School is the same, but I think that is probably a good thing. I love that time in the semester when you finally get comfortable with the professors’ teaching and testing styles. I also just got over a nasty cold and I am back to normal- or as close as I can get!

Well, as far as news goes, my volleyball team (the Doolittle Pigeons), is currently undefeated!! The competition is tough because there are about 30 other teams in the league. Crew is also going well. The other day we had enough girls to take out a full boat with NO guys and we had a blast! A dolphin swam near our boat and I got really excited. I just love it here in Florida. I am still walking around in shorts and tank tops, when back home in Minnesota my mom and boyfriend tell me that it’s like 20 degrees and snowing. This Halloween is actually going to be my first Halloween with no snow. It’s going to feel so weird. When I was little I had to wear warm clothes to go trick-or-treating, so if I wanted to be a ballerina I had to wear snow pants under my tutu! I’m really excited for Halloween this year because elementary students from Daytona Beach are going to be trick-or-treating in our dorms, and we are planning on decorating the entire hallway for it! Well, I’m going home on Monday, December 12th, right after my last exam. I can’t believe how fast the time is going by. It feels like I just got here and now I will be home in less than two months! I can’t wait to see my family and friends, and especially Dougie. I miss him so much. For any of you out there who are considering a long distance relationship, my best advice for you is to remember that if both people want to make it work, it will. It also takes a great deal of trust from both sides. A cell phone with good reception and a ton of minutes to talk is also a must. In fact, I think distance can actually make a relationship stronger. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we really care about someone until they’re not around every day. That’s just my 2 cents. I hope it helps someone.

Have a great day!
~Sara~

Hi Guys,

School is coming quite OKAY. I must admit that the first year, like everyone else says is very difficult because of your new surroundings. I had exams in pretty much every class except Speech. In Speech I am doing the best because there are no exams. I do pretty bad on exams. But I catch up quickly. In Chemistry, I am currently doing worst because I rushed my test. When we reviewed it, I knew like 33/40 questions. Quite Embarrassed I am. But I got just over half of it. The final exam replaces the lowest score so I will be fine.

In Speech, we perform speeches on Videotapes. Not to scare you, it really is not bad because you get to know your classmates and so that builds you up. I have a major speech coming up next week with a group which is all nicely organized and planned. We have to individually perform speeches about a certain topic we picked that is controversial. We chose Youth Crime. A lot of research that can be done!

We have Chemistry class and Chemistry Lab. Chemistry class I already mentioned at the beginning. The lab is much harder. We have about 70 minutes to complete each lab with about 10 questions to fill out. So if you don¹t finish, you have until 2 pm that day and 10 points will be taken off. It¹s pretty hard but I am averaging a C or better hopefully because I am catching up like I said.

My Math test I got a 82 so I am not doing bad in that class. The only ones that worry me is Chemistry. I was never good in those subjects but College does it for ya ! All the other ones I am doing okay also. My main goal is however to strive for 3.0+ But I do not know if that is going to happen. Maybe close. Which is still good for first year college I think.

After classes, there is a lot of freedom which many students do not use to study, including me! But of course I use the time wisely and do study when its necessary. Now I know this is a short journal and I¹m sorry!! The next one will be much longer I promise as my speech approaches, Wish me luck !!!

AIM : Mafia6663

-Dinko

Hello again everybody.
Since last time, it has been amazingly busy here in Daytona Beach. Now that I am into my fourth week of classes, I can accurately say I have a pretty good routine going. The work load is definitely starting to pick up and is becoming a lot more challenging, but nothing overwhelming.

I am taking two air traffic classes and I absolutely love them. They are very interesting and I enjoy going to them every day. In my one class, we just learned all about the history of ATC and now we are starting on the ATC system as a whole. In the other, we finished the teamwork, documents, and communications section and are just starting the aircraft identification section. Each of these classes is structured around the FAA’s demands. Everything we learn will most likely be seen again if we get accepted to the FAA training academy in Oklahoma City.

I am also taking a meteorology class and a human factors class. My meteorology professor is actually the weatherman for central Florida’s Channel 13 news station. It is kind of strange to see him in the classroom, and then 4 hours later on my TV, but the class is very interesting. This past week, I had been bombarded with tests, just about every day of the week I had a test in each one of my classes, a lot of studying and work, but I pulled through..

So that is how my academic life is going. Now on to my social life.

Embry-Riddle has so many clubs and organizations to pick from! About two weeks back I ended up joining the scuba diving club and the surf club when they held the activities fair. There are hundreds of activities to choose from, whatever interests you they probably have here.

