Hello readers,hope all is well. I am tired today, considering that I had a very quiet weekend. Apart from two soccer games yesterday, I didn’t do anything too strenuous. I am happy to say my girlfriend flew into Orlando on Thursday. We have taken it relatively easy thus far. Our weekend never got much more exciting than a meal in Carrabas on Friday night and to the flicks to see Hitch on Saturday, which was great. We have just been trying to spend as much time together as possible, but that is proving to be hard with classes and soccer training keeping me at Riddle until 5:30pm each evening. I also went to get my driving license on Friday at the DMV but, of course, nothing is ever as easy as it seems. Before I can do my test I have to sit through some drug and alcohol awareness class for four hours. Nightmare!

I am looking forward to the start of Spring break, which will give us a lot of free time to do stuff that couples do. We are planning on going to St. Augustine for the weekend so if anyone knows of anything worthwhile to do there let me know. Cheers! As well as that, it is St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday so we will have to celebrate that with a few pints of Guinness in an Irish bar somewhere. I hear that Savannah is meant to be great for Paddy’s day, but ultimately I would love to go to New York.

I had my first flip it Tuesday experience last week, which was pretty good, got my first 6 drinks on the house. Luck of the Irish! So one of the boys (Coisty) asked me to go up and get his round but, of course, the luck ran out, and he had to pay for every one of his five drinks.

Anyway, we had two soccer games yesterday and we managed to win one and lose one, which is not great. We lost 2-1 to Jacksonville University and we beat University of North Florida on penalties. The heat yesterday was a real killer; it is a horrible feeling breathing in warm air. I was struggling just to run in the second game, but I will be in a lot better shape come the start of the fall season. I hope!

I was just thinking, after Spring break there is only four weeks left of classes. This semester has been, or has felt, really short, even though it has been boring. I remember this time last semester I was looking forward to the spring and, now that its here, it is not all that it was cracked up to be. At the same time I think that the fall is going to be great, because we are hosting nationals. I am looking forward to playing some competitive games again.

That’s all for now, so take it easy and try and let me know if you know of anything to do in St. Augustine. Thanks.

Hello again all you journal readers. It’s been a long time coming, but one more week remains until all of us go off to different locations for spring break. Some people I know are going to remain here in Daytona and welcome their friends, while others like me, will be returning home to meet up with old friends and loved ones. I look forward to spending a lot of time with my family, girlfriend, and friends.

School here is the same as usual. I am somewhat pleased with how this semester has been going for me thus far. My professors are excellent, my classes are nicely planned out, and my flying has not interfered with my academics. I will soon be planning out my classes for the upcoming Fall 2005 semester. I am hoping to go home and attain 6 credits for my general education requirements so that when I come back for the fall semester, I could be in junior standing. What has been keeping me from going crazy this semester is that I have not yet had one big project as I did last semester. Maybe I have, I just didn’t notice it or didn’t think it was that big. I am really enjoying the Aeronautical Science courses because I know that for once, I am learning about something I will most likely be using in real-life. I know that when I was in high school, I asked myself when in life I would be applying what I had learned in that class to a real-life scenario. Well, luckily, I am doing something where I don’t have to ask that question anymore. I also decided to stay and live on campus because of the lack of a car. I would definitely love to have my own apartment or share one with a friend, but without a car, I am not sure how I would get to school for a 6 AM flight, 8AM class, etc. I am still talking to my parents about a car, but I’m almost certain that the final answer will be a no.

As Daytona’s Speedweeks ended, Bike Week began. It was a crazy week with many Bikes all across Daytona. It was quite noisy, compared to the quiet Daytona that I was used to, but it was a welcome sign. I remember seeing many different types of Motorcycles from Harley’s to Honda’s. It was also very interesting to watch some of the bikers with some amazing looking bikes. Some of them were designed to look like a car, of course a smaller version of one, while others were made to look like they came out of the 50s. Motorcycles have never interested me much, but some of the ones that I saw around were pretty nice.

Spring Break! Well, Daytona has seen a fluctuation of people come in for the upcoming spring break season. I have noticed many people not only in the area, but even on campus. Since we are located here in Daytona, many friends come to visit those who attend Riddle. I will hopefully be able to check out all the events before the spring break season here in Daytona is over.

Well, if you have any questions/comments/suggestions regarding anything I can assist you with, leave a message on the message board. Until next time, laters!

Hey everyone! My goodness I just feel so unorganized…school, I swear hates me…I just cannot wait for Spring Break next week! I get to meet Mike’s parents in Connecticut. I am so excited to meet them and to have time away from school.

C-programming is just out to get me it seems…I look so lost in that class. Math on the other hand, I thought I got the material, yet I still did terrible on my last test, worse than the first one! Physics, one of these days I believe that I’ll have it…Sometimes I feel more discouraged than other days…I NEED THE BREAK!!!!!!!

