WoW!! If no one has done so, yet, let me be the first to inform you that college is ROUGH. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every single minute of this awesome RiDdDLe experience, but it is NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination.

So, it’s been about two weeks, I’m assuming, since my first journal entry. At that point in time, things were going pretty well in all of my classes. I was slightly struggling in MA 241 (Calculus 1), but that was the worst of it. Things, now, have started to get MUCH harder. I took a test in my World History class, last Thursday. Let’s just say that this class has been a challenge to get through since day one — the teacher is EXTREMELY boring, and she will admit to this. Well, the test was IMPOSSIBLE. I don’t know where she got ANY of the information that was on the exam. Needless to say, I (along with every other person I talk to in that class) don’t think we did so well.

On Wednesday, I had my first Calculus exam. We’d already taken one quiz which was worth about nothing. So, this was pretty huge. How I did on the exam is still up in the air, but there is about a 50/50 chance I passed. YIPES!!

Anyway, looking back at last week, my best friend, Beth, and I have come up with a new way of going about studying for classes. We’re now buckling down, reviewing both before and after each class to prepare ourselves for what’s to come. I hate having to set extra time aside to do things that aren’t really of much interest to me in the first place, but I’d hate it even more to get a bad grade in any of my classes. By the way, my other classes are going very well!!

As far as things on the homefront in Ohio, things are going well. Monty, my boyfriend, is planning on coming down to Daytona Beach for my birthday which is in exactly 13 days. I’m young, though, so will only be turning 18. However, that is a definite reason to party. My family is supposed to be sending down presents!! I cannot wait for that. And my friends Beth, Herbie, and Greg are going to make me a cake. They’re also taking Monty and I to Disney World for the weekend!! HoOoRaY 🙂

Things are going really well, here (minus being pretty sick to my stomach — YUCK!!). I’m liking this place more and more each day. This past weekend, I went to Orlando with the crew. We went shopping, saw fireworks, and just had a good time. Oh, and on Friday night, we went ice skating. It was awesome.

The previous weekend, I spent with the sorority girls on campus with preference parties and such. And, I got my bid card on Sunday.. I’m pledging ALPHA XI DELTA!! Tomorrow night is our big coming in event. We all have to wear white dresses. And I’m really excited!! If I get the chance to talk with Jill, I may start posting pictures up, here. The girls and I are really big into pictures, and I thought it’d be fun to share them with you so you can do more than just read about life here at ERAU.. you can see it, too!

Anyway, I could go on and on forever about how things are going, here. However, homework is definitely calling my name. I should’ve written a few days earlier. As you’ll realize, though, things tend to slip your mind while you’re at school. Have a great next week or two. I cannot wait until the next post!!

Hey, hey, hey , it’s time for your fortnightly shot of Junior’s Jiving Juice from yours truly, Veda Jr. A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away….

Whoops. Wrong reel. Backtrack…

Embry Riddle. Well, these two weeks sure have been momentous. I don’t think I ever realized how nice things like sleep and regular meals are, and I no longer remember what leisure time means. Sound familiar, anyone?

Earlier I had written about the AFOQT – my scores recently came in. Well, they aren’t great. And compared to my SAT scores, they’re dismal. But I’m pleased as punch, coz I expected to do much worse, what with time playing hide and seek so’s I can’t study. Free Time. It’s like a mirage. You think you see it, it almost crystallizes…then you realize you really imagined it. Well, I never wanted to be a pilot or nav, so that didn’t matter to me.

Anyway…The AFOQT consists of five subsets, each independent of the other. Pilot, Navigator, Academic Aptitude, Verbal and Quantitative. Their purposes are self-explanatory.

The scores are in nationwide percentile, and mine were – Pilot 52, Nav 71, AcApt 90, Verbal and Quantitative 86. I was pretty happy with the Pilot score – I’d have probably gotten a large zero if it hadn’t been for Cameron – he has a Private Pilot License and he gave me a crash course in how to interpret gauges and some common aviation FAQs, and I didn’t do bad at all. Nav was brilliant, donno how I managed that! I expected higher in Verbal and Math, but oh well.

Okay, another word before I quit about my military career. We had an ‘Ability run’ last Friday – we had to join a group based on how fast we could run 1.5 miles, or 2.4 kilometers. I joined the 10 minute and 30 second group because I thought I was in shape – on my scholarship PFT I ran it in 9 minutes so I thought it’d be a breeze. Guess what? WRONG! Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant. But just this morning I ran the same distance in just over nine-and-a-half minutes. I’ve vowed to train regularly…if time doesn’t play truant again.

