Well, it’s the end of the semester and the end of my first year at Embry-Riddle! It is even harder to believe that this is my last journal entry. These past two weeks have been leading up to finals and I have been busy trying to finish up my projects and studying for my Marketing and Microeconomics finals. However, I have found some time to have fun. This weekend some friends and I decided to take a break from all of our studying and go drive go-karts. I had so much fun driving the go-karts and we spent two and half hours there racing one another on the three different tracks. Finals started on Saturday and now I only have two left on Tuesday, so I only have to study a little bit more and then I am done.

The Air Force Dining Out was a lot of fun because everyone was all dressed up in their Service Dress. I had a good time talking to everyone. There was a social hour before the dinner started and everyone got to mingle with one another. Then, we took our seats and watched a video that reviewed the entire year. Several toasts were made and then we ate dinner, which was really good. Next, the Colonel announced the new Wing Staff and made a few announcements. The entire event was a good time and I am looking forward to next year’s! Also, I was supposed to get to ride in a C-130 at Patrick Air Force Base; however, after we arrived we found out that we wouldn’t be able to due to maintenance issues. I was a little disappointed but I enjoyed getting to see another Air Force Base. Check out my pictures because I posted a couple of the airplanes and one of me at Dining Out.

For my last journal entry I thought that I would leave you with a few tips:

1. Join some clubs because that is the best way to meet people. You should check out Silver Wings for sure! Go to the Activities Fair held during the second or third week of school on Heritage Walkway to find out more about every club.
2. Go to the free events and lectures. A person can never have too much free stuff! Also, the lectures are beneficial because you might learn something new or earn extra points in one of your classes and don’t ever pass up extra points.

If you are planning on joining Air Force ROTC, then keep reading!

3. Relax!  Things may seem overwhelming but you will get the hang of it after the first few weeks.
4. Bring a blue or black backpack because you can’t wear any other color while in uniform.  Also, a black belt and some polo shirts because you sometimes want to look professional when you go into the Detachment.
5. When you get the uniform, you will need black shoe polish (Kiwi Shoe Polish is the best), white v-neck shirts, spray starch, and an iron. If you don’t know how to use an iron, make sure you learn how this summer.
6. Don’t forget your running shoes!

I hope everyone has a great summer and maybe I will see some of you around campus next semester!  Your schedules and room assignments should arrive during the first weeks of August.  If you have any questions throughout the summer, don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail at sidesk@erau.edu.

Kaleigh Sides

Well, this is it. I’m 2 mornings away from finishing the last part of my first year of college. I’ve been missing my family so much lately and I can’t wait to see friends, too. It’s been a great day of reflection as I packed and enjoyed the sunny weather outside. My room suddenly looks so white and bare… but it helps me grasp the fact that I’m not going to be here much longer. Four months is a long time and I’m excited to get back to my beloved Cessna 140 and finally finish getting my pilot’s license. I’m also going to be working at Boeing (I haven’t heard back about 2 internships I applied for yet) or at good ‘ol Red Robin. I need to make money for flying and school, of course. And, there’s hanging out with friends, getting new clothes, and going to Oshkosh to be saving for as well.

The week before the last week of classes was UGLY! I was working so hard on my final project for programming. I ended up going to tutoring every night for several hours just to debug small pieces of code. But, when I finished, it was a great feeling and I ended up getting 100% on it!! I could hardly believe it! It was a server-training program for Red Robin in C-language. Fun stuff! With this amazing grade, I ended up with a beautiful A in the class! The professor even made our final optional and since an A is an A, I said, “No thanks!” It felt so good to have one less thing to study for and know I got an A in a 3-credit class!

I did have a few breaks in there, of course! One afternoon, I went to Sonic with Alex and on another afternoon, Ritter’s with some friends. I love ice cream and they are no exception! Also, to celebrate finishing a tough week, a friend from Doolittle and I went to a girl’s apartment from church to eat pizza and watch movies. It feels bizarre to be around just females having been at Riddle for months… I had fun getting in touch with my girly side.

