Tests, Tests, Tests

Test always seem to come in rounds in College. You have tests for all of your classes within about four days of each other. Hopefully your teachers let you know well ahead of time that you are going to have a test.

Weird stuff: I’m sure this has happened to many college students, but it is kind of strange to be surfing around on facebook and then see a few of your high-school-mates in wedding pictures for their own wedding. Not that I have any problem with marriage, but I don’t know. Wait until you graduate and get into college and then see your friends’ wedding pictures where they are drinking apple juice instead of wine to toast because they are not 21. It’s just weird. So that was my little tangent on that. Thought it was worth mentioning that uh people, I guess, really DO grow up after high school. Sometimes maybe a little too fast, eh?

Things have been moving pretty slow since I finished my recent wave of exams. However, the semester’s end is coming a little too quickly for my tastes. I turn around and we only have two and a half weeks left of my first year of college! Time flies when you’re having fun or working your toosh off. Literally, I think the last time I actually thought about it, we had a month left and then POOF two weeks!!! It’s nice though.

Except that I am staying to take classes over the summer, so I don’t really get much of a break. Steve and I are going to Virginia right after our last exams, picking up furniture, and driving back to Daytona with Sophie in tow! We made our security deposit on the apartment today, and we were told that we can look at our ACTUAL apartment sometime next week after they clean it. I’m full of antici…….pation.

The weather in Daytona has been dismal the last few days. It’s not Floridian at all, to be honest, which takes some of the fun out of it. We’ve managed to keep ourselves fairly busy, though. Been bowling a lot. I’m getting better, not that I was ever truly terrible.

Anyway my point is that even when you can’t laze around in the sun at the beach or have a cookout in the pits outside, there’s still stuff to do. Shopping, movies, and bowling. I think for my last journal of the semester I’ll give you all a run down of things you ought to see and do (and eat) in Daytona. Hopefully it will prove a helpful little guide for you when you come to Riddle, which I know all of you undoubtedly will, right?

OH! And I just registered for fall semester classes last night under my new and improved SOPHOMORE status! Yay! And just so you know, registering as a freshman sucks because you are the DEAD LAST people to register and you are all battling for the same classes. Trust me; it gets a lot better once you are bumped up. I didn’t have any problems at all with my registration this time, AND the server didn’t completely crap out like it did when our 1,000+ freshmen tried to register for spring classes at the end of last fall semester. So yeah, it gets better. Don’t fret.

That’s all for this week. Email me if you feel the need! Rumbebb5@erau.edu

Last weekend was fairly uneventful, but it did mark the beginning of bike week. I’m not that into bikes, but some of my friends seem to like them. All I know was that traffic was horrible, so getting anywhere was a real chore. I spent most of my weekend inside.

The week was kind of busy. I had a few tests, went to the gym, worked some, etc. Not really too much else to say about that.

I worked an evening shift Friday, and then that night we went to see 300- the new movie about the Spartan warriors and some crap (I got kind of lost in the details). It was really good. All the men were very hunky.

Parking was a nightmare, though. Saturday I woke up somewhere around noon – which is so nice when you have to wake up early every other day. And Wood 5 decided that we should have a cookout and make hotdogs and smores.

So we bought wood, hotdogs, chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, pokers to put the hotdogs/smores on, huge matches, and Steve bought some camping chairs. Then we went to Daytona Beach to this little fire pit, and there was a number that said we needed to make a reservation, even though nobody was using it. So I asked a Beach Patrol guy if we could use it and he was really mean to me.

We were still trying to meet up with my friend Kim, so we decided we would go to New Smyrna Beach to meet her at the airport.

When we met up at the airport, we both didn’t know how to get to the New Smyrna beaches, so we decided we would go inside and ask someone. One of the flight instructors gave us directions which turned out to be bad. We did end up at some park, and we asked some locals for directions, which turned out to be bad. Eventually we found the New Smyrna beaches on our own and when we got there it was dark. But then one of the boys saw a sign that said “No open fires.” We had already dug a hole, so a few of us sat around it and ate cold smores. It was kind of bleak.

We were next to the cars getting ready to leave when I realized that I had lost Ryan’s (my boyfriend) ring when I took it off to dig in the sand. He gave it to me for our one year anniversary, so it’s kind of important. I checked the pocket I had put it in and realized it wasn’t in there and proceeded to freak out. I seriously could not breathe and I felt like I was going to throw up. So Kim and Steve were coaching me to breathe and calm down and the search commenced. After about five minutes of searching, Kim found the ring in the sand – it was a one in a thousand type thing. I burst into tears, and the day was saved.

