Author Archives: Skye

About Skye

Junior

Aerospace Physiology

NASA Solar Systems Ambassador |
Flight Dispatch ERAU Flight Operations

4th Week Update

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Hello hello everyone! We are now in the 4th week of school! Surprise surprise! We have made it through January! Happy February! Only 3 more months to go and summer break arrives; well at least for some of us! This week for me is going to be a crazy week. I got a super bad infection last week so I missed some school. All I could do was lay in bed and feel hopeless, but luckily, I am feeling much better this week!

I missed a speech in my COM class, but I get to give it tomorrow. I am talking about NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in particular, on how it impacted and inspired me. It’s our first introduction speech and it’s four minutes long. I have been practicing and I have hit four minutes right on the dot! I’m excited to finally deliver it tomorrow. Calculus homework is also due this week along with the finishing up of “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” by James Weldon Johnson in Humanities. I really enjoyed that book, surprisingly. I am usually not a reader, but considering this book was for class, it was not half bad. I enjoyed reading about the history of what happened between blacks and whites back in the day. It was quite sad and I did actually get mad over the lynching, but it is nice I became aware of it.

Along with makeup work and classes to attend, this week the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E has its officer elections. Yes, the mighty job of the Vice President to find candidates for the open positions. On top of that, we also have our weekly meeting with two guest speakers talking about our research projects that we are doing this semester. My schedule for tomorrow: 8:00a – 12:00p classes, 12:00p- 1:00p lunch/prep for interviews and meetings, 1:00p – 2:00p class 2:00p – 6:00p officer interviews 6:00p – 7:00p weekly meeting. Tomorrow will be a pretty insane non-stop day, but the good thing is that I don’t have classes on Thursdays so I can semi-sleep in.

But you’re probably saying that’s enough about school! Well then let’s move on! It’s the week of the Super Bowl people! The BIG 5-0! My boyfriend and I are going up to Jacksonville and visiting a friend for the game. Now mind you, I am not a big football person, I usually root for the team Josh tells me to but hey, I get to eat homemade smoked ribs so I am not complaining!

Valentine’s Day is also next week. For all you couples out there, here is to the chocolate, expensive flowers and a fun night! Share the love with friends and family too!

I think we are good for now…I do have some more exciting news, but I will hold off for now.

Have a great week everyone!

Welcome to the New Semester

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Hello everyone! Welcome to the Spring 2016 semester! Sorry it has taken me a while to write a blog, I have been super sick for the past week, but I am getting better. This semester is exciting for me. I am taking five classes: Speech, Physics, Calculus, Humanities and Commercial Space Ops Seminar. On Monday’s and Friday’s I am 8:00a to 12:00p, which is really awesome because it gives me a chance to go home and get homework done and more time to relax at night. On Tuesday’s I have once class from 9:45a to 11:00a and Wednesday’s 8:00a – 12:00p and 1:00p – 2:00p. Luckily, I have Thursday’s off so I really am enjoying this semester. In particular, I really am enjoying my Humanities class. It is HU145 for McKee. The theme is music, which is really awesome considering that it’s not literature or hard core history. We get to read a couple books on music and actually listen to old time music.

On the other hand, I am currently a Mechanical Engineering and Human Factors Psychology major…I am most likely going to be switching my HF major to Commercial Space Operations. That is why I am taking the CSO 101 seminar class to see what it is all about. I am taking it with Lance Erickson, the man who wrote the program. He is retiring after this semester so I lucked out with that. I really am enjoying the class. There are a lot of interesting jobs that really interest me. Plus, it is about space and space is my life.

Speaking about space, I was recently named a NASA Solar System Ambassador (SSA) for 2016. I get to do four giant speeches a year! It is totally awesome. I get my own name badge and everything! Once I know more information on it I will be sure to write about it.

As for the new semester, a lot awaits. New classes, new starts, new teachers, and new chances. Most importantly there are new opportunities. Personally for me, I am excited for the new opportunities: NASA SSA, classes, and possible connections. There is an endless number of things that can happen in someone’s life and a new year and new semester sets a perfect tone for that.

Have a great semester everyone!