Saturday was the last CFC. We had several songs to sing for worship and although I had a bit of a cold, I loved every minute. How sad I won’t get to sing with my fellow college Christians for 4 months!! Pastor Jeremy from Calvary was the speaker and he gave a great message inspiring us to use our summer time well. (I go to Embrace, Calvary’s college ministry on Thursdays.) After, a bunch of guys and myself went to Cracker Barrel for a late dinner. The beginning and end of semesters always involve going out for meals a lot! Ha. I was also laughing about the fact that at Riddle being the only girl when you go places is not unusual and it doesn’t at all mean you are flirty… How strange.

Another example of that happened the very next day when a bunch of us from church went to Chili’s. I had a lot of studying to do after that fun lunch, though. After practicing physics problems with a friend, three of us spent an hour taking hilarious pictures on Photo Booth with my Mac. I love that program!

The last week of school was filled with 2 physics tests, a lab final, and a calculus final. It was tough, but it felt good to get everything done! I didn’t honestly feel that I did spectacularly well on any of those four things, but I did my best and think my grades will be just what I was hoping for.

On Wednesday, my classes were completely finished and it was a wonderful feeling! To tell the truth, sitting in class was torturous! But, that’s normal at any level of schooling! That night, we had our last Bible study and it was in my room. We talked about ministry opportunities for next semester and how we could grow our faith over the break. I felt sad looking around at my friends and realizing how long it would be before seeing them again. However, I realized how wonderful it was to have people to miss. I didn’t do too much with people during the first semester and thus didn’t make too many close friends, so I’ve cherished these past months. Plus, we do live in the 21st century and have so many ways to communicate, so I should stop being a baby about it! 🙂

We closed the night out with watching Thou Shalt Laugh 2 (DVD of Christian comedians… hilarious!) and 45 minutes of Photo Booth. I have been so determined to take as many pictures as I can with my friends because I haven’t done it the rest of the semester! So check out all my pics on facebook.

Thursday, I studied calculus and then went to the last Embrace service before going to a Campus Outreach pig roast luau. The Acafellas (a talented group of performers on campus) put on a show for the luau guests and we all enjoyed that as well as the tasty food. Both events were very fun, but my friends and I took it a step further by stopping at Wal-Mart for dessert and then watching the Bourne Supremacy. Phew! What a busy night!

My favorite day of the week had to be Friday when my two friends from my floor and I took off for St. Augustine. We had been planning it for about a month so I was dying in anticipation! As I mentioned at some point in these journals, my sister graduated from Flagler college up there, so I was kinda the tour guide of the group. We started off by going shopping at the outlet malls. We found lots of good deals and I enjoyed watching the guys shop. It was quite funny. After, we made our way to The Reef. It’s one of my family’s favorite restaurants (we always get the coconut shrimp) in the area and my mom had sent me a great coupon for the place.

When we completed the experience, we walked the two feet it took us to get to the beach. It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed dipping our feet in the surf. Next, we explored the old town. I took them down the beautiful and fun St. George street where we found goodies and flip flops. I also showed my friends Flagler college and it’s beautiful interior. It used to be the Ponce de Leon hotel.

We took the scenic route back (A1A instead of I-95) and finished the day off by meeting a bunch of friends at Ritter’s (one of whom was our friend with the Virginia NASA internship- he had just finished and came down to visit before going home to Washington).

The next day I anxiously awaited my calculus final. Once it started, I felt confident knowing I had plenty of time and had spent enough time studying. The next thing on the agenda was going to the honors final where we sat for two hours listening to presentations about papers. It was hard to stay focused with the dim lighting. Finally finished for the day, some girl friends and I watched Enchanted before a bunch of friends from Christian Fellowship Club and I went to Applebees. I just got a smoothie since I had eaten dinner already. By the end of the night, I was so tired!

And now we’re all caught up to today. We started the morning off with Starbucks. The barista was very friendly and lively. 🙂 Then, I enjoyed my last time at church and we went to Subway afterward and I spent the rest of the day packing and reminiscing as I said.

I made an album of this last month, so check it out!

