Happy Early Thanksgiving! As of right now I only have 24 days left until the semester is over! I can’t believe how fast it has all gone by! This upcoming week is jam-packed with projects due, presentations, and a couple of tests; add on top of all that Air Force Finals and you have one stressful week. Oh well, because after that is Thanksgiving Break and time to kick back and relax before finals. This week I decided to switch it up a little and give an overview of what is up in all of my classes and then just highlight a few of the things I have done over the past two weeks.

MA 320 Decision Math
I do enjoy this math class; however, I’m still pretty excited that it is the last one that I have to take. On Friday, I have a test and it is the last one of the semester. The final is not required if you have A’s on all of the tests and an A average on the quizzes and homework. So I’m hoping that I don’t have to take the final because it would mean one less class to study for.

EC 315 Managerial Economics
Last week, we had our first homework assignment and it took me several hours to research and type up. The good part was I enjoyed doing the research because I was interested in what he was having us look up. This week we received another assignment and I have to write a small report on a jet engine manufacturer. I think I will enjoy that one too, and our library on campus has some wonderful resources for research, so finding information shouldn’t be too hard. The final for this class is cumulative-I think I might start studying some over Thanksgiving break.

BA 420 Production of Operations and Management
The project for this class was a group effort and we had to write a report on American Airlines and their operations. I procrastinated on this project and I think the rest of my group did too, but I know we will have it done in time. Also, we have to do a presentation and I know that we will rock that. Just remember when doing group projects that someone needs to be the initiator and get people motivated.

BA 314 Human Resource Management
This class required a group paper and presentation, also. My group has been outstanding so far and we could pick whatever topic we wanted to, as long as it related to Human Resources somehow. We chose to compare the business culture and some of the laws of the United States to China. Our presentation and paper are due on Thursday, so we are going to practice the presentation a couple of times on Tuesday and then we will be ready to present.

BA 320 Management Information Systems
This class deals with computers and their role in business. Another group project and presentation is required for this class. The project and presentation are also due on Thursday-Thursday is going to be busy! We have to design a computer network for a small business and provide a budget, timeline, and expectations. All in all, it has meant a lot of time in the computer lab researching and writing.

Air Force 201
All sophomores in AFROTC are required to take a one credit hour class that meets once a week. Last week, I gave my briefing on Weather Monitoring Sensors. We were handed a list of topics to choose from and I didn’t know anything about any of them, so I picked that one. It turned out really well and I learned about how weather data is collected in the Air Force. This coming week we have our final; I’m pretty excited to be done with one class!

For the second time, I donated blood and this time I didn’t get a huge bruise afterwards! Last time, the bruise on my arm lasted for about two weeks-it looked like someone had hit me with a baseball. Air Force participated in the Commander’s Cup and we won! The Commander’s Cup is a competition that takes place every semester between the different ROTC branches at either a soccer or basketball game. Each branch has several cadets compete against one another in various events such as: sprints, push-ups, pull-ups, and tug-of-war. Everyone gets pumped up and comes out to cheer their respective branch to victory. On Friday, we didn’t have classes and I spent the day helping get the Silver Wings float ready for the parade. heck out the pictures I posted! I was able to watch the parade and then the basketball game later that evening, which the Eagles won! The rest of the weekend was spent working on homework. I bought a small Christmas tree for my room and plan on decorating it with lights and putting it up soon. On Friday the 14th, I saw the space shuttle launch from a distance and it was pretty amazing! One time, I want to be able to see the countdown clock and then the shuttle launch because I think that would be awesome. This coming weekend is Silver Wing and Arnold Air Society’s Regional Convention, which I am going to since I am Regional Vice-President. I let you know how that goes in my next entry!

Any questions -send them my way!
Until next time,
Kaleigh

Happy November! I’m excited for this month because we have a grand total of five days off from classes! The reason we have so many days off is because of Homecoming, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving. I’m not going home for Thanksgiving again this year because it’s too expensive and then twelve days later I go home for Christmas break. Some of my friends are also staying here, so we will have our own little Thanksgiving dinner. Homecoming is going to be a lot of fun—there are contests for all the clubs to compete in throughout the week, a parade, a tailgate party that Luke Bryan will be performing at, and then the basketball game. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures with my new camera!

