February 22nd

Greetings to all! I hope everyone is having a successful and productive year so far! The Daytona 500 is finally over and things have just begun to return to normal. I guess I can’t get too used to it though, because Bike Week starts up next week. I have never seen so many people crammed into one city! We found that it took longer to drive to the Speedway than it did to just walk over. I went to the race on Sunday, and worked security at the Daytona Club for a few hours to earn some community service. The race ended up getting rained out, and it was a soggy mess trying to leave the track. There was four F-15s at Daytona Int’l for the weekend which did the flyover to start the race. You see, I live adjacent to Eglin AFB in northwest Florida so I am used to hearing fighters, especially 15s, buzzing around my house on a regular basis. It was nice to hear the roar of those engines again. They made me feel like I was back home.

Classes are going really well, and I feel like I am managing my time well enough to perform soundly while also having fun and keeping up with my Pike activities. I scored well on all of my tests we’ve taken so I am very pleased about that. Speaking of classes…

* MWF 8:00-9:00 – AT200 – Air Traffic Management I – This class is at eight in the morning! So many days I wake up and seriously contemplate going to this one, especially if I was up until one or two studying. (studying. right…) It usually ends with me in gym shorts and a sweatshirt walking to class in a hurry. We took our first test, in which I scored an 86 on. I’m not satisfied with an 86, so I really hope to do better on the next one. The tests in this class cover six to eight chapters at a time, so with such a large volume of material it’s tough to remember it all. We are finally beginning the real meat of the course, studying Letters of Agreement, Standard Operating Procedures, Fundamentals of Radar, and Airspace.

*MWF 11:45-12:45 – WX301 – Aviation Weather – We took a test in this class last week, and I got an 84 on it. Like AT200, the tests in this class cover quite a vast amount of notes. But the professor said the first test in this class is much harder than the rest of the tests in the semester so the next test should have a higher result. This class also has a lot of homework and labs, which lessens the weight of the tests. Overall I have a 92 so I am just going to concentrate on keeping it up there. It has been a while since I took WX201, so the material takes some time to make sense, but I eventually get it.

*MWF 4:45-5:45 – PS103 – Technical Physics I – Physics is still super easy, which I attribute to excellent preparation by a fantastic teacher I had for physics in high school. We are moving very quickly through the book and the homework in this class can be a killer sometimes. It’s not hard, just very time consuming. The lab portion of this class only meets once a week, which is nice. However, the lab reports are such a pain to type up and understand. In this lab, me and three other students conduct an experiment and then figure out all of the math that makes it work. The guys in my lab group are pretty smart, so that makes the experiments and computations run smoothly.

*TTH 9:45-11:00 – MA112 – College Math for Aviation II – This is probably my favorite class. I love math anyway, but Professor Collins is an absolutely incredible teacher. On our first test, I scored a 92 which I think is acceptable. This class is really a breeze as long as you do the homework and participate in class.

*TTH 11:15-12:30 – BA201 – Principles of Management – One word could describe this class: Boring. I understand that management is necessary, especially for someone like myself who would enjoy the opportunity to one day manage an air traffic facility. I just wish this class wasn’t a woman talking for an ungodly amount of time. I scored a 92 on the first test in here, so that makes my outlook on this class a little brighter. We are currently working on a group project about a company of our choice about how their management is run within the business. We chose Embraer, who is an aircraft manufacturing company. Most regional jets are either made by Embraer or another company by the name of Canadair. (The prefix “ERJ” in some aircraft identifiers stands for “Embraer Regional Jet”).

Pike is keeping really busy lately, but I am making some great friendships and contacts that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Many people say pledging a fraternity is almost like having another class, because of all the work required. I’m beginning to agree with them. There have been several basketball games recently, which are always a blast to attend. It’s great fun to trash talk the other team and complain to the referees about their terrible calls (which always seems to happen). Hockey games are also a blast, except they always seem to fall on freezing cold nights. The rink is several degrees colder than outside due to the ice, so I always freeze by behind off. Also, last week was the date auction. This is where people are auctioned off for dates and all the money raised goes to charity.

In other news, I recently was invited to join the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, which I am very excited about. NSCS is an honor society for only students with a 3.4 or higher cumulative GPA. I am really looking forward to Spring Break so I can see my family and friends from back home again. My best friend Sam is coming down from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, to spend a few days with me at the beginning of Spring Break. Sam is in the military, so it’s not often I get to see him, let alone spend a few days together. He is shipping out to go to Afghanistan in the beginning of April, so this time will be very special.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope everything is well with all you readers out there and don’t forget to shoot me an email if anyone has any questions about Riddle.

Until next time.

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About Josh

**Minor:** Aviation Safety **Age:** 19 **Hometown:** Fort Walton Beach, FL **Career Goals:** To be an air traffic controller for the FAA, or a supervisor of personnel in the aviation industry. **Activities:** Football, Video Games, Student Journal Writer **Why I chose Embry-Riddle:** Because I wanted the best training possible for my field, and the caliber of Embry-Riddle is unmatched by any other school.

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