The University also held a Greek night where you go around to the Fraternities/Sororities table and decide which one you like enough to rush and possibly join. In my personal opinion, Sigma Pi here at Embry-Riddle has the most to offer and is probably the best Fraternity on campus. After going around and seeing/ hearing what all the others had to offer, nothing could compare to Sigma Pi, I had to rush them.

Rush week is when all of the interested students hang out with the Brother’s and decide if they like the organization enough and want to pledge. It also gives the Brothers a chance to determine if they like you enough and think you are worthy of pledging their organization. At the end of rush week, if everything worked out, they give you a bid and invite you to pledge the Fraternity. I was lucky enough to get a bid from Sigma Pi and of course I accepted it. So now I am a pledge and have to go through the new member education process.

My pledge brothers are really cool and I enjoy hanging out with them, so things aren’t too bad yet. This past week they assigned me to my ‘Big Brother,’ Chad. He is like a mentor to me and will help guide me through my pledging process. Every day I am developing more and more respect towards the Brothers. They are all really cool and know how to have a good time. Yesterday we cleaned up Clyde Morris, the highway in front of the University. Sigma Pi actually adopted that entire road. It was so hot out, but the Brothers made it into a fun time. Out of all the Fraternities on campus, Sigma Pi by far is the best one in my opinion.

On another note, I am really glad I chose to live off campus since I was eligible because I am a transfer student. I have a huge apartment, my own bathroom, and no RA looking after my every move. On the other hand I have to drive to class every day, make my own meals, and most of the friends I met live on campus, so I’m kind of out of the loop. Either way you look at it, there are definitely pros and cons with off-campus living.

In these upcoming weeks, there is going to be a lot to look forward to in the Daytona Beach area and also the University. Homecoming is coming up and from what I hear; things get crazy on campus during it. Also, Biketober Fest is just around the corner. It is when bikers from all around the country come to Daytona to show off their stuff, sell things, and party. It should be interesting once they all come. People say that the area gets so loud and the roadways get clogged with motorcycles. I am looking forward to Sky Fest most of all for the upcoming month. It is a huge air show over the airport with all kinds of stunt pilots and vendors from every where all relating to aviation, it definitely sounds like fun.

To wrap things up, I am really enjoying it here, from the new friends to the new experiences, everything is going really well for me. If any of you ever have any questions regarding academics or the social scene here, email me at beim582@erau.edu. It would probably be best though if you continue to ask me questions through the discussion board. If you see me on campus, let me know if you read my entries. Until next time, do good in school and stay out of trouble.

Whaaaaaaaaazaaaaa,

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was alright. I had a chemistry exam and Psychology. I¹ll let you know what I got on them when you contact me J . By the way ..only one person contacted me and read my entire journal, I found that pretty unique.

I was supposed to go home this weekend to St.Petersburg, Florida where my parents live and spend the weekend there but I have a Math Exam on Tuesday so I chose to stay here because its harder to focus at home with all those distractions going on around you. My classes are still going pretty well except chemistry, I was not happy what I got on my exam. I rushed it and didn¹t do too well. Over the weekend I got in touch with several of my friends back from home in St.Petersburg, Florida too bad not Europe, its expensive over my cell phone. But it was nice, I talked to my friends and told them that I will probably be going home in 2 weeks for the weekend unless another Exam interrupts me.

So my friend Justin broke his collar bone playing Ultimate Frisbee down near the ICI Center (sport complex). It is funny how people imagine that sport as being so innocent. Well, he jumped to dive to get the Frisbee, he succeeded but fell on his shoulder as if someone dropped him upside down to the ground. So I drove in his car and took care of him for like two days and felt very bad for him. Since the collar bone is one of the most sensitive bones in the body required for movement, it is very hard for him to move such as taking showers, dressings.etc. I helped him with the best I can. A few days ago he had to go back to the hospital and they put a cast around his shoulders and armpits. At least he looks buff now with his whole shoulders being placed back and straight up. I wish him well.

A car here at Embry-Riddle is not really THAT important. If you need to go shopping or such, there are always people around that have a car and that will drive you. If you just want to kill money and time + gas, then go for it. I personally don¹t believe you need a car unless you are planning on getting an OFF-Campus job. Many students work on campus and have a flexible schedule. Here at Embry-Riddle, many people understand the need for your work to be done, so if you needed to leave your job or something they would understand. Now off campus, I would say it would probably be different.

If anybody is considering a visit, I encourage you to do so and so does probably everyone else here. When you visit your University you are planning to attend you just feel different. You can ask questions from people who are NOT trying to take your money, but to help you. Our Financial Aid Office is beyond exceptional, they do all the work for you with the lenders.