You guys don’t lose valuable stuff at the beach.

Then we went back to the dorms. I set my alarm for 6:30, because I use my cell phone and it corrects itself for daylight savings. But it also pushed my alarm time forward, so I woke up at 7:30, which is when I was supposed to be at work.

I got to work at 8. Thankfully, it was really foggy, so no one showed up for the morning flights. And then I worked for eleven hours straight, but I’m not complaining!!! As much as I don’t like being at work ALL day on a weekend, I REALLY don’t like not having money for the rest of the week.

Monday was a typical Monday, I suppose. It was a very long day. Classes until 3:30, and then I took an absurdly long nap in the afternoon. That’s the thing about college – you learn to sleep when you can. In the evening I went to the gym (which I’ve been doing a lot lately), and then drove ALL the way past Orlando to pick up one of Boris’ Bulgarian friends who is staying in the dorms with us.

We didn’t get back to Daytona until around 12:30 or 1 am. But that’s okay.

Plans for Spring Break include going home, hopefully flying some, visiting family in Pennsylvania, And we’ll see.

Shoot me an email if you have any questions – I respond to all of them!

– CAT rumbebb5@erau.edu

SPRING BREAK!

Spring Break was fun.  I had to work the Friday night before, so I didn’t fly out until Saturday.  I got to VA around noon.  I spent some time with my best friend (whose birthday is today), some other friends, my family, and my boyfriend.

I also got to fly, which was nice.  I flew to the airport where I got my training for my private pilot’s license.  It is currently being redesigned and renovated.  So far, I don’t like it much, since it is very different from what I’m used to, and it’s still all plywood and nails.  I’ll probably warm up to it when it’s finished.

Steve had a birthday over Spring Break (he’s 21 ooooooh), and I missed it.  But prior to Spring Break Cassie and I gave him his gift, which was a teddy bear named Sampson Von Kriegenbergh that we made at the mall.  It sings the most annoying version of “Happy Birthday” that I have ever heard.

APARTMENT!!!  Steve and I signed up for our apartment – we finally got all of our paperwork filled out and turned in, and we picked out which apartment we wanted.  We chose a second story apartment facing the woods.  There’s also plenty of lawn behind it for my dog (Sophie, pictured below) to run around in.  We’re both very excited about it.  We’re also excited about adopting a kitten once we move in.  Everybody loves kittens.

Over Spring Break I also got a chance to hang out with another good friend of mine and play with her new son.  He was so sweet, and although prior to his birth, I really disliked children, I think I’m warming up to them now.  He’s also pictured below, isn’t he cute?

The return home was relatively stress free.  In fact, this week has gone by very quickly, and all of a sudden… I have two tests tomorrow and one on Friday.  So I’m off to study.

Email me with questions/comments!

– Cat

Greetings.

My trip home last weekend went rather well. The boys of Wood 5 stayed in Daytona and suffered through the Daytona 500. They worked at the race. I’m sure they had fun, but I’m kind of glad I wasn’t here.

Over the past week I have been ridiculously sick. Apparently (according to my mom) there is something going around Virginia that I picked up and brought back to Daytona with me. I had two days of barely being able to get out of bed, and I even went to the hospital at one point. So, needless to say, this was not Cat’s Best Week Ever. Luckily, the hospital is right across the street, and I discovered that some medicine I was taking was giving me some weird symptoms.

I missed a few days of class, but if you email professors ahead of time and are legitimately ill (like if you have an E.R. bracelette), they are fairly lenient about letting you make up what you miss.

And although the dorms make it easy for illnesses to spread (which, I’m happy to say, was not the case with my plague), the good thing is – there is always someone there to check up on you and get you anything you may need. Like ginger ale. Or a bucket.

My dad flew in on Friday and parked his plane at New Smyrna (where I work). I took him to Woody’s Barbecue – which, by the way, EVERYONE should visit. It’s at Nova and Dunlawton and they have THE BEST barbecue ever. We also went to a LASER LIGHT SHOW!!!! I know, it’s so 80s. But it was the Beatles and the Beatles are awesome, so I didn’t feel too dorky.