Well, I just have my physics final on Tuesday morning left and then I’ll no longer be a freshman! I’m also planning to go to the beach at least once and Bubba Gump’s as well as Martini’s Chophouse. I will certainly miss some of the fun restaurants and places around here… especially the beach and the weather! God has been so good to me and I’ve overcome so many obstacles! I can’t wait to start sophomore year having a year of experience “under my belt”.

Thanks for listening to me for a whole year! I hope I was able to share some valuable information and insight and encourage you to come to Riddle! I’ve already made some amazing and most likely life-long friends!

I’ve learned so much and have so much more to learn still before I can officially call myself an engineer and a physicist, but I’ve made a big step in the right direction! I at least achieved a respectable GPA and can certainly count on my scholarships and the Honors Program, too, so not bad! Please contact me if you have any questions!!

Summer, here I come!

Only a freshman for a few more days,

Natalie Spencer

spencern@erau.edu

Hey Everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well. These past few weeks have been slightly more busy then the previous weeks, but not in a good way! The end of the semester is finally near and it’s just been crazy with end of the semester projects and homework and studying for exams. I’m tired out and I really can’t wait for exams to be over. This is the final week of classes and then we have exams next week, well, mine are on Saturday and on Monday so I get done early!!! Other than school nothing really exciting is going on in KDAB (Daytona Beach Airport Code).

So next week after exams I’m actually going to visit my grandfather in Punta Gorda, FL which should be a lot of fun. I haven’t seen him since last semester at Thanksgiving time. I’m going to spend two days there and then coming back here for a few singing events with the AcaFellas. We are singing at a charity picnic for soldiers and their families and then we have the Masters Degree Hooding Ceremony, and then Commencement for the seniors. That is three days in a row, so we are going to be mighty busy. After that, in about another week, we are singing at another event for soldiers and then a few of us are going to be in a play at Daytona Beach Community College with another local Barbershop group. What is not so good right now is that I’m sitting here typing and I can feel my throat starting to hurt so I really hope I’m not getting sick!

What else is there….. hmmm….. well tomorrow is the ERRSA banquet where I will be sworn in as next year’s Vice President, and then we are probably going out afterward to our favorite restaurant just to hang out because that’s what we do!!! On Thursday the AcaFellas are singing at a picnic which should be fun and a nice way to wrap up the semester before exams, and then Friday is an ALL DAY STUDY DAY!!!! I have two exams on Saturday so I have a lot of cramming to do.

So last week there were five ERAU students arrested for attempting to steal an alligator out of a mini-golf place. I thought that it was too funny not to share with you. Seriously, how ridiculous is that. What is speculation right now is that they had to do it for a fraternity. It’s just speculation, but they were all pledging the same fraternity so it’s something very interesting to see how it will unfold!!

Just to let you all know, I will be here this summer so I’m hoping to continue to write journals for you all so that you know what ERAU life is like in the summer, so please keep reading this summer! I’m not sure if this will be my last journal or not so I wanted to thank you all for reading this past year, if anything, I hope I provided you with some insight about life here on campus and in Daytona Beach. I’m still always here for anyone who has questions or who needs to talk, so feel free to contact me at any time! “No Other Road, No Other Way, No Day But Today” – Rent

Joey

Email: Jaworksj@erau.edu

AIM: HYPORBOY226

Pics: www.virb.com/joejaworskiatc

P.S. Im going to the Space Shuttle launch on May 31st with press passes so I should have some nice videos and picures for you all to look at!!!

Happy late birthday! My birthday was last Monday and to me, it seemed like any other day, until I went to the mail center—my mom sent a huge birthday package that arrived on time! She even sent me a birthday cake which I shared with some of my friends. The best part was that I got mail everyday last week! On Tuesday, some of my girlfriends took me out to eat and I thought it was just going to be the three of us; but when we got there I saw a bunch of people from Silver Wings. Turns out one of my friends had spread the word, so I had a terrific birthday. The semester is almost over with only nine days of classes left! Air Force finished the semester last Friday with Pass-In-Review.