Ok, so the chem lab has been going great…I finally understand what’s going on and I like being in there mixing the chemicals. I feel important, plus I learn more about chemistry with a little more hands on experience…

Ok everyone…I hope to have a more exciting update for next time! Take care and I will talk to you all very very soon! Bye-bye!

*~Terryel~*

Hey everyone! Ok, well I mean life just cannot seem to get any crazier for me! I mean when you are trying to balance life that is going on back at home and then life here at school, you know it really starts to get hard. I had 2 exams this week in both Physics 1 and EGR 115 and I swear that I didn’t do too well on either of them. I am stressed out because I have seemed to forgotten what my goals are lately, or if they are even worth me going through the maybe next 4 years of schooling to get there. I know in my heart that I want to become an astronaut still, there just seems to be the fact that life is going on, besides the fact that I am striving for my dream. So in order to attack all of the self-doubt and whatnot, I joined the newly-developed Kendo club at the school.

Kendo is a form of Japanese sword fighting that uses a shinai(bamboo sword) to fight with. I am currently sore from the amount of swinging that we did in practice the other day, but I am so pumped to do well! Ever since I was younger I have wanted to take a form of martial arts (I mean, hey I was a BIG fan of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers so yeah, I had to learn something)! And now that this is a new club and I finally got enough courage to go, I did! Mike is in the club too, but he has more experience in sword fighting than I do, but maybe one day we’ll both be able to challenge one another to a fight!
I really hope that all goes well with Kendo. I knew that I would go absolutely crazy if I didn’t join a club that was very athletic-based because I needed to let my frustrations out. I am going to try to rank and get better so that I can compete in competitions next year! But now I am left with the dilemma of trying out for cheerleading or no….so we’ll have to wait and see….

Ok everyone, I honestly hope to have some better news for you all next time…you all take care and I will talk to you very soon!

*~Terryel~*

Murphy’s gone and done it again. Though he didn’t screw us over royally, the law of anything that can go wrong struck again. But as usual, the ERAU Joint Color Guard pulled through and made a stellar performance on national television for the Daytona 500. What ended up happening was that, after two solid weeks of preparation to march out during the pre-game show, post for America the Beautiful, then do some rearranging for presenting for the National Anthem, we were told 20 minutes before actually going on that things had drastically changed. The beliefs that we were to present for the National Anthem were trashed and as it turns out, there were two organizing bodies preparing the pre-game show, one for the pre-game festivities and the other solely for the honor guard. These groups didn’t coordinate ahead of time, so when we were hired by the pre-game show organizers and given 4 minutes to get into position for the cameras initially, the presence of the second honor guard for the national anthem required us to remove ourselves from sight within the 2.5 minute commercial break and skip our “big moment.” An interesting run but definitely worth the combined 8 seconds of faded pans across the group.

In other news, I finally got a fantastically refreshing taste of real university life again with the presentation by Michael Adas, professor at Rutger’s University in New Jersey. Presenting on the “Fragile Giant” for the Honors Program’s last of their speakers series, Professor Adas touched rather in depth on the technological influence on society, politics, international government and relations, and had a key focus on the technology and architecture incorporated in the World Trade Center towers and how that impacted both the events leading up to 9/11, as well as the specifics of that date. This was particularly interesting for me not only because of my interest in such fields as they pertain to international politics and history, but also the professor’s thoughts are helping to give me some direction in my own scholastic pursuits outside of this place, particularly so with my research for my upcoming lecture in Lithuania. I had the tremendous opportunity to speak with Professor Adas just before and a while after his presentation on the notion of his help, and to my elated joy, he’s interested in meeting with me privately over the coming months to work on just that.

Time is also coming along to start considering just what to do about housing next year. One thing about living on campus, and it’s sometimes hard to appreciate unless you’ve lived on your own previously, is that being at school 24/7 not only wears on your patience, but also your sanity. There is something to be said for being able to take care of your own yard, do with your property as you please, and remove yourself from the school environment for extended periods and even at the cost of not being able to get out of bed, dressed, and into class within 5 minutes. Though many enjoy the conveniences and accessibility of having school completely around them, having lived on my own for two years, both internationally and domestically, the chance to get to a computer lab or anything on campus with little effort means nothing to me anymore. So the long trek of house/apartment searching begins. Several buddies and I have begun poking our nose around for places; some have even found things to settle on right away (the waiting list for the senior’s empty spots in May fill up very fast).