Weekend Update

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Hello folks! Hopefully this week was a good work week for all of us. Finally the weekend! Something us college kids look forward too. Yesterday was Friday the 13th so it was apparently was a “must watch scary movie day.” And I am the one that hates scary movies! Hope that Friday wasn’t too creepy for you! This weekend for me so far has been busy busy busy. Since all the clubs and organizations are coming to a close within the next couple of weeks, final meetings and preparations are being made to go out with a bang!

MEERS, The Mobile Extreme Environment Research Station has been moved into a hangar finally! As the Community Outreach Coordinator it is nice to see things are being accomplished with MEERS. The tasks for me this weekend regarding MEERS include finishing up the summary for our sponsors. I decided to get creative with the sponsorship level names… Orion, Mercury, Gemini, and all the other classic space program names. Why not? Space is awesome. Next semester, MEERS should be up and running by January. Or that is the plan at least. I am excited to be working on it full time.

As for my life with Society 4 S.P.A.C.E., things are going really well. Bunnell Blast is taking place today and some of the officers and students are blasting off our homemade rockets! That is super exciting! I can’t wait to see the pictures roll in! The most exciting part about this upcoming week is our final meeting. Today and tomorrow I am making preparations from that. Presentations, activity books, gift bags, baking goods and a whole lot more. I can’t wait to see it all come together on Wednesday.

Besides the organization stuff, school is still coming into play. I finally finished my excel spreadsheet for my MATLAB project. Since I am doing a NASA database, I created an excel sheet with three sub-levels. The first level is all about the Astronauts. Each astronaut is given an ID and within that ID the Astronauts name, date of birth, and education history are stored. The second level consists of the data from space missions. Within the Mission ID the crew, launch and landing date, as well as crew size are recorded. The final level shows the mission and the mission type. It only took me about an hour or so to input all the data. Yeah I have a little (aka BIG) obsession with space. I am excited to finally start the skeleton code for the project. I plan on researching this weekend and re-watching some of the videos so it is fresh in my mind.

Speaking about school and final projects, for my Sensation and Perception class, my group and I are talking about Vestibular system. I get to talk about Space Adaptation Syndrome or SAS. Which basically is space sickness. About half the astronauts who go to space get SAS. I am really excited to do a presentation about that on Thursday.

So far, my life has revolved around school and space. NO complaints. I am happy where I am at. I can’t wait to finish all the planning and organizing. I will be sure to write about it when it is all done!

Have a great Weekend!

What Are You Thankful For?

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Hello everyone! It’s that time…it is the day before Thanksgiving break! I don’t know about you, but I am so excited! I really need this break.

It has been a crazy week full of tests, quizzes, and final assignments. It seems like everyone is trying to cram everything in before the Thanksgiving break. Luckily for me, a lot of my classes have wrapped up yesterday or today. This allows for a good two weeks of doing nothing but studying for my Calculus final and my final tests/essays for my classes. It worked out perfectly!

Everything has been coming along really well! However, I know I am not the only one begging for this break to come. This semester has been a long one for all of us. It is well needed.

Over this thanksgiving break I am hoping to see my family. Josh and I are having a BBQ tonight with a few friends as a goodbye before break. It will be a nice way to start the celebration. All us Riddle kids have worked our butts off. It is not easy going to college here. It is demanding and you have to put a lot of hard work in. But it is so worth it. I really enjoy going to school. Butttttttttttttt it is time for a break! Haha.

Since we are going on Thanksgiving break, I am going to take a second to reflect back and say what I am thankful for.

Over the past few years, my life has been a crazy rollercoaster. The big crazy rollercoaster has led me to what I am thankful for and it has made me who I am today. For starters, I have a HUGE family. Four sisters and one brother on each of my parents’ side. Unfortunately, I don’t talk to my dad’s side of the family anymore. Due to certain circumstances let’s just say they did some things to try and tear my family apart but it didn’t work. My parents, my sister and I are stronger than ever!

3 and a half years ago, my mom had brain surgery. Turns out she had an aneurysm behind her right eye on her optic nerve. Yeah, it sounds crazy. It was. It was scary seeing my mom with her head cut open and seeing her in pain was probably one of the worst thing I have ever been through. However, all my experiences, good or bad, have made me a stronger person and have made me the person I am today.