Last night we went on a casino cruise, which seemed like a good idea, until the boat started heading out to sea and rocking back and forth and to and from and… ugh. Many of our party were not feeling well. It was kind of miserable until the bartender made us an anti-sick concoction which worked very well. Everyone lost money except Steve, who won a lot. I guess he’s just lucky.

Today my dad accompanied me to all of my classes. He seemed to enjoy most of them. And since he’s a pilot, he was interested in all of the subjects.

And that’s about it! Email me if you have questions/comments!

– Cat

Hi, folks!

Not too much has been going on in Daytona since I last wrote a journal. The semester is well underway, and it’s been good so far. I’ve been hanging out with new friends, and old, and just generally hanging around Daytona.

Thankfully, the first batch of exams for this semester is over. A lot of the time it just so happens that you will have four or so exams in one week, or, as was the case for an unlucky friend of mine, in one day. This can be a bit stressful, but if you plan ahead it shouldn’t be a problem. A lot of the time, it’s not like high school where you can just review your notes a half hour before the test and get an A on it. So preparation is key.

Ah, let’s see, stuff that’s been going on these past two weeks. A few of my friends’ family members visited, which was nice. One of my friends had a birthday. Valentine’s Day came and went, and our hall was really great about circulating V-Day gifts. It was very sweet and the boys of Wood 5 got some good brownie points from my roommate and I.

OH YES! A run down of the first AT course, AT 300. At the beginning, it was a LOT of history (ugh, I hate history). History of the ATC system, aviation in general, regulations, legislation, etc. We also learned a few parts of the 7110.65, which I’m told is the ATC’s bible. Along with that, we learned the different types of controllers and what they are responsible for. This was helpful, since eventually I’ll have to pick which type of controller I’d like to be. As of yet, I’m still undecided, but leaning towards TRACON. So that’s AT 300 so far.

This weekend I will be going home to visit. I’m excited about it. After spending a huge winter break at home, it was difficult to come back to Riddle for a month. So my Valentine’s gift to everyone is to come home!

The Daytona 500 is this weekend, and I’m actually glad I’m not going to be here. I’m not a racing fan, and the traffic is apparently pretty bad. I haven’t looked for myself, but I’ll take everyone else’s word for it. Also, I would have had to work this weekend, which probably would have been pure hell. Perhaps I will hang around for the 500 next year.

Next weekend my father will be visiting Daytona for that student/parent weekend thing, so you’ll probably hear about that in my next entry.

As always, email me with questions, comments, etc.

– Cat

I think last Wednesday was probably my most difficult day of college yet. It started off with my four classes, and I found out that I have tests in three of them next week. I didn’t get much sleep the night before, so I was drinking lots of tea just to get me through to 3:15. After my last class let out, I rushed to my car and went to work.

At work, the computers had been down all day, so they had to hand-write everything that was supposed to go into the computer. The computers came up when I got there, so I had to put all of the written stuff into the computer, as well as maintain some level of organization to the current transactions that needed to be put in. It took roughly four hours of me standing on my feet. Usually, I would have been glad that I was keeping busy, but after six hours of classes, an additional four hours on my feet didn’t feel really great.

I was also bummed as I realized that I would repeat this same routine Friday, Saturday (all day), and Sunday. But you know, I handled it. I got through. I think a key part of college is finding your limits, and then handling them well, even when it’s difficult.

My mom expressed a lot of concern about me working so much while I’m at school. This week was rough, I admit. I worked a lot more this week than I’ve ever been required to work before. Usually I don’t have so many hours. And I think that if this was the norm, I’d probably have to tell my boss that it’s too much.

When you work yourself too much (whether it’s actual work, school work, too many clubs and activities, etc), you don’t perform your best. And how are you supposed to do well in school if you aren’t at your best? So when you’re in college, it’s fine to be involved on campus, and it’s fine to have a job or two. But remember, that’s not why you’re here.

I don’t know if I mentioned this, but at the beginning of last semester I was having some money issues, which I think happens a lot to college students. I had two jobs, and was considering getting a third, because I just wasn’t making ends meet. Asking my parents to send me money weekly or whatever was out of the question. It’s college, I’m supposed to be independent now.

I brought up that I was considering getting a third job, maybe another airport job, to my boyfriend, and he brought up a good point: My objective is not to get a steady job at an FBO. My objective is not to be completely independent and work my butt off to survive. I’m here to go to college and to learn and all that fun stuff. You can’t let tons of other things into your life that are going to impede that goal.