After Pass-In-Review, I went to the AcaFellas concert with some other Air Force people. I thought the AcaFellas did an outstanding job! Two Air Force guys are in the group, so there was a pretty good turnout to cheer them on. Always try and attend events like these because you are supporting one another and they are free! I also attended a seminar held by the College of Business about cultural diversity. I found the seminar very informative; for example, business cards are very important especially in Japan and you should present your card to the person with both hands and the writing facing them. Most seminars that I have attended have door prizes and food and I won an Embry-Riddle picture frame at this one. Go to the lectures and seminars as much as possible because you learn new things, get free food, and can win prizes.

I have several Air Force events to do before the semester is truly over! This coming Friday we have Dining Out and it is going to be held at the Hilton on the beach. I have heard that we have dinner and they announce who is going to be the new Wing Staff. I am looking forward to it and will be sure to take my camera! Also, I still have Air Force class for the next two weeks but that’s not too bad. On Thursday, I get to go to Patrick Air Force Base and ride on a C-130! Last semester I rode in a helicopter and this semester I get to ride in a cargo plane! I didn’t think I would get to go because by the time I signed up all the slots were filled and I was the 6th alternate; however, some people dropped or weren’t eligible so always sign up and just keep your fingers crossed. I will be taking my camera on that trip too!

This past Saturday, Silver Wings had their Initiation Dinner and I officially got initiated! Last semester after completing the Associate process they couldn’t let any cadets in because the organization must maintain a 50 percent plus one civilian membership. This semester the organization only took civilians and they were able to let in two cadets. I was happy because now I get to wear a cord on my uniform signifying my membership. All of you thinking about joining a club should seriously consider Silver Wings. We are a fun group, we do community service, support the military (especially the United States Air Force), and we always have a good time. Silver Wings is a great club option. Because we are co-ed, you don’t have to pay as much as you would for some of the other clubs and organizations and you still get to do community service, weekly meetings, and induction dinners are like formals. Join Silver Wings!

My classes are going pretty well and last week I gave my Honors presentation and turned in my 10 page paper, so now I just have to show up to class. The presentation and paper were on Huntington’s disease and before I started writing the paper I thought there was no way I could get 8 to 10 pages. I surprised myself when I was on the 10th page and hadn’t even started my conclusion or included any pictures. Don’t procrastinate and when the teacher tells you a due date at the beginning of the year, tell yourself it’s due a week or two earlier. Also, do all the research in one week and then the next week try and write one page a day. I have found that by breaking it down like this and not procrastinating as much, I don’t feel as overwhelmed. My presentation was going well, when all of the sudden the professor interrupted me to ask a question. This has never happened before and I was surprised that he didn’t just wait until the end. After he did it many of the students did the same thing and I ended up turning my fifteen minute presentation into a thirty minute talk. The professor was surprised when I wanted to turn my paper in early, but he went ahead and accepted it. Hopefully, I will find out my grade soon!

I hope everyone that came to Preview Day on Saturday enjoyed seeing campus! If you have any questions about ROTC, my classes, campus, Silver Wings, or anything at all—send me an e-mail.

Until next time,

Kaleigh

e-mail: sidesk@erau.edu

Happy April to you (our last month)! I’ve had some spectacular weekends lately going along with the spectacular weather! Also, the countdown to summer is getting deliciously low but I have been a bit ridiculous by writing down how many class days I have for each subject as well as tallying finals, studying, and anything else you can think of. Let’s just say I’m excited to fly back home proudly having completed my first year of college! Crazy.

Everything seems to be winding down: I just completed my last math assignment, last physics homework, last honors paper, and tomorrow is my last lab. But, before I get too excited too early (I do have 2 tests and 4 finals left after all!), let me tell you about the proverbial last two weeks:
The Christian Fellowship Club camping retreat was quite different than I expected. I don’t know why, but I just assumed there would be a big open area with sand and hot springs everywhere. I didn’t know FL could have so many trees and BUGS. The first car to arrive (including me) got eaten alive by gnats. Back home, they do no such thing… mosquitoes are the only major annoyance and even then, there’s usually not too many. We burned many ‘a fire to try to smoke the area out. Finally, relief arrived and we sprayed ourselves completely with deet-filled goodness. It worked! The rest of the days were spent getting burnt, snorkeling, finding beautiful shells, chasing vultures, eating s’mores, worshipping, talking, and discovering our inner pyromaniac. It wasn’t all that restful, but it was still a great time of fellowship and I’m so glad I went! (As I’m writing this over 2 weeks later, I’m finally completely recovered from the bites as well as the burn. Ha)