Hmmm…speaking of time, very early after my last entry I realized that I had tried to swallow an elephant, when I could only chew a chicken. My schedule got so frantic with ROTC, work, studies and all the clubs I had joined that I just had to dump some. Either that, or dare gravity from my fourth floor window. So I didn’t pursue either Arnold Air Society or the Motorcycle Club. I really want to join the AIAA, but their meetings are on Thursdays and I have to work Thursdays, but I’m hoping to resolve it somehow. As for the ISA, I’m dithering on that…maybe I’ll attend one of their meetings and then make up my mind. But I am definitely going to pursue being VJ the DJ!! Hopefully, as a second hand musician, I will be found noteworthy! (yes, the pun was deliberate) First training session is this weekend, so lets see what happens.

The day after I went to Ponce Inlet Park near Ormond Beach for the honors student association picnic. It was fun. In the wake of Rita, the waves were awesome…some were almost 5 feet above my head! I was half scared I’d drown coz I had just one week’s experience in staying afloat, but I quickly got the hang of riding the wave and letting it carry you toward the beach. Awesome! I can’t wait to learn swimming better so I can have even more fun diving into the waves.

Had my Math and Physics exams this week – I did okay, I’ve already done it all back in India. I also attended the Embry-Riddle chapel this Sunday – I guess I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have a job at the Annual Fund of Embry Riddle – the pay is marginally better than most jobs on campus. We call alumni for four hours a day, three days a week, including a compulsory Sunday, and ask them if they want to donate money back to our school. Money we get is used to help and enhance the experience of the students, and several student clubs and organizations depend on Annual Fund money to run and conduct activities. To my surprise, I made 2100 dollars in my first two days, which is some kind of record.

It’s a demanding job. It can get really boring at times, meeting the same responses, saying the same things. Well, if I had to relate all the anecdotes from my job at the Annual Fund, I’d be writing for ever, and I’m sure you have stuff to do, so I’m gonna sign off here. For those of you too lazy to scroll down, my contacts are vedajr@gmail.com, nayak48c@erau.edu, AIM vedanayakjr (I don’t use Yahoo or MSN – too much spam). If you have any questions at all, do contact me and I’ll be glad to help out best I can…till next time, cheers, dudes!

VJ

Motto for the fortnight: Always borrow money from a pessimist. They don’t expect it back. And if you do a good deed, get a receipt…just in case St Pete is like the IRS.

Hey everybody! I’m sorry, I won’t have all that much to report on for this installment as I was sick with bronchitis this past week and definitely have not been up to much. To start off with, though, I’ll just say that taking care of yourself really is as important as people say it is. The past couple weeks I kind of went on thinking that I was invincible, and 0-4 hours of sleep a night for a week would cut it. Not so. Trying to tough it out all the time isn’t always the way to go. With a whole bunch of class hours and PT in the mornings, I didn’t realize that I couldn’t get away with running myself into the ground like that. Anyway, I paid for it, feeling sicker than I have in a while and missing a total of about four days of class.

The thing that sucks about missing class and being in AMS is that because its FAA regulated, you have to make up all the class you missed with extra work. So I’ve got a bunch of make-up work I still have to do before class tomorrow, plus I have to plan out all my classes for the next few years for when I meet with my Air Force class instructor, do my math homework from last week and study for whatever quizzes and tests I missed and those that are coming up. I don’t know about everyone else here, but I definitely had a lot more work in high school than I’ve had here so far, so just because I’m complaining, don’t think it can’t be done.

In other sick day related news, I also had to miss Lead Lab last Monday. Fortunately, since I had numerous notes saying I had bronchitis, I got it excused and have the opportunity to make up the class I missed if I so choose. Basically, there was just no way in hell I was going to stand at attention for twenty minutes in the sun and march around campus with a fever. I also got on MRS for PT, which means I still had to show up, but instead of running and all that, I worked on the computer in the ROTC building.

Finally going back to class was difficult. When you don’t have someone yelling at you that you need to go to school, it can be hard to make yourself do it after having a five day weekend. All in all though, things are going okay. I’ve also gotta say I’m surprised to have gotten responses to my writing so quickly, that’s awesome. Keep ’em coming, I’m glad to hear from you. Once again, you can reach me with questions at kenyonj@erau.edu

hello journal readers,

hope everyone is having a good day!! things are going good here in Daytona Beach, Florida that’s for sure. I’m really exciting about working at Aercrombie&Fitch tonight. It’s the Christmas season preview and all the customers get their pics taken with the employees and I’m not sure if we’re having some models at the entrance or not, but it’s gonna be really fun! and yesterday was my b-day (( 19 !!! ) and my manager said that if there is an Abercrombie party after everyone gets off, it could be my b-day party thing too. So that’s cool! So my work life is absolutely amazing. I went to the beach last night with some friends of mine and had a good time, then it started pouring down rain, then it stopped, then it poured again, then it stopped, lol,. . but that’s how it is here!