Until next time,
Kaleigh

On Monday, I had my Economics test and I think I did a pretty good job. The last test had essay questions and I wasn’t too prepared for them, so this time when I was studying l tried to focus on those questions. Overall, I think it helped because I know I aced the essay questions this time! This semester I started something new and on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I go to the gym for about forty minutes. Last year, I didn’t take advantage of the fitness center and I only went a handful of times. I have found that exercising on the days that I don’t have PT helps to wake me up and get me motivated for the day. In my BA 320 (Information Management Systems) class, we were assigned a project and it’s due right before Thanksgiving. In all of my classes, we do major projects that include a paper and/or presentations. Personally, I don’t mind it because I like projects and would rather do them than have assigned problems every night for homework. Engineering majors are more focused on the assigned problems because their classes deal heavily in math and science. On Wednesday, we had Lead Lab earlier than normal (6:00 instead of 7:00) and it was super cold outside. I’m pretty sure we could see our breath and we stood outside for two hours being briefed on first aid, cover and concealment, and how to do fire team tactics. I went to the Student Government Office after that and got a free cup of hot chocolate. The SGA office has a coffee machine that allows you to choose different types of coffee and hot drinks for free. I think it’s a pretty sweet deal! Thursday morning I went to check my mail box and found my absentee ballot! I have been waiting in anticipation for it and I was afraid that it wouldn’t arrive in time. I filled it out and put it right back in the mailbox! Also on Thursday, I registered for my spring classes and I’m pretty happy with how my schedule turned out. I carved a pumpkin on Thursday night and I posted a picture of it, so take a look! My Economics test was handed back on Friday and I got an A!!! This Economics class has been one of my most interesting classes this semester because the material is specifically related to aviation and the class has a lot of discussions. I was a cowgirl for Halloween and I went trick-or-treating with Silver Wings and Arnold Air Society for canned goods. Altogether we collected enough canned goods to fill the bed of a pickup truck! I wish I had taken a picture but I forgot to!

I hope everyone who visited campus had a good time and if you have any questions that you thought of – send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to answer them!

Until next time,
Kaleigh

Monday the weather was beautiful—it was sunny but the temperature was cool and it had a slight wind that signals fall. I had an Economics test coming up and I planned on studying with my study group again, so hopefully my grade will be as good as last time. My flight played volleyball against another flight on Monday night (there are two sand volleyball courts on campus). We all had some good laughs because a few people had never played before, so they were still trying to figure out the techniques involved. I went to an ERAU basketball game on Tuesday night as one of the people in my flight is on the team. Unfortunately, ERAU lost by several points but there was a guy on the other team that was 7 feet 8 inches tall. I was surprised when he stood up against some of the other players and they only came up to his waist! One time he had the basketball and went to make a basket and it looked like he didn’t even have to jump to get the ball in; just a slight tap. PT on Wednesday was held on the Speedway along with the Army and the Navy. We all ran around the track and I think it was a total of three miles. Then, the Air Force got a picture taken of all of us standing in formation. My favorite part of the run was the end when we stood in formation and recited the Air Force Cadence and the Airmen’s Creed as a wing. Friday after classes some friends of mine and I went to see High School Musical 3. I thought the movie was really good and I enjoyed the music so much that I think I’m going to get the soundtrack. Also, I went to my second hockey game and this time I was able to watch more than two minutes because the ice stayed frozen! On Saturday, I spent most of my day in the library studying and doing homework. This year I have found that I am most productive when I am in the library instead of my room because of all the distractions and the fact that I would rather sleep than do homework. A bonus for studying in the library is that my flight gets so many points for the number of hours we study in the library and every flight is competing against one another. Last week my flight won and we hope to keep winning!

Until next time,
Kaleigh

Today the weather was perfect-it felt like fall because the sun was shining, the wind was blowing a little bit, and the temperature was in the low 70s! Halloween is fast approaching and I’m hoping that some of my friends and I will have time to get together and carve pumpkins. I haven’t carved a pumpkin for several years and I think it would be fun to do it again. Silver Wings is going trick-or-treating for canned goods on Halloween, so I need to think of a good costume and soon!

If you have any questions, send an e-mail! To all who are coming to campus on October 25 for the Open House, have a good time and if you see me feel free to stop and ask me any questions.

Until next time,
Kaleigh

On Sunday I got to go flying with the Civil Air Patrol on an Incentive Flight! Last semester, I was able to do this also and I had a really good time. Air Force ROTC gives Incentive Flights to people who have no flying time or people who have some flying time but haven’t received their Private Pilot’s license yet. Through the program I have been able to log 2.4 hours of flying time for free, which if you ask me is a pretty sweet deal. We flew from Daytona Beach up to Flagler and landed at a little airport, then turned around and came back. On Wednesday, I had part one of my math test and I didn’t think it would go very well because it involved using Excel and on the past two quizzes Excel decided not to work correctly or I put the information in wrong. Well, the quiz went really well and I got a perfect score!! Right after my test, I had my Mid-Term Evaluation with my flight commander and unfortunately it didn’t go as well as my math test. I have some things that I really need to improve upon in order to be a better cadet. In the Detachment, there is a bulletin board that is divided into sections and each flight gets a section to decorate with pictures and motivational items. My flight decorated our section on Wednesday night with some recent pictures and then Thursday night we went out to dinner to stock up on some carbohydrates for PT. PT on Friday was the Physical Fitness Assessment which involves one minute of push-ups, one minute of sit-ups, and a 1.5 mile run. I was really happy with my run time because since last fall I have been able to shave off 2 minutes! Friday night I went kayaking with Air Force people and I had a good time, except for the part where I fell in and lost my camera. Hopefully, I’ll get a new camera soon because I do enjoy taking pictures. Today, I went to a picnic hosted by Arnold Air and Silver Wings and I played bocce ball which is a game like croquet and bowling combined. I had a good time but now I need to do some homework!