I am thankful for my family, my friends, my life, and my future. I am very hopeful to see what the future holds and I am hopeful this will be an amazing Thanksgiving.

Don’t forget to hug your loved ones and be grateful for everything you have.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Introducing President Skye

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Hello everyone!

What a crazy week it has been! Final projects, exams, and assignments are starting to weigh heavily on everyone’s shoulders here at Riddle. The tension is tight! I don’t know about you but I am ready for this semester to be over! Recapping on last week, I went to my Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. (S4S) meeting. It was fun!

Playing the Video for 15 Years on the ISS as a part of “Space News with Skye”

I did my final segment of “Space News with Skye” for the semester! I spoke about how November 2nd, 2015 marked 15 years of continuous human presence on board the International Space Station, I even showed a cute little video, 5 Fun Things to Do in Microgravity, and NASA’s soon to be new astronaut class. For the 5 Fun Things to Do in Microgravity, NASA just released 5 gifs of fun things to do while astronauts were in space. They included eating, drinking, flying, playing games, and going out for a walk. The members really enjoyed it. In the more recent news, NASA announced it was going to start accepting applications for the new astronaut class. Unfortunately I do not have enough qualifications. However, I will eventually!

Following “Space News with Skye,” we gave out goodie bags and I got an award of excellence. I was pretty excited haha.

With all the excitement, it only got better. At the end of the meeting, Fran announced that he was stepping down and that I was taking over as President for S4S. Everyone congratulated me and it was now official! It was a great semester with S4S. I can’t wait until the next one!

I will surely have BIG plans for next semester. Trips, projects and more! Hey space nerds: come to S4S!

Have a great day everyone!

 

Skye

S4S & The Power of Words

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Good morning everyone! Another day here at Riddle. I hope your Monday wasn’t too bad! I actually had an unusually busy Monday yesterday. I had two meetings in the morning, my calculus class, and then two more meetings and an event to go to. I’m not complaining, it did keep me busy.

One of the meetings I went to yesterday was for Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. We are having our final meeting of the semester tomorrow! I can’t believe it is time for the final meeting! This semester has flown by! Anyway, I go to see the new research lab S4S has. It is SO much bigger than the tiny one we had in Canaveral Hall. We moved up to the big leagues! We are now in COAS! It is a super nice lab and I can’t wait to see it all come together.

One of the main reasons I had a meeting with the president yesterday is because…

I am happy to announce that I will be taking over as President of Society 4 S.P.A.C.E!

I have known for a couple of weeks now, but now that it is out there, I am so happy I can announce it! I could have only dreamed of becoming the president of S4S down the road, but here it is in my lap for the taking! I will be taking December to not only prepare for the coming Spring semester but I will be taking the time to completely revamp S4S. I am so excited!

Last night, my COM 122 teacher hosted an event in the IC center: “The Power of Words: Political Correctness.” She told all of her classes about it and if we went and stayed for an hour (which we all did) we would get 25 points extra credit. I had no idea what I was getting into but it was actually pretty interesting. We talked about political correctness, gender identity, statistics of the population, and much more. The talk ran over an hour so I could not stay for the whole thing, but for the hour I did, it was actually really interesting!

I thought it was really cute how her mom came too! You can tell just from the look on her face that she was proud to see her daughter up there doing what she loved.

Tonight, Prof. Searcy is hosting another event “Take Back the Night: Speak Up Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.” If her students go and take a selfie and stay for an hour we get another 25 points extra credit. Tonight will be a tougher night to get through seeing that there will be actual stories people are telling but I am interested to see how the night goes.

Don’t worry! I will write about it! Hope you all have a great day!

Skye

The Tuesday That Feels Like Friday & College for Seniors

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Good morning everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start! Today is the last day of classes before our break for Veterans Day. It will be nice to have the day off and thank all of the Veterans who served our country. Since today is the Tuesday that feels like a Friday I am excited to finally have some friend time! A couple of friends and I are going to have a night out on the town. The plan is to go see a movie and have a great time. Although the plan for the night is to have fun, I still have to get some homework done before the fun begins.