And finally, a major point I feel the need to address is the importance of finding the right fit in a school. Matching your particular interests and needs to what a school offers should be one of the primary goals on your list. I encourage all of you who are having trepidation over what school to attend, or if you’re wondering if Riddle is really right for you, to compose a list of what’s important to you and then find out what schools offer those things and, just as importantly, to what extent. Riddle has many programs, but some are underdeveloped. Some things are classified as minor but are actually major organizations (i.e. the Ice Hockey Club actually being good enough to be a varsity sport, though only classified as a club for the time being). Riddle is fantastic at what it does and you’re not number one for doing nothing. But it is different than any university out there.

If you have any questions about the actuality of a particular program, please know that all of us are more than willing to give you straightforward information about your questions. Emails always open to specific questions. Just ask.

Onwards + Upwards

Hello all, what’s up? There are still races and such going on down here. Trying to get to and from school on certain days can be trying, but at least most of the busy traffic days are on the weekends. There’s not really much going on other than that. Just kinda, sitting around, wearing out my TV and computer.

School’s going pretty good. The homework level has decreased slightly the past week or two. I think that is only because it’s coming up spring break, so it’s going to be LOADS of HW during that time. We had all of our first tests these last few weeks. I’ve done pretty well on them. I aced my AeroSci and Physics tests. I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve got another Physics test coming up in about a week. Should do pretty good on that too.

Other than that not a whole lot going on. It’s been a pretty boring couple of days. I’ve been working with my computer a lot. Trying to get Linux updated and everything. Not as simple as downloading and installing like in Windows, takes some compiling and make files and lots of other stuff sometimes. So I spent some hours working on that. Finally got KDE 3.3 working right. Next is updating Open Office. Not cool trying to download stuff on a dial-up connection since I live off-campus, let me tell ya. I’m hoping to get some of my programs that are due done before mid-week, but we’ll see how well that goes. Anyways, going back to some downloads and stuff. I’ll talk to you all later.

-Darryl

Hello again. It has come to my attention that many people are beginning to think and make their final decisions as to where they will be going to college. I have received many e-mails asking many questions and I am actually having problems staying caught up. Keep on sending them, but if there is a delay, be patient, I will reply as soon as possible.

Well, not much has changed since my last time writing a journal. The weather here in the Daytona area has really deteriorated and has led to my flight activities being cancelled for about the last week and a half. I did pass my Private Pilot written exam this last Friday! I missed a perfect 100% score by one question. I was laughing at the one I had gotten wrong because it was one that I was very familiar with. It was a V speed question, which for most people would have been easy, but I guess I just got confused. Oh well, I passed and the studying for weeks was well worth it. About four more flights remain until I can take my check ride. So hopefully, by my next journal, I will have my Private Pilot license!

As for Academics and other stuff, everything is still going well. After the Daytona 500, it got quiet around here. It was kind of crazy to see so much going on so close by Riddle. It was fun to watch the 500, I saw it on TV. My favorite driver won the Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon! I really don’t follow NASCAR that much, but I do know most of the drivers and their cars. Gordon has been my favorite since I started watching NASCAR. It’s fun to see the high speed crashes, especially from the “Dash Cams.” Spring Break should be coming in soon; that will be quite interesting.

Well, I know many of you are in the midst of making your decision as to where to go to college, if I can assist you in any way, feel free to leave a message on the message board.

Sergio

Hello everyone – I hope everyone is doing great!!

So let me start with my new laptop, I just got it today. I am so happy. I had placed my order with Dell on Jan. 28, and I got it today – its quite late but I got it for a great price. Initially I was mad with them, but today when I saw my laptop, I forgot all about it. I am happy I wont have to run to 24 hour lab any more.

School is coming along great. While picking the classes for this semester I avoided those classes in which I have to write papers or some kind of projects, but to my surprise I have to do it in three of my classes out of five. Aahhh well……..

Let me explain what I am doing in those papers, for SS 325 (Eastern Europe) I am writing a research paper on Islamic Terrorism in Bosnia and Chechnya, I will have to focus on different aspects and factors leading to terrorism in the Eastern European area. The most important is the involvement of Al-Qaeda and their supporters working hard to exploit the youth of these two regions by misleading them.

In my COM 221 class, I am (my group) writing a technical report on the feasibility of laser propelled space travel. The problem our scientific community faces today is research and development of economic and fuel efficient technology which will grant us a permanent access to space. We have a way, the rocket propelled by fuel, which is highly expensive and not fuel efficient so the researchers are at work in developing these giant elevators which will make the travel from the Earth to space simple. These elevators are powered by high intensity lasers. Interesting right?!

And I am really looking forward to this one because we are working in a group of four persons, and each one of us will examine the feasibility of this new idea with respect to economic, environmental, technological and safety aspects. The project is really interesting because each person in the group has his/her own role; like editor, second editor, secretary, research manager and public relations manager. I am feeling like I am a professional doing an actual research.