When we returned on Sunday, Campus Outreach had a barbeque social in the pits by McKay, so my friends from the floor and I went to investigate. We had a great time laughing and playing volleyball as the sunset disappeared.

The first half of the following week was quite busy doing homework and writing papers. But, because I was faithful, I was able to enjoy little fun things sprinkled in. For example, on Wednesday I went to a little island on the opposite side of the state with floor buddies in one of the guy’s Cessna. We took some great pictures and enjoyed the ride. It was wonderful because I had been missing flying so much! Later that night, we went to Patty Wagstaff’s talk. I’d honestly never heard of her before, but when I found out about her legacy, accomplishments, and spirit, I was so impressed and relished the amazing chance to take a picture with her, get an autograph, and hear her speak. She was the first woman to win the yearly national aerobatic competition and she did it 3 times. (Ironically, we saw her again at Sun ‘N Fun, but more on that later…)

Thursday was also great because I was able to sleep in and after doing some long studying and my daily exercise routine, I went to the nearby Volusia mall with Alex and a friend from Doolittle. We tried on dresses at Macy’s and had Dippin’ Dots. I also watched a chick flick that night and played a fun game called Viva Pinata… it was nice to be girly again after typically spending all my time with my two guy friends from the floor.

On Saturday, I was out in the sun yet again because of the CFC beach trip. We went to the beautiful Ponce Inlet and saw the lighthouse as we enjoyed riding the waves. I had a great talk with a friend I’d never really been able to chat with before. We all also enjoyed burying a fellow CFC member in sand. A huge storm warning was announced right as we were leaving, so it was perfect timing.

I did more homework before going to bed at a good time for church. After the service, several of us from Riddle and some others from Sovereign Grace met at Panera for lunch. I’d never been there before, so I was delighted to find how delicious and wonderfully French the whole experience was. I can’t wait to go back again sometime!

The rest of the day was study, study, study. I only had 5 days until the very last calc test and I wanted to do well. This mindset carried through the entire week. I pretty much just did homework, exercised, and studied. It paid off because I felt very confident about my test (Which ended up being 20% better than class average!!).

To celebrate, I went to Sun ‘N Fun which was just like its name suggested. It was a great bonding time with other CFC and floor friends. We had breakfast at Chick-Fil-A which provided a hilarious quote from our driving student: “… and can we get 5 orange juice pleases?” We all roared with laughter and continued along the drive-thru line. At the event, I learned a lot. Lunch was provided at the Embry-Riddle Alumni tent. The buffet even had coconut shrimp!! I couldn’t believe it! My favorite part of the day was, of course, the airshow. There are some amazing pilots out there! We stopped at good ‘ol Steak ‘N Shake on the way back and I realized that there was an ‘N in two of the places we’d gone.

So, now as the busy new week continues, I remember the fun times I had and slowly progress toward the end of my freshman year. It’s so close yet riddled (no pun intended) with tests and finals… With God’s help, I will make it through successfully. I can hardly wait to be relaxing at home with no agenda and no rigid schedule (at least for a week or so). Until next time… when I’ll only have 2 finals left before going home…

Natalie Ann

spencern@erau.edu

www.virb.com/erauladyeagle

Hey Everyone,

Well the past two weeks has been pretty uneventful, but I’ll let ya know what I have been up to and what’s in store for the rest of the semester. There have been a lot of things going on with AcaFellas and ERRSA, as always, so I’ll let you all know about that stuff but otherwise, it’s been a lot of work finishing up classes for the semester!

SF-210- We have been doing presentations for our Information Share projects. I presented mine already and I got a 95 on it, which was awesome. I presented mine on the crash of United Airlines flight 173.