So I asked my dad if he would pay for my car insurance, since that was a big payment that I wasn’t going to be able to make. I mean, I was frantic and stressed out about cell phone bills, credit cards, gas. So I asked for help, and he agreed.

And that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Sure, this is college, and you are on your own, and part of that responsibility is making your own money, doing things you want to do, and taking care of yourself. But don’t do too much. Don’t burn yourself out and forget that you are also supposed to have some fun while you’re here. Remember that you can always drop a few activities, ask for fewer hours, or call someone back home. Email me if you have any questions. rumbebb5@erau.edu

– Cat

Well..

Riddle survived the tornado.

Looking around campus, I can barely tell that anything happened at all. The grounds are completely clean – the clean-up crews have done a truly remarkable job, and I feel like it’s important to acknowledge all that they have accomplished in these very few weeks. All of the buildings that were damaged have been patched up and people relocated, and classes are going on as scheduled.

My break went well. Quite well. I had a good, long visit at home which didn’t involve too much rushing around. I spent some quality time with my best friend, and with my boyfriend, who accompanied me to visit my extended family in Pennsylvania, and of course I spent lots of time with my family.

And got presents. And gave presents.

Anyway, the return to Riddle was stress-free. I was worried things might be a little mixed up with the tornado damage, re-located offices and such things. But they weren’t. A few of my hallmates arranged rides from the airports (thanks).

TIP: ALWAYS arrange rides and get details straight BEFORE your trips. It just makes things easier. Be sure to have everyone’s phone numbers, too, because you will want to arrange rides and talk to your friends over winter break. Especially if they are as great as Wood 5 friends.

So we were all back in Wood 5 soon enough. A bunch of us watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and did that whole hallway-bonding thing.

First day of classes, for me, was great. I had one class in the morning, and then NOTHING all day, because my professor had cancelled my afternoon class. So what did I do? I spent six hours at the beach. I love Daytona. I brought my roomie with me, and drove her back to Riddle for her afternoon class, then picked up Steve, Boris, and Matt and took them back to the beach with me, since they were done with classes. It was a good day. We tried to watch a movie last night, but we were all too tired to stay awake.

Today (second day of classes) went just as well. I thought that four classes in a row would be really difficult, but since they only last an hour each, they actually aren’t bad. So when you are scheduling classes and are worried about having a lot in one day, keep in mind that the length of these classes is much shorter than what you are probably used to. In high school, my classes were always about an hour and 45 minutes. And that’s not cool at all.

That’s all that’s going on today. Next time, for those who are interested in the Air Traffic major, I’ll be posting some details about my first AT class. Hopefully that should prove interesting. And if not, I’ll…I don’t know. Maybe I’ll write a poem about Riddle. Let me know what you think about that.

Rumbebb5@erau.edu

– Cat

PS- Andrea T., I can’t respond to your email! Please send me a different address, the one you sent your email from isn’t working.

I have been SO sick the past few weeks. The illness kind of passed through my dorm in a wave, so I’m not the only one who was miserable. I visited health services, but I don’t think they could do much for me. It’s a virus, so it just has to kind of work its way out. I just wish it would work a little faster. Today marks the two week point. But I AM getting better. TIP: When you come to college, bring lots of medicine with you. I had no medicines, and no money to BUY medicines, so I just used what health services gave me until it was gone, which was about a week and a half ago. A better tip: Stay healthy, don’t get sick, and don’t share food/drinks with anyone.

As you can imagine, Riddle has been pretty busy the past few weeks. Lots of people were taking tests, preparing for exams, and Cassie and I had to do some shopping – we made little gifts for our buddies on the hall. That really made me feel all Christmasy. We just got them lots of candy and some personalized ornaments and holiday stickers. I think they liked them.

I’ve been really anxious to get home the past week, probably because finals have been kind of stressful. And I miss my family and friends back home.

I actually spent almost an entire day studying last weekend… Crazy. But it paid off. And now all my finals are DONE and I can relax at last. So my first college exams experience was tough, but not traumatizing. I was exempt from a few exams – If you are not persuaded to do well in classes just to do well, or to please your parents, or because you want a great GPA, then DO IT FOR THIS REASON!!! There is nothing better than having an idle exam day to just sit around and do nothing, especially when you know you will be cramming the next day.