I know its been a short journal, so I haven¹t done pretty much anything over the weekend. I pulled another ALL-Nighter on Saturday (for no reason) with my buddy and now I am tired. So guyss let me know if there is anything I can answer for you. I already did for one person, and thanks for reading it ALL!! – Dinko R.

WoW!! If no one has done so, yet, let me be the first to inform you that college is ROUGH. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every single minute of this awesome RiDdDLe experience, but it is NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination.

So, it’s been about two weeks, I’m assuming, since my first journal entry. At that point in time, things were going pretty well in all of my classes. I was slightly struggling in MA 241 (Calculus 1), but that was the worst of it. Things, now, have started to get MUCH harder. I took a test in my World History class, last Thursday. Let’s just say that this class has been a challenge to get through since day one — the teacher is EXTREMELY boring, and she will admit to this. Well, the test was IMPOSSIBLE. I don’t know where she got ANY of the information that was on the exam. Needless to say, I (along with every other person I talk to in that class) don’t think we did so well.

On Wednesday, I had my first Calculus exam. We’d already taken one quiz which was worth about nothing. So, this was pretty huge. How I did on the exam is still up in the air, but there is about a 50/50 chance I passed. YIPES!!

Anyway, looking back at last week, my best friend, Beth, and I have come up with a new way of going about studying for classes. We’re now buckling down, reviewing both before and after each class to prepare ourselves for what’s to come. I hate having to set extra time aside to do things that aren’t really of much interest to me in the first place, but I’d hate it even more to get a bad grade in any of my classes. By the way, my other classes are going very well!!

As far as things on the homefront in Ohio, things are going well. Monty, my boyfriend, is planning on coming down to Daytona Beach for my birthday which is in exactly 13 days. I’m young, though, so will only be turning 18. However, that is a definite reason to party. My family is supposed to be sending down presents!! I cannot wait for that. And my friends Beth, Herbie, and Greg are going to make me a cake. They’re also taking Monty and I to Disney World for the weekend!! HoOoRaY 🙂

Things are going really well, here (minus being pretty sick to my stomach — YUCK!!). I’m liking this place more and more each day. This past weekend, I went to Orlando with the crew. We went shopping, saw fireworks, and just had a good time. Oh, and on Friday night, we went ice skating. It was awesome.

The previous weekend, I spent with the sorority girls on campus with preference parties and such. And, I got my bid card on Sunday.. I’m pledging ALPHA XI DELTA!! Tomorrow night is our big coming in event. We all have to wear white dresses. And I’m really excited!! If I get the chance to talk with Jill, I may start posting pictures up, here. The girls and I are really big into pictures, and I thought it’d be fun to share them with you so you can do more than just read about life here at ERAU.. you can see it, too!

Anyway, I could go on and on forever about how things are going, here. However, homework is definitely calling my name. I should’ve written a few days earlier. As you’ll realize, though, things tend to slip your mind while you’re at school. Have a great next week or two. I cannot wait until the next post!!

Hey, hey, hey , it’s time for your fortnightly shot of Junior’s Jiving Juice from yours truly, Veda Jr. A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away….

Whoops. Wrong reel. Backtrack…

Embry Riddle. Well, these two weeks sure have been momentous. I don’t think I ever realized how nice things like sleep and regular meals are, and I no longer remember what leisure time means. Sound familiar, anyone?

Earlier I had written about the AFOQT – my scores recently came in. Well, they aren’t great. And compared to my SAT scores, they’re dismal. But I’m pleased as punch, coz I expected to do much worse, what with time playing hide and seek so’s I can’t study. Free Time. It’s like a mirage. You think you see it, it almost crystallizes…then you realize you really imagined it. Well, I never wanted to be a pilot or nav, so that didn’t matter to me.

Anyway…The AFOQT consists of five subsets, each independent of the other. Pilot, Navigator, Academic Aptitude, Verbal and Quantitative. Their purposes are self-explanatory.

The scores are in nationwide percentile, and mine were – Pilot 52, Nav 71, AcApt 90, Verbal and Quantitative 86. I was pretty happy with the Pilot score – I’d have probably gotten a large zero if it hadn’t been for Cameron – he has a Private Pilot License and he gave me a crash course in how to interpret gauges and some common aviation FAQs, and I didn’t do bad at all. Nav was brilliant, donno how I managed that! I expected higher in Verbal and Math, but oh well.

Okay, another word before I quit about my military career. We had an ‘Ability run’ last Friday – we had to join a group based on how fast we could run 1.5 miles, or 2.4 kilometers. I joined the 10 minute and 30 second group because I thought I was in shape – on my scholarship PFT I ran it in 9 minutes so I thought it’d be a breeze. Guess what? WRONG! Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant. But just this morning I ran the same distance in just over nine-and-a-half minutes. I’ve vowed to train regularly…if time doesn’t play truant again.