The last but not the least is my C programming project where we are designing an actual program which we will use in the future, hopefully. I had my first exam for C programming today and I was up early-early morning preparing for it. I think I did ok in it. Last week I had my Static exam and I did great on it, got an “A.”

The spring break is just around the corner and I can’t wait for it. Officially we will have a week of spring break but unofficially eight (8) weeks, as schools from all around the country comes down for their breaks one after another, Riddleians will enjoy it all. How about you guys???

Leaving you all with that thought…peace.

OVER and OUT!

Hey guys! Thanks for all of the responses I’ve been getting; it’s nice to know someone actually reads these things 🙂 Keep the questions coming! Classes have been calming down again. I made it through the big test week, but I’m sure another one is just around the corner. Only 2 months of school left though…and a few weeks until spring break, so I think I’ll manage. This semester, I didn’t take any writing intensive courses so, while I have had plenty of homework, the lack of papers to write has been awesome.

I officially survived my first speed week. True to legend, it was impossible to go anywhere in Daytona for about 5 days. Some of the roads were converted into 1 way roads during certain hours, so even in trying to get away from the speedway, I couldn’t get to the beach. I worked parking on Saturday with S.O., just camped out on campus and waved cars in the right direction. This proved to be a much better option than working the actual races. For the 500 on Sunday, I worked with S.O. again, but this time at the track, handing papers out at the gate for Crown Royal. Being from the North and keeping a running count of mullets, drunks, bad pickup lines, and individuals of questionable gender made the time pass a little more easily. It was definitely an experience.

The deadline for housing contracts has come and gone and I got my apartment! It’ll be weird to not be able to run upstairs to visit friends, and while finding a parking spot in the AM is not on my list of favorite things to do, it should be worth it.

I applied to be an orientation team leader,which ended up not working out (maybe next year?), but the interview process was pretty intense. Each applicant had to run a mock orientation group with current team leaders acting as new students. We had to come up with ice breakers, take questions, and maintain some sense of control. It was a lot of fun but they gave me a hard time and came up with some pretty oddball questions. It’s a tough job, so all of you who will be attending orientation next fall, be nice to your orientation team leaders!

There has been a bit more to do lately to break up the monotony of sitting at a desk on campus. I went to Disney World last weekend with a couple of friends and had a good time. The park hopper pass (gives you access to all of the parks) is only $60 for FL residents, Riddle students included. It’s worth it if you go for the whole day. The weather (until a couple of days ago) has also been pretty nice so my friend John and I can get back into our routine of going to the beach, which I’d have to say is my favorite part about Daytona.

Duty calls. Enjoy your day. Melanie

Hello readers, hope all is well. I’ve had a busy couple of weeks since the last entry. First, there was the Daytona 500, then there was the soccer clinic which I set up, and just yesterday, we had our first two games of the spring semester.

To start, the 500 was an early five o’clock start on Saturday morning and it was a long day. By the time the race started we decided just to head on back to the dorms. We got to work on the infield, which was a new edition this year. It is a new area by the pits which holds about 50,000 people and allows the spectators to view the pits and walk on the track before the race. This seemed to go down well with all the hard core race fans that have been going to the 500 for years. It seemed that every club and fraternity associated with Riddle were working the races. It was pretty good money for pretty easy work, and it allowed us to earn some money for our soccer program. There were even a few stars at it, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore where there as well as some Red Sox baseball player whose name I don’t know. I have to say that I have never seen so many people in the one place at the same time, and I don’t think I ever will again. I’m not sure of the exact figure but I think it was about 400,000. It was a good thing to see, although I regret not staying for some of the race but at the time I was wrecked and just wanted to get back into the pit.

Then last Monday, president’s day, I ran a soccer clinic on the intramural field. I was a bit worried about whether or not I would get a good turn out. I spent the previous Thursday night handing out flyers at the Ormond Soccer fields, and then I emailed coaches to invite their teams etc. So I was hoping that I would get at least fifty kids which would have been about a twenty percent return. I never realized there was as much stress in setting something like this up, having to organize facilities, coaches, flyers, emails, and of course getting the kids in. After going over to set everything up at seven for the nine start, I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out of ninety kids. Although this was a free clinic, a lot of the parents made very generous donations which went to the soccer program; overall it was a good day and something that I will definitely think about doing again. Oh and I would like to thank the boys off the team for helping with the clinic and the parents for their donations.

Yesterday we went over to Stetson to play our first two soccer games of the spring semester. We played against Florida Southern and Eckerd, and won both games comfortably enough. We went up with only thirteen players, which is the bare bones because usually a soccer squad will travel with about eighteen players. So by the end of it we were all tired, but this didn’t stop us going out on a team bonding session at a local Oyster Bar.

Anyway I am in two of the boy’s room writing this, and its 12:30am so they are kicking me out, so I will say goodbye for now.