Well here it is a month into school and already it feels like I have been here forever. Not in a bad way of course. I have pretty much got a routine down and have been keeping busy. I seem to have my hands full but I’m pushing through. The classes aren’t too bad, but I have 17 credits worth of them. The usual is 12-16 but I guess they thought I really love school so they gave me more. But it’s all workin out. On Mon. Wed. Fri. I have Speech and Physics and on Tues. Thur. I have Business, Basic Aeronautics, College Success, and Meteorology. Overall, they aren’t too bad. They are just like high school when it comes to good days and bad days. Some are great and some just really suck. I guess I’ll tell you a little about them so far.
Speech- Already did a 3 minute personal speech and a 6 minute dramatic reading and I’m working on my informative speech now. The class is pretty easy and you watch a lot of presentations by other students. At first I was kinda scared to talk in front of 60 people that I didn’t know, but I found out there was only 20 or so and everyone has to do it, so it’s not too bad.
Physics- Let me tell you right now that I am definitely a math person so that might explain some things. We had our first test and I got a 104, so calculus in high school really helped, but if you don’t have it, no big deal because most of my friends did pretty good. Any of you guys out there who are taking physics right now, that definitely helps because I know someone who took it in high school and he is way ahead of the rest of us. But once again, not a big deal if you have never had physics before.
Business- This class is interesting to say the least, but it’s at 8:15 in the morning which is very early in college, so I’m pretty sure they are trying to keep that stuff a secret (any Lewis Black fans? I stole that from him ;). So far we have talked about mousetraps, marshmallows, and systems. I’m a little lost in the class, but he says things will start to fall in place soon. And best thing about the class, no tests!
Basic Aeronautics- This class is pretty cool because its all about planes. I like planes, so I like the class. My professor is pretty cool and really funny. He is very energetic and always livens up the classroom. We have taken one test so far and I got an 83. Not what I wanted but not bad to say the least. So I’m really gonna hit the books for our next one to make that an A.
College Success (University 101)- This class is mandatory for all freshmen. The class varies from professor to professor, but covers the same material: How to succeed in college. I can tell that a lot of you are asking yourselves, how do you succeed in college, and this class answers it. By studying, time management, and hard work. I personally already knew this, but nonetheless, I’m still in the class. This class was pretty fun during the first couple of weeks, but now it is getting a little dry. It’s not my favorite class, but it is informative, so all in all, not too bad.
Meteorology- So far only one test and I got an 88. I was pretty surprised at this, but I guess I knew more than I thought I did. I’m pretty sure our professor has ADD, but that can be good at times. I never know what interesting stories he will tell us on any particular day.
Flight- I have flown 5 times and been in 4 sims and I am pretty psyched about attending this university. It just blows me away that someday I will be flying for a living. Just to wake up in the morning and walk to the flight line, hop in a Cessna and fly to Ormond, New Smyrna, or Cocoa Beach. Some of my friends already have their private so they are planning out cross-countries to Miami or Gainesville. I love being able to get up in a plane and just fly around and learn all the procedures. It’s a lot of work, but its well worth it.
So those are my classes. Now I’ll tell you what goes on in my free time. Just recently, I have started training to become certified to skydive on my own. I have done 4 out of the 7 jumps of the AFF program and I hope to do the last 3 sometime soon. It is pretty exciting jumping out of a plane, but even more so when there is no one strapped to your back! I have learned a lot and I’m already having a lot of fun. I can’t wait until I have my license and I can just wake up on any given morning and decide to pay $18 to go 13,500 feet in the air and jump out and freefall for 60 seconds then pull my chute and enjoy the beautiful view all around me. I definitely recommend that you try skydiving if you get the chance. Its only $135 to do a tandem (with an instructor on your back) which is a pretty good price compared to others.
Other than skydiving, I have been doing other things like playing on an intramural volleyball team. Our captain is one of my friends that was captain of his varsity volleyball in high school and he is pretty good. Me, not so much. But we have fun and that’s all that matters. Our team name is the BAMFs (any Dane Cook fans? He’s my hero).
On top of that stuff, I have decided to pledge the Sigma Chi fraternity. Once you get to Riddle, although it is a long time away, I recommend coming out to some of the stuff the fraternities offer because I can already tell it is one of the best decisions that I have made to pledge Sigma Chi. I hope to become a brother some time in November, but right now I’m pledging. Even if you think Greek life isn’t for you, you should go around and check out all the fraternities next year. And if all goes to plan, stop by Sigma Chi’s booth and say hi. I don’t want to go too into detail about pledging, but I already have made memories that I am never going to forget. Like late night stops by Denny’s, semi tires in the middle of the road on I-95, and some crazy things about people that I am just getting to know, but I can already tell I will know these guys for the rest of my life. It’s a pretty cool experience.
Also, hanging with friends on my floor and laughing as hard as I have ever laughed. Some quotes which will make no sense to you make me laugh so hard. Like:
“10 foot is a lot of foot”
“I’m gonna put gas”
“Smoke break”
“I think I broke the rule”
I am actually still laughing as I type this. 10 foot is a lot of foot for those of you who didn’t know that. (Sorry Adam, I think it’s hilarious).
Last week we took my friend’s 2-wheel drive Explorer off-roading and had to pull it out with my other friend’s Xtera. I’ll put some pictures up on my album. That was one of the funniest things to have happened so far. I can’t wait until our next off-roading adventure.
I know that more has happened and I can’t remember it, but if I remember it, I’ll post it next time. Also, if you are ever in the Daytona Beach area and feel like dropping by, feel free to contact me and I can show you around. If you want an unofficial campus tour and find out what its like first hand, just let me know. I don’t know how the university would feel if I had someone follow me around in my classes, but I can try to find out if any one is interested. The way I see it, it’s the least they could do. If you guys are gonna cough up 30-40k for tuition, you should get to at least see some classes first hand. But anyway, if you are around feel free to give me a call whenever.
Until next time, any questions post them on the discussion board and I’ll try to answer them. So far, I have been having an awesome time and can’t wait until I see what this next few weeks brings in. Hope all of you are having as good a time as I am, and if you aren’t, don’t worry. It’s a lot of hard work to get here, but once you get here it is well worth it.