COM-219- We just got done presenting our group projects which I got an A on. My group did a project on the non-verbal communication signs of hotel lobbies. Yes, I know, what kind of project is that, but it went really well and we got a good grade so I wasn’t complaining. We are now working on our speeches to persuade.

MA-111- OMG….. all I have to say is that I used to like math, but I now officially can’t stand it! I mean I love my teacher and she really knows how to teach the material but I just start to tune out when things don’t make sense to me and all I’m going to say is that it’s been really hard to concentrate lately!

AS-120- This class has actually turned around to be a pretty good class. I got a 93 on my second test and I have actually been enjoying the class.

AcaFellas- We just had our Spring Concert and we did SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I don’t mean to brag but we seriously got everything together kind of at the last minute and we put on such a great show. My solo was the last song of the night and I didn’t forget any or my words like I thought I would!!!! I’m hoping to get a taping of it soon so I can put it up on YouTube or something so that you all can see it!!!! It really was an amazing experience and a lot more people showed up than I thought.

ERRSA- ERRSA has been crazy! We had a four hour meeting the other night to go over constitution stuff and it was so crazy. I loved it, of course, because I love doing that kind of stuff and running meetings by Parliamentary Procedure!!! It was almost like heaven.. . okay not almost!!!

For the rest of this semester I’m just going to be getting ready for summer. I have been interviewing for a summer camp counselor job and It looks very hopeful, so if I get that I will be doing training during summer A and then be a counselor for Summer B!!!! On top of that I will be taking two classes each summer session AND hopefully starting to fly!!!

Also this summer, I know I told you all about the video that I wanted to do in order to give like a tour of the residence halls so that people can see the rooms they will be staying in opposed to the floor plans that the university has on the site now. I will be working with a friend on that to get it out to you all as soon as possible so make sure you are watching out for that!!!

Otherwise, that’s about all I got! I think I will be posting one more time before the end of the year, but since I’m staying for summer maybe I can get some out during the summer as well so that you all can see what summer life on campus is like!!! I hope everyone is doing well and drop me an email to say hello or IM me or something!!! Also, if you have any ideas on what you would like to see in the video please feel free to email those ideas to me, as we are doing this to benefit you guys!!!! “Dreams are just dreams when their stuck inside your head…. Dreams are for real!!!!” – Dreams, by Diana DeGarmo!

Until Next Time,

Joey

Email: Jaworksj@erau.edu

AIM: HYPORBOY226

Pics: www.virb.com/joejaworskiatc

Well hello to everyone! Long time no talk! I have had a crazy month with school, spring break, and a hundred other things going on. I’ve been having a blast here in Daytona, and I have some great news! I am now an instrument rated pilot! I’ll be sure to tell you all about my festivities and my new rating, but I’ll go over some classes first.

MWF 10:30am-11:30am – Air Traffic Management III – We have worked as controllers in all parts of Daytona’s airspace, and our last section that we are working on is called the Final Sector. There are four sectors: North, South, High, and Final. Final Sector is basically the airspace that extends from the end of the runway outward where all the planes get vectored to land. You have to line them all up, but keep enough spacing between them. And of course, you’ll have a Delta flight going 200 kts and then a Cessna going 100 kts so everything gets messed up. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it though, and my friends and I definitely have a lot of fun, so it’s all good.

TTH 8:15am-9:30am – Aviation Legislation – This class is becoming more and more frustrating. I just took my 3rd test, I think I did pretty well but our professor hasn’t graded them yet. The thing I’m frustrated about is our group paper. Long story short, one group member dropped the class two days ago, and didn’t tell us; another member didn’t turn the paper in until 4 days after we all agreed to have it turned in; and another member still hasn’t turned it in and the paper is due in 4 hours. So, as of now, I’m not a big fan of group projects. Hopefully I can talk to the professor and work something out.

TTH 9:45am-11:00am – Aerodynamics – We took our 2nd test and, after the extra credit was added, I ended up with a 109! Woo woo! I was pretty excited about that. Other than that, nothing new in this class; just some aerodynamical action.