Now I know the thought of college is crossing every senior’s mind. With the senior year practically halfway over seniors will start wrapping up their ACT and SAT scores and deciding on what college to attend. Not everyone finds the perfect college the first way around. I know I didn’t. Before the whole astronaut thing, I was in love with musical theater. I wanted to be a performer. When I was in my junior year at Coral Springs Charter School, I went on College Tour. We visited multiple colleges throughout a few days. My cousins all went to the big schools UF, FSU, and USF. I ended up having lunch with my cousin and he told me all about FSU. I fell in love with the school. I loved the history and how it was all brick. It shows character. I walked into the bookstore, got a sweatshirt and sweatpants and got back on the bus. I remember calling my parents and telling them that I was going to go to FSU and study Musical Theater. They were happy. They never thought I was going to go to college.

Now I know some of you may be thinking how I ended up at Riddle. Well, surprise surprise. My life changed when I found Kennedy Space Center. Like I wrote in my first blog, it really changed my life. I made the decision to go to ERAU after I decided I wanted to be an astronaut. I did my research and read all about the school. I ended up touring it and fell in love.

For every senior, making that decision to go to college is tough. You don’t know if you’re making the right decision or not. How do you know? Well here is a few tips.

 

  • First – find what you are interested in. Ask yourself “What degree is right for me?”
  • Second – Search colleges in-state and out of state that offer that degree program.
  • Narrow it down to your top 3
  • Tour the school and/or call
  • Make your decision from there

 

There are very basic steps to follow. Almost like a guide. You can add the in-between steps like application and what is needed but that depends on where you would like to put those steps.

Choosing what college to go to and let a long deciding that program to pursue is hard enough. My best advice to you is to take your time and make sure you are picking something you love. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and put yourself out there. That is what I did and now I am on top of the world loving what I am doing.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to reach out to your parents. They want to see you succeed and would love to help.

I wish all the seniors the best of luck! You can do it!

 

Have a great day!

Skye Schwartz AKA “Astro Skye”

Veterans Day

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Veterans Day. A day that we take to thank the people who fight for our freedom. It is days like this where we take the time to reminisce on what our lives consist of. The time to be grateful for what we have and learn not to take what we have for granted. What does Veterans Day mean to you?

For me, Veterans Day holds a special place in my heart. My grandfather served in World War II and some of my other family members have served in the Air Force. Along with my boyfriend who was in the Navy for 8 years, I took the time to thank him and others who have served this country. Whether it was enjoying a meal or sitting down talking about the days in the military, it really opens up my eyes to realize that these people fought for my freedom. They put their lives on the line to save the lives of others. People that they may not even know and they fight for them every day 365 24/7. I thank them for their service and for allowing me to live free.

Besides going to lunch with Josh, I did get the chance to watch four military movies with my best friend. Those consisted of “Behind Enemy Lines,” “American Sniper,” Stealth,” and my all-time favorite “Top Gun.” It was nice to spend time with her and watch the military movies. The reason being so special is because I wanted to join the Navy. I still do. Before I came to Riddle, I seriously was considering joining the Navy. I was going to do NRTOC and then go into service after my degrees. When I spoke to my parents about it, they were worried like every other parent out there. After 8 months of talking and deciding I said I was going to get my undergraduate degree first and then consider going into the Navy. This is what I am doing.

Life throws you curveballs and I have seen quite a lot of them. However, I still am thinking about going to OCS, Officer Candidate School, and serving this country in the Navy while I get my graduate degree. Anything can happen and I am keeping an open mind.

For those who currently serve our country and those who have lost their lives, I thank you for your service to this country. Don’t forget to thank a Veteran. Not just on Veterans Day but anytime you may run across one. It is not just on Veterans Day that solders fight, they fight 365 24/7. They fight for us.

Happy Veterans Day.

November & An Update or Two

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Hello hello everyone! It is finally November! Sorry I have not written anything in a while. It has been crazy busy on my side! School has been coming along. We are almost done with the semester. We have a little bit less than a month left. This is when all your final projects and final assignments are due. I finally figured out what my MATLAB final project is going to be, a NASA database! I got the idea from a friend, Julia. She knows how much I like NASA so one day we were sitting in class and she happened to mention the idea. I sat down and did some planning with my professor and he loved the idea. I must have been in his office for about 2 and a half hours just planning. He gave me some really good ideas and we brainstormed the project. I am really happy with what we came up with so now I just have to execute it and I have a month to do it!

