I never thought that I would be in college so soon. Even though in high school I was dying to get out and experience college life, here I am at Embry-Riddle, the best school for aviation in the world, and I am in such awe. I didn’t think I would like it, going away from home for the first time and being on my own, I thought I would hate it but I was wrong. The day I met my roommate was the day I knew that I would be able to let go of the people that I knew in high school and build new friendships and memories. It started with a few messages on facebook and grew to a group of 15 guys, who I can now call my college buddies. Things are really beginning to fall into place. Hi, my name is Andre’ McIntosh and I am a freshman here at Embry-Riddle majoring in Aeronautical Science.

My life has been filled with changes; growing up with my dad in the army, losing my grandfather, moving to America at the age of 14 from Jamaica W.I. to New York City, and finally, graduating high school and attending college. But the transition wasn’t what I expected. I thought I was going to cry my eyes out and beg not to get on the plane to Daytona, but I didn’t. I was calm and collected and was excited to leave New York, but in the back of my mind I was still a little scared to come to ERAU. But as soon as I stepped on campus, I immediately knew that I was going to have fun, the school has so much to offer and there are so many opportunities to get involved.

My first week here at ERAU has been the most exciting week of my life. Me and my new friends hung out a lot and had so much fun and we also experienced our first college classes. Classes here at ERAU are so much fun, the professors aren’t too strict but they are very friendly and easy to talk to. The work load isn’t too much, it’s bearable and they don’t assign 10 page papers on the first day! As each day went by I learned so much stuff, met a lot of people and most of all, began to get used to being away from home.

My second week here at Embry-Riddle I started looking at ways that I can become involved and I was really surprised at the many clubs and organizations that Embry-Riddle has to offer its student population. From skydiving to student government, you name it we have it! There are also a lot of sports teams that you can get involved with. Even though there are a lot of things you can do, you can only do a few and the decision process is a hard, especially if you want to try a lot of things. I decided that I was going to get involved with student government, and Embry-Riddle has a special club called Task Force One, which is a club run by freshmen students and is a liaison with the Student Government Association. I am also getting involved with the newspaper, as I was on both the newspaper staff and yearbook staff in high school. There is also track and field try-outs coming up this week which I am going to attend and I am also signing up to do intramural volleyball. As I am beginning my third week here I am keeping my mind open and staying focused on my studies. I love Embry-Riddle so far!