TTH 11:15am-12:30pm – Commercial Pilot Ops. – I definitely enjoy this class, because every class is like a discussion and not just a teacher lecturing for an hour. We actually played Jeopardy last class, and my team won! Our professor came up with questions and we split into teams and answered them. It was actually pretty fun and in my opinion a good way to learn. It was definitely different than the normal class and I think a nice change up is always good.

TTH 3:45pm-5:00pm – Aircraft Engines – On our last test I ended up with an 88, so as of now my average is an 88.5. I’m working hard to bring that up to a 90 so I can get an A in the class, so we’ll see how that goes. Other than that, there’s really not much else to say about this class, so yeah.

TTHS 7:45pm-12:00am – Flight – So it’s official . . . I am now an instrument rated pilot. Since August I have been working towards this, and I finally am done! I had my oral a while ago as you now, but I completed the flight and simulator portion just a couple days ago! Overall, it wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be. I ended up being in the zone and I did everything right so I passed with flying colors (I’m not sure what that means, but flying colors sounds good). But here at Riddle, there’s very little time to rest. I am currently in the process of signing up for a flight block so I can start my commercial course. I will start it in April and continue flying over the summer. Hopefully I’ll get it completed by next fall so I can move on even further!

So classes have been going good, flying has been going great, and everything else has been just awesome! I’ll start with how the Spring Break went.

Colorado . . . Awesome. I had a blast out west and me and my friends are already planning a trip next year. It really was incredible. I got out there on a Friday and met up with my friend Alex. We got to go do some ice skating and snowboarding on Saturday before we went back to the airport to go pick up my friends Cris and Aaron.

We were supposed to pick them up at 10pm, but after flight delays they didn’t get in until 12:30am. Then we drove two hours away to our hotel in the mountains. We all went to bed around 4 and woke up at 8 to go snow boarding. My friend Aaron grew up in Pennsylvania, so he has been boarding for a while. My friend Cris is from Miami, and he has never snowboarded before, so we were teaching him the whole trip. He actually picked it up pretty quickly, well, at least a lot faster than I did when I first started. We had him going down some black diamonds by the end of the trip.

After we all went snowboarding on Sunday, Alex and a couple of his friends that were with us drove back because they had school on Monday. So it was just me, Cris, and Aaron. We went snowboarding on Monday and Tuesday as well, and since Alex had a season pass, he was able to get us wicked cheap lift tickets. I mean wicked cheap. So that was nice because the trip was already costing lots of mula!

After a long day of boarding on Monday, Cris had the bright idea to go snowboarding on a small mountain behind our hotel. Of course Aaron and I thought it was a great idea as well. The whole extravaganza took over 3 hours and was quite a workout. It started hiking to the mountain which was basically crawling through 5-6 feet of powder and trying not to fall through. Once we got to the base, we started hiking up which proved challenging because of all the fresh powder and the fact that the mountain was about a 45 degree angle. We finally got to the top and the view was pretty nice. You could look right over the little town of Winter Park and even see where we boarded just hours before. Finally, it was time to go down, which was a lot more fun, and quicker. I put all the pressure on my back foot and just cruised through the powder. It felt like I was riding through clouds. I have never experienced anything like that before. It was amazing. After that, we were pretty beat, so we went to hit up the hot tub.

Overall, the trip was awesome. No broken bones, it snowed every night, lots of fresh powder, and snowboarding in the best place I have ever gone with good friends. You can’t ask for much more. Unfortunately, the trip home was anything but awesome. I don’t want to go into too many details because the trip really was awesome, but I’ll give you a time line:

4:00am – Wake up, get ready, hop on shuttle for the airport.
7:00am – Arrive at airport, plane doesn’t leave until 10, why am I up this early?
10:00am – Flight gets delayed, then delayed, and then some more delays.
1:00pm – Finally leave Denver.
5:00pm – Arrive in Philly, run to plane that is supposed to depart any minute.
5:07pm – Get to plane in record time. I’m sweaty, cranky, and tired. Find out the flight is delayed. A 2 hour delay.
7:00pm – Leaving Philly, next stop Florida!
8:30pm – Wait, plane broke, everyone off plane. Get on new plane. Now to Florida.
11:00pm – Land in Florida!
11:30pm – Get bags, realize there is still an hour drive ahead of me.
12:30am – Finally in my own bed, so tired, set alarm for 7 hours, work tomorrow :/

Looking back, it wasn’t too bad. The whole time I was there with Aaron, so time went by pretty quick. Also, it’s good to stay positive, so I just viewed it as getting some practice living in airports because that’s what I’ll end up doing when I’m older!

