February 22, 2006
Wow, what a week! We just got hit by the Daytona 500 and what an experience. There were so many people here in Daytona let alone the traffic. Actually, this entire past week was like that for race week, but the Daytona 500 was like the grand finale. My Fraternity worked the races as a fund raiser; basically we acted as security for the parking lots on campus not allowing any race fans to park in them. At first it started out slow, not many people tried to get past our blockade. Later on in the day though, there were people every other minute trying to get in willing to give us money if we let them by, as a college student it was tempting but I was there for a reason.
About two hours before the actual race began, my friend called me up and said he had an extra ticket into the Daytona 500. There was so much energy from this one event surrounding the area, there was no way I could pass up an offer like that, so I got a Brother to relieve me from my security position and went to the race. I assumed we were going to get some cheap seats because the scalpers who were all over the streets were pushing $120 to $175 per ticket, but was I wrong. After walking through the huge crowds of people just outside the race track, we showed the security our wrist bands and were waved through. I never felt so much energy then I did walking through the tunnel to the inside of the track. It turned out my friend had the gold VIP wrist bands which meant we were allowed full access to the infield rather then the color coded zones. It was crazy in there, from the high class RV busses to the BBQ’s going everywhere; it was like one huge party. People were so happy for the race and everyone was partying together from one RV to another. I never knew race fans were so nice to each other and in general, or maybe it was because we were in a very pricey section. My friends and I ended up watching the race at the most dangerous turn, turn # 2 where there was actually one crash and two contacts. We were so close to the track we could feel the wind whipping off the cars as they screamed by. It was such an amazing location where we ended up at the Daytona 500 I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to experience the race.
Classes are going very well, I just started doing the in-class radar scenarios last week through voice instructions to my partner in the other room. They are a lot of fun because you get so into the situations, but in all honesty they are kind of tough. There is so much small information you need to apply so quickly that the work seems to get slightly overwhelming. The best thing I can do though and which I have been doing is to work aggressively at getting rid of the traffic on my radar. This is my first radar class so I am sure with a little bit more time things will transition a lot more smoothly, but I still enjoy the course. All my other classes are going well, Principals of Business is beginning to become a lot more applicable and I am really interested in what we are going over now.
That’s all for this time, if you have any questions feel free to email me. A lot of you have been, and I hope my feedback is beneficial to all of you. Until next time, keep up with your school work and stay out of trouble!