For my CATIA project it is moving along! We are going to measure and model 10 parts tomorrow since my caliper that I ordered finally came in! I am really excited to get working on that because like I said before, I am doing a space shuttle pullback toy. Yes, NASA again!

November is going to be full of schoolwork, schoolwork, and more schoolwork. But there is still a break for Veterans Day coming up on Wednesday and Thanksgiving Break later on in the month. I will also be going to Kennedy Space Center later in the month. It has been too long! I miss my second home!

I almost forgot! Besides the craziness of school, during one of the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. meetings, we had a guest speaker, Ronald Caswell, who worked on the ISS and Shuttle. He spoke for about an hour and a half about the Colombia and Challenger disaster. Let me tell you, being a space nerd myself, I knew a lot of information about the two disasters but I learned a whole lot more! It was a pleasure hearing him speak about his work. I loved how passionate he was. It was like nothing was stopping him from doing what he loved. It was truly a great experience to hear him talk.

Life has been flying by really fast lately. Final projects and last semester as a freshman. I have even started looking for a place for next semester. Time has flown by since the Fall Semester started. I cannot believe it is almost over. With all the craziness of school, I have taken time to relax and have fun. I have hung out with some friends and had a Netflix day where I sat and watched Netflix all day. Yes, it was a nice break from all the school craziness and stress. With a little less than one month left, it is time for the big push. One more month and the craziness of fall is all over!

Hold on Riddle kids! We are almost at the end! Have a great Monday everyone!

A Week in the Life of Skye

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Hello all! We’re almost done with this week! It has been a crazy busy week so far. Exams, quizzes, papers, and everything in between. My week so far has been far from quiet and calm. Monday was my 50 minute Calculus class and another 12 of homework and studying. Tuesday went the same way but I prepared for my presentation on Year in Space for the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E.’s weekly segment of “Space News with Skye.” Yesterday, now that was one of the most packed days I have had in a while. Having an exam and dealing with my presentation, moving, CATIA homework, MATLAB homework, and COM 122 homework. I managed to get through it, but I did wake up at 4:00a this morning to finish my CATIA homework.

My presentation yesterday went great! I spoke about Scott Kelly and how he recently broke the record for the longest cumulative days in space spent by an America, 383 days, which he hit on October 16th. I loved the PowerPoint I made! It even had an epic picture of Scott Kelly while playing a video of his journey so far. Yes, I fell in love with a PowerPoint! Haha

The fun part about being involved is that today the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization/SGA is having a Research showcase in the Lehman Building Atrium from 11:00a-2:00p. Clubs and organizations that are involved in research get to showcase what they are all about. I have to honor or representing MEERS and the Society 4 S.P.A.C.E. I printed out all the materials this morning and I am ready to go! If you have a chance, come stop by and say hi!

Speaking of involved, MEERS is going to be one of the featured Research projects on the ERAU Crowdsource website! We are filming/shooting the video and pictures today at 5:00p! There a few of us will be interviewed about MEERS and we get to showcase our project. Being involved on this project and seeing it now get featured is an honor. Thanks to our Project Manager Tim, and out Faculty Advisor Dr. Jason Kring this could not have been possible!

As for the rest of the week, today will be CEO/SGA presentation, classes, filming and packing the whole house. Moving day tomorrow-Sunday on top of a lot of homework and planning my schedule for the spring semester. I usually would have it planned out but since I added in my minor, I have to re-work my whole schedule. I also have a calculus test next week that I plan on studying for. Lots and lots to do! On top of all that I am excited because I will be planning the next segment of “Space News with Skye” as well as organizing and updating the Astro Skye website. Awesome fact: I met one of my fans in real life the other day! It was so awesome to meet a fan who enjoyed my work. It was definitely the highlight of my day!

With the work week almost done and a lot to do, it is going to be a busy weekend! Have a great day everyone!