First semester is over. I think I did really well. But everyone says the first semester is always REALLY easy, so I’m a little scared about next semester, especially since I will have a demanding course load. Overall, it was a success: – Made a lot of friends – Became familiar with Daytona Beach – Managed to keep myself out of trouble – Got a good job – Established myself as a good student – Didn’t gain the “freshman fifteen” – And most importantly… I made a lot of really great friends.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Well, last weekend I went to the military ball with a friend of mine. It was an interesting experience and if you ever get the chance to go, I suggest you do it.

This past weekend I went home again. I’m not sure if I’ve already delved a bit into my nostalgia, but here it goes again: One of the best things about going to school far away is how wonderful it is when you go home. Home is always there and it might be changing a little while you are gone, and the people are still living their lives without you there, but it’s there for you. Home doesn’t discriminate- it always welcomes you back, regardless of your grades, or how many friends you’ve made, or the decisions you make at school.

In case you haven’t guessed- I really enjoyed being home. It had been two months, and some people might say “so what – I don’t get to go home until Christmas”, but I don’t know, I like going home as often as I can. Moving away from the sappy stuff.

A lot has happened to my home since I last visited. I live in the sticks (country yeehaw) and the land behind my house is starting to be developed (BOO!!!). My mom did some landscaping, my dad closed down his pool for the season, all the leaves were red and orange and it was nice to see fall, a definite change from Daytona’s eternal summer, my brother grew a beard, and my dog gained some weight. A close friend of mine also gained some weight, but that is due to her pregnancy. I was very glad to see her looking healthy and with a big round belly. Her son is due in December.

I wasn’t ready to leave Virginia this time. When I go home, I sometimes don’t really feel like I’m home because I spend so much time running around, trying to see people that are important to me. So, I didn’t really have much time to relax. Fortunately, I get to go back in a week and a half for the Thanksgiving break, and I’ll get to take my time seeing friends and family and eating as much turkey as I can handle.

Which will be a lot.

School’s being going well. I had a speech and presentation due, which went well, I think. I believe this is the quiet before the storm. Finals are approaching FAST, and I have a feeling I might be more bogged down as they get closer. DUN DUN DUN!!!

Email me if you need anything at rumbebb5@erau.edu or post your questions to the ERAU discussion board.

Last weekend I worked ALL WEEKEND, 23 hours total. It was tiring, but I was grateful to have the hours (since I don’t work that often). The great thing about working long hours is that I get lots of money which means more money to have more fun.

Last weekend was Biketoberfest, too. It was pretty nuts and very loud. It was actually pretty exciting. My roommate and I went down to Main Street where most of the festivities occur, and looked around. And although it smelled like beer and smoke and exhaust, it was kinda cool, I have to admit.

Visited the mall a few times and I like the mall here. It’s big and there’s a lot of stuff to eat (I like to eat, what can I say?). This includes a candy shop. Yummy. However, it’s not good for dress shopping. I was shopping for dresses because I’m going to the military ball next weekend. I’m really excited, I’ve never been to one before, but everyone is telling me that they are a lot of fun. One of my friends from work who is in Navy ROTC invited me. AAAAND that’s enough from my inner personal life.

Classes have been going very well and I got a great grade on my last speech in COM 219, which I’m really happy about. However, I would like to say that the speech class is a little more difficult than I originally thought it was going to be and don’t just assume that because you can talk, or because something was easy for you in high school, that it’s going to be just as easy in college. It’s not like that. There are exceptions, though, and I guess that kind of depends on what kind of classes you take in high school and what kind you decide to take in college.

My friends and I found a really good pizza place, it’s called Giuseppe’s and you can get a 2foot 4inch (in diameter) pizza there. Which we did. And it was good.

OH YEAH Homecoming was this weekend. In high school, homecoming is centered around a football game, and there is a dance where everyone dresses up really nice (girls love an excuse to dress up). Here, homecoming is a little different. First of all, we don’t have a football team, so the game that homecoming built up to was a basketball game. There was a parade, a tailgate party (with free food, by the way), a talent show, and lots of other stuff that escapes me right now. I missed the basketball game because my friends and I decided to go ROLLER SKATING instead. That was kind of a bust and there were tons of obnoxious kids, and I don’t particularly like kids.

So, to conclude, when in Daytona, don’t go roller skating.