student, get involved!