Hmmm…speaking of time, very early after my last entry I realized that I had tried to swallow an elephant, when I could only chew a chicken. My schedule got so frantic with ROTC, work, studies and all the clubs I had joined that I just had to dump some. Either that, or dare gravity from my fourth floor window. So I didn’t pursue either Arnold Air Society or the Motorcycle Club. I really want to join the AIAA, but their meetings are on Thursdays and I have to work Thursdays, but I’m hoping to resolve it somehow. As for the ISA, I’m dithering on that…maybe I’ll attend one of their meetings and then make up my mind. But I am definitely going to pursue being VJ the DJ!! Hopefully, as a second hand musician, I will be found noteworthy! (yes, the pun was deliberate) First training session is this weekend, so lets see what happens.

The day after I went to Ponce Inlet Park near Ormond Beach for the honors student association picnic. It was fun. In the wake of Rita, the waves were awesome…some were almost 5 feet above my head! I was half scared I’d drown coz I had just one week’s experience in staying afloat, but I quickly got the hang of riding the wave and letting it carry you toward the beach. Awesome! I can’t wait to learn swimming better so I can have even more fun diving into the waves.

Had my Math and Physics exams this week – I did okay, I’ve already done it all back in India. I also attended the Embry-Riddle chapel this Sunday – I guess I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have a job at the Annual Fund of Embry Riddle – the pay is marginally better than most jobs on campus. We call alumni for four hours a day, three days a week, including a compulsory Sunday, and ask them if they want to donate money back to our school. Money we get is used to help and enhance the experience of the students, and several student clubs and organizations depend on Annual Fund money to run and conduct activities. To my surprise, I made 2100 dollars in my first two days, which is some kind of record.

It’s a demanding job. It can get really boring at times, meeting the same responses, saying the same things. Well, if I had to relate all the anecdotes from my job at the Annual Fund, I’d be writing for ever, and I’m sure you have stuff to do, so I’m gonna sign off here. For those of you too lazy to scroll down, my contacts are vedajr@gmail.com, nayak48c@erau.edu, AIM vedanayakjr (I don’t use Yahoo or MSN – too much spam). If you have any questions at all, do contact me and I’ll be glad to help out best I can…till next time, cheers, dudes!

VJ

Motto for the fortnight: Always borrow money from a pessimist. They don’t expect it back. And if you do a good deed, get a receipt…just in case St Pete is like the IRS.

Hey everybody! I’m sorry, I won’t have all that much to report on for this installment as I was sick with bronchitis this past week and definitely have not been up to much. To start off with, though, I’ll just say that taking care of yourself really is as important as people say it is. The past couple weeks I kind of went on thinking that I was invincible, and 0-4 hours of sleep a night for a week would cut it. Not so. Trying to tough it out all the time isn’t always the way to go. With a whole bunch of class hours and PT in the mornings, I didn’t realize that I couldn’t get away with running myself into the ground like that. Anyway, I paid for it, feeling sicker than I have in a while and missing a total of about four days of class.

The thing that sucks about missing class and being in AMS is that because its FAA regulated, you have to make up all the class you missed with extra work. So I’ve got a bunch of make-up work I still have to do before class tomorrow, plus I have to plan out all my classes for the next few years for when I meet with my Air Force class instructor, do my math homework from last week and study for whatever quizzes and tests I missed and those that are coming up. I don’t know about everyone else here, but I definitely had a lot more work in high school than I’ve had here so far, so just because I’m complaining, don’t think it can’t be done.

In other sick day related news, I also had to miss Lead Lab last Monday. Fortunately, since I had numerous notes saying I had bronchitis, I got it excused and have the opportunity to make up the class I missed if I so choose. Basically, there was just no way in hell I was going to stand at attention for twenty minutes in the sun and march around campus with a fever. I also got on MRS for PT, which means I still had to show up, but instead of running and all that, I worked on the computer in the ROTC building.

Finally going back to class was difficult. When you don’t have someone yelling at you that you need to go to school, it can be hard to make yourself do it after having a five day weekend. All in all though, things are going okay. I’ve also gotta say I’m surprised to have gotten responses to my writing so quickly, that’s awesome. Keep ’em coming, I’m glad to hear from you. Once again, you can reach me with questions at kenyonj@erau.edu

hello journal readers,

hope everyone is having a good day!! things are going good here in Daytona Beach, Florida that’s for sure. I’m really exciting about working at Aercrombie&Fitch tonight. It’s the Christmas season preview and all the customers get their pics taken with the employees and I’m not sure if we’re having some models at the entrance or not, but it’s gonna be really fun! and yesterday was my b-day (( 19 !!! ) and my manager said that if there is an Abercrombie party after everyone gets off, it could be my b-day party thing too. So that’s cool! So my work life is absolutely amazing. I went to the beach last night with some friends of mine and had a good time, then it started pouring down rain, then it stopped, then it poured again, then it stopped, lol,. . but that’s how it is here!