School is pretty much settled down now, everyone has their schedule and classes memorized, everybody knows where everything is, and what’s going on around campus, new friends just keep piling up and up . I love it here. school can get hectic at points but that’s when you buckle down and take about 4-5 hours alone and get things done, or however long it takes for you to do your work/study. I have been doing all the online stuff on my roommates computer, but i will be getting my laptop in less than 2 weeks, it’s one of the dell inspiron ones. the widescreen one with everything, i went all out!! my dad got it for me for my b-day and is sending it down over-night once it gets up there! i’m excited.! ERAU is asking all of us students what we think about putting another fitness center in where the old counseling center used to be, i told them that not very many students would want that, i think it would be cool if they put something else there. . like a day spa or something, for students only, and we could all use our Riddle Bucks to pay! that would be sweet!! i was going to go home this weekend and see my mom who lives in melbourne, but this whole work thing is a big deal at A&F and if i don’t go i could lose my job cuz it’s only a select few that got scheduled for this big day, and i had plans , but i think it will be worth it!! i mean, who wouldn’t want there picture taken with a bunch of hott girls! i have to rap things up here pretty quick, i was up late last night and just woke up a bit ago and it’s already 3 o’clock and i have to get ready to go to work cuz it’s a big day!!! and i still need to shower and stuff. .ummm i’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from people lately, and my box is crazy every day, so if anyone has any questions, please post them up on the discussion board under the appropriate category and other journal writers and myself with do our best to answer you questions to the fullest extent! well everybody, sorry so short, my next entry will be more detailed and longer, i promise!! i’m in a rush right now .. sooooo hope everyone is good and i will talk to all of you soon!!

ps, my AIM screen name is gibso2j if anyone has AOL IM. . it’s always fun to chat instead of mailing and posting questions. . bye guys!!

Hi everyone!

Well, school has become much more challenging in the past few weeks. I had two tests in the last couple of days- calculus and chemistry. Even though I have taken calculus in high school as well as a college chemistry class, neither of the classes I have now are easy. I don’t know how I could survive without having already taken those classes. I’m beginning to wish someone had told me that every math and science class I took in high school has a huge impact in college. I never bothered to memorize formulas because they were always given to me during tests. Now, I just had to memorize the unit circle so I could take my calculus test. I have also decided that chemistry is my hardest class. The test we just took after one month of class covered more information than most full-year high school chemistry classes. One of our “booger” homework problems took me and my roommate, Marjory, nearly 6 hours and 10 pages of work to complete. (A “booger” problem is what Dr. Cameron calls his toughest stoichiometry questions.)

I am also trying to adjust to a different lifestyle than the one I had at home. Before I came here, I got plenty of sleep. Now, I will be lucky to get to bed before midnight. It is partially because of studying, but also because I have other things going on that take up my time. I am now on the crew team, (which is so much fun but hard work!), and practice is 4-6pm every day plus Saturdays. I also joined the Society of Women Engineers, and I play and referee volleyball two nights a week. I like being paid to ref. volleyball, but if my schedule gets too full that will be the first thing to go. In college, time management is one of the most important skills to master- especially as an engineering physics major. The rest of the campus knows our small groups of EP’s as either “the smart kids,” or the students who are “completely nuts.” I get one of those two everytime I am asked what my major is. (More often though I hear “are you crazy?!”) I’m not trying to scare anyone away from this major, but it does require quite a bit more work and time than other degree programs.

I can still find plenty of things to do over the weekends; there’s always something fun going on around here! I go to the beach almost every Saturday with the guys in my hall, I went to Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney, Orlando last Friday, and a few weeks ago I went to my first frat party. (Except it was broken up by the cops only an hour after I got there.) The Sunday after the frat party I also got to go flying to the gulf coast with Jason and Matt. They are both pilots that live in my hall, and Marjory also came with. We went to a small town called Crystal River and had ice cream and then flew back after dark and saw Orlando lit up half way back.. It was so cool to see Embry-Riddle from the sky too! Well, I have work to do so I will update all of you in a few weeks as far as what’s going on. Please feel free to ask questions on the discussion board or email me!

~Sara~