Until next time,
Kaleigh

Wow, it’s hard to believe that we are already half way through the semester! I’m always amazed at how fast time flies once classes get started because the first two weeks seem to take forever, then you blink and the semester is already over. This coming week we are having Air Force mid-terms which means an inspection and knowledge quiz. I remember for my first mid-term I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect for the quiz, so this year another kid in my flight and I are putting together a game of Jeopardy to help everyone study. For this journal entry, I’ve decided to try out a new format to shake things up and hopefully include more information; however, if you want to know something more about college life or AFROTC feel free to send me an e-mail.

Until next time,
Kaleigh

I think all of the sleep helped because on Sunday I was feeling a little better and I went to the Arnold Air Beach Bash. Every year Arnold Air puts on a picnic at the beach and invites everyone in AFROTC and Silver Wings. I played some beach volleyball and had a good time hanging out with friends. That afternoon I went to Extra Drill and found out that I would be in charge of marching the flight on Wednesday. I was pretty nervous about it because I didn’t want to make a lot of mistakes in front of everyone. So I practiced a little at Extra Drill and decided not to think about it too much and focus more on my upcoming Economics test. My study partner and I met up in the library and studied for a couple of hours. The day of the Economics test arrives—I get the test and see the questions and think to myself, “I can do this! I know the answers to these questions!” Anyhow, my studying paid off because I got a 94% and I was so proud of myself! Wednesday morning—marching the flight—I did an okay job overall, but I did make a few big mistakes and several people let me know that I was not doing things correctly; however, I know what I need to work on so next time I can do better. Silver Wings participated in the Heart Walk on Friday night and I forgot to take my camera, so I don’t have any pictures. The Heart Walk is a community event that raises money for the American Heart Association and many Embry-Riddle clubs participated. After walking on the beach, we went to UNOs—a pizza place—because Arnold Air and Silver Wings were holding a fundraiser there to raise money for our conference in November. I had a good time eating pizza and talking to friends. The Women’s Center hosted a trip to Kennedy Space Center on Saturday and I had a really good time. I had only been there one time before, when I was six, and I didn’t really remember anything. I posted some pictures so take a look!

That pretty much sums up the past two weeks and the next two weeks look like they will be just as busy! A note to all high school seniors—start turning in your college applications and think about visiting the campus on October 25 for the Open House.

Until next time,
Kaleigh

The Relay for Life committee met on Monday and we are now trying to recruit all the clubs on campus to sign up and have a team. This coming Monday we are going to be holding Early Registration, so it’ll be exciting to see how well our recruiting efforts worked. In my last entry, I mentioned how my group for Management of Production and Operations class was waiting for our topic to be approved. Well, we got our topic—American Airlines—which means it’s time to get started on the paper. We all decided to have the paper completely finished by November 1st; in order to turn it in early and have time for revisions. I need to get started on my research this week! For PT, we were supposed to go on a Beach Run but the tide was too high and instead, we had to run around campus. On Wednesday for Lead Lab, we had a Warrior Competition between all the flights and my flight WON! The competition consisted of marching around campus to various areas and then participating in drill evaluations, proper uniform wear, and spirit competitions.

Airport Management Club had their meeting at the Daytona International Airport and we got to hear the Director of Aviation speak about his job. I enjoyed listening to him because he has been working at the airport for a long time and was able to tell us how some of the advancements in technology have made his job easier and harder. I’m so glad that I joined Airport Management Club because it allows for me to connect with people in my major. For instance, my Managerial Economics class is pretty hard and I needed someone to study with but there are only ten people in my class and I don’t know any of them. However, a girl in Airport Management Club is taking the same class, only at a different time, so we made plans to study together. On Friday, a group of girls and I decided we needed to take a break from all the boys and have a Girls Night Out. We went out to dinner and a movie—Nights in Rodanthe. I thought the movie was really good, but next time we are going to go see a funny, uplifting movie. The next day I woke up and my throat was extremely sore and I had a really bad headache. Unfortunately, everyone has been getting sick. You walk into the computer lab and everyone is coughing or sneezing and then the germs just sort of spread to everyone. I was able to study a little for my Economics test, but I spent most of the day sleeping.

Until next time,
Kaleigh