School is pretty much settled down now, everyone has their schedule and classes memorized, everybody knows where everything is, and what’s going on around campus, new friends just keep piling up and up . I love it here. school can get hectic at points but that’s when you buckle down and take about 4-5 hours alone and get things done, or however long it takes for you to do your work/study. I have been doing all the online stuff on my roommates computer, but i will be getting my laptop in less than 2 weeks, it’s one of the dell inspiron ones. the widescreen one with everything, i went all out!! my dad got it for me for my b-day and is sending it down over-night once it gets up there! i’m excited.! ERAU is asking all of us students what we think about putting another fitness center in where the old counseling center used to be, i told them that not very many students would want that, i think it would be cool if they put something else there. . like a day spa or something, for students only, and we could all use our Riddle Bucks to pay! that would be sweet!! i was going to go home this weekend and see my mom who lives in melbourne, but this whole work thing is a big deal at A&F and if i don’t go i could lose my job cuz it’s only a select few that got scheduled for this big day, and i had plans , but i think it will be worth it!! i mean, who wouldn’t want there picture taken with a bunch of hott girls! i have to rap things up here pretty quick, i was up late last night and just woke up a bit ago and it’s already 3 o’clock and i have to get ready to go to work cuz it’s a big day!!! and i still need to shower and stuff. .ummm i’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from people lately, and my box is crazy every day, so if anyone has any questions, please post them up on the discussion board under the appropriate category and other journal writers and myself with do our best to answer you questions to the fullest extent! well everybody, sorry so short, my next entry will be more detailed and longer, i promise!! i’m in a rush right now .. sooooo hope everyone is good and i will talk to all of you soon!!

ps, my AIM screen name is gibso2j if anyone has AOL IM. . it’s always fun to chat instead of mailing and posting questions. . bye guys!!

Hi everyone!

Well, school has become much more challenging in the past few weeks. I had two tests in the last couple of days- calculus and chemistry. Even though I have taken calculus in high school as well as a college chemistry class, neither of the classes I have now are easy. I don’t know how I could survive without having already taken those classes. I’m beginning to wish someone had told me that every math and science class I took in high school has a huge impact in college. I never bothered to memorize formulas because they were always given to me during tests. Now, I just had to memorize the unit circle so I could take my calculus test. I have also decided that chemistry is my hardest class. The test we just took after one month of class covered more information than most full-year high school chemistry classes. One of our “booger” homework problems took me and my roommate, Marjory, nearly 6 hours and 10 pages of work to complete. (A “booger” problem is what Dr. Cameron calls his toughest stoichiometry questions.)

I am also trying to adjust to a different lifestyle than the one I had at home. Before I came here, I got plenty of sleep. Now, I will be lucky to get to bed before midnight. It is partially because of studying, but also because I have other things going on that take up my time. I am now on the crew team, (which is so much fun but hard work!), and practice is 4-6pm every day plus Saturdays. I also joined the Society of Women Engineers, and I play and referee volleyball two nights a week. I like being paid to ref. volleyball, but if my schedule gets too full that will be the first thing to go. In college, time management is one of the most important skills to master- especially as an engineering physics major. The rest of the campus knows our small groups of EP’s as either “the smart kids,” or the students who are “completely nuts.” I get one of those two everytime I am asked what my major is. (More often though I hear “are you crazy?!”) I’m not trying to scare anyone away from this major, but it does require quite a bit more work and time than other degree programs.

I can still find plenty of things to do over the weekends; there’s always something fun going on around here! I go to the beach almost every Saturday with the guys in my hall, I went to Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney, Orlando last Friday, and a few weeks ago I went to my first frat party. (Except it was broken up by the cops only an hour after I got there.) The Sunday after the frat party I also got to go flying to the gulf coast with Jason and Matt. They are both pilots that live in my hall, and Marjory also came with. We went to a small town called Crystal River and had ice cream and then flew back after dark and saw Orlando lit up half way back.. It was so cool to see Embry-Riddle from the sky too! Well, I have work to do so I will update all of you in a few weeks as far as what’s going on. Please feel free to ask questions on the discussion board or email me!

~Sara~