The rest of spring break, I just ended up working a bit and trying to make some money. On Easter I went to go see family which was fun. I don’t get to see them too often, so it’s always nice to see them.

It has been getting hotter and hotter, so beach weather is rapidly approaching. I went out last week with some friends, and even though the water was still pretty cold, we threw the Frisbee around and caught some rays, as the kids say.

As many of you know, my roommate did some aerobatic flying a while back, and I recently got the opportunity to do some as well! There was a professor that was doing a research study involving pilots recovering from bad situations. All the tests are done at high altitudes so as to not crash. I was part of the control group who received no special training, so basically I got to go mess around in a Decathlon. We did loops, barrel rolls, and various other aerobatic maneuvers. The pilot that I flew with showed me how to do them, and then he let me try. It was a blast! The whole thing was free and apparently I helped them in their study, so everybody won. I ended up pulling 4.5 Gs (four and a half times my weight pushing down on me) and we got to 0 Gs as well (floating in the air, like an astronaut in space)!

In other news, I’m having a lot of fun in AOA. I’m getting to know the members more and more and they are all great. Just recently we had a fly out to St. Augustine, which is where 9 people rented 3 airplanes and we all flew to go grab dinner. It was a lot of fun! I got to fly an older airplane that had the round dials instead of the two big screens like I’m used to, and it was awesome. It is such a different experience, and I’m definitely glad I got to experience it. Also, we entered in a gliding competition where we built a glider out of balsa wood. We ended up getting 2nd in distance, and 1st in design! We walked away with around $250, so it was definitely successful. We put all the money into Relay For Life, which took place this past weekend.

If you don’t know about Relay For Life, it’s a great cause and you can find out more here: http://www.relayforlife.org/relay

Basically, it is an event where you raise money for the American Cancer Society and we ended up raising just under $1000. The whole night was full of activities and fun things to do, and our whole group has a blast. The theme of the whole event was movies, so we chose Super Troopers as our movie. We made pancakes and walked around with badges and handcuffs. A couple of us ended up staying up until 7am just playing Frisbee and battling each other on some American Gladiator type obstacle courses.

One of my friends in AOA works on the Delta ramp at Daytona’s airport and he got the whole group to go out one night and see a Boeing 757 up-close and personal. We were all allowed to walk out on the ramp and go underneath the plane. We hopped in the engine, saw all the landing gear and got a general tour of the whole plane. It was really cool to be so close to such a huge airplane.

This past weekend, I got the chance to go to Sea World with Cris, Aaron, and 8 of Aaron’s residents. Aaron is an RA, and a cool one at that. We all piled into Embry-Riddle’s housing van and drove down to Orlando. We saw some dolphins, turtles, sharks, seals, and of course SHAMU!!!! I actually liked the dolphin show more than the Shamu show, but still, both were awesome. Yet another perk of living in Daytona, so close to all the theme parks.

Well, I think that will do it for this journal, but stay tuned for next time because I have some good stuff to cover. For one, almost our entire chapter of AOA is going on a retreat to South Carolina next weekend, I’ll be signing up for next year’s classes soon, and I am planning a trip to fly to Miami with my friends Cris and Aaron. It should be a fun next couple of weeks.

Be sure to check out some pictures online. I have added some already, and will add more soon. Also, I have been having trouble with my YouTube account, but hopefully I can clear that up and upload some more videos! Until next time . . . you stay classy . . .

-Blake

email: wasteofsoap@yahoo.com

pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasteofsoap/

videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=blakeguiles