SoOo.. back to being a little late, but not too late (thank God!!). I’ve been cutting myself some slack, lately.. been sick with a nasty cold for the past week or so, now. I lost my voice for a good 24 hours, last week. It was the most unusual experience, but I made the best of it!! I’m really starting to feel better.. hope to kick this by mid-week. I can’t afford to let it stick around any longer than that.

As far as life at Riddle is going, things have never been better. My relationships with close friends and the boyfriend are growing stronger and stronger each day. It’s so CRaZzZie how the littlest things can have the BIGGEST impact on life. All of my friends seem to be breaking up with their boyfriends and sulking over it.. really depressing, I know.. but someone has to be here for them. In fact, I thought I was going to join the club, last night.. lucky for me, my boyfriend is very dedicated to making this work.

On the academic side of life, things have been going well in some areas, bad in others. I got a 75% on my first pre-calculus test because of stupid little mistakes.. should’ve got an A without any trouble. I got a 94% on my first meteorology exam.. felt confident about it.. happy with the results. I don’t feel as bad about the AT 300 exam as I thought I would, but wish I’d studied more, now. Haven’t seen the results, yet, because I didn’t make it to any of my classes on Friday. Hoping to see a much prettier number than 75 on that, Wed. I got an A on my first paper in HU 142.. turned in another paper since.. hoping to see another A on that. Also got an A on my first speech. So, other than pre-calculus, things are going pretty well.

Started a new job, quit working at the Annual Fund. I wasn’t one for begging alumni for money. So, I started working the early shift at the PowerHouse Gym.. right down the street. I usually work open-9/noon three to five days a week. Open is 4:45.. not the best when you don’t get much sleep, but the benefits are AMAZING. I get to workout and tan for free. I love the classes that are offered, here. Personally, I’m in love with Tina’s Absolute Abs class on Mondays from 5-5:30 and Rhonda’s Turbo kick class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.. they are SoOo much fun. I recommend getting physically involved to EVERYONE. It really lifts your spirits.

In addition to this new job, I’ve launched my modeling career. This weekend, I went to John Casablanca’s in Lake Mary (40 minutes west of Daytona) for an interview. Since I have to head home for the summer, I won’t be signing with them until August, but they want me.. and so does ExploreNet, the leading Internet agency. I’m not convinced, yet, that this is going to work out perfectly, but it worked for Faber. I watched him on MTV the other day.. CRaZzZie how small this world is.

Well, I still have 2.5 hours left, here, at the PowerHouse. Guess I should get on to more productive stuff.. like writing that paper I have due on Wednesday. Have a great next two weeks, everyone =:o)

Hey, everyone! Hope everything is going well. We’re almost at the end of the term, so my classes are wrapping up. I’m pretty glad about it because I honestly just want to move on for now. The winglet I’ve been building for sheet metal is starting to come along a little further, and some of my hall mates have taken some interest in it. Just on a side note, if you’ve been considering engineering as a major but would rather make stuff than do paperwork, it’s possible you’ve been looking at the wrong major. Maybe you would be more interested in maintenance.

In other Riddle-related news, this week is the Daytona 500. Walking between classes, you can hear the cars on the track, and traffic in this area has been getting pretty bad at times, which is one of the very few things that makes me glad I don’t drive anywhere. I’m really starting to feel the burn of not having a car.

The only consolation I can really offer myself in the way of lacking a car is that since I’m working now, I’m slowly building up my funds. I’m working at the Phone Center as a caller. What I do basically is sit at a desk and call alumni of the school and ask for donations to the Annual Fund, which gives the school money for scholarships and the like. It’s a frustrating job, because you get a lot of refusals, and even when they have a really good reason, like they just got laid off or something, it makes you feel really inadequate because you feel like you can’t do your job right. It’s okay though, because I really need the money. Plus, I don’t have to work on Sunday or Monday this week because of the 500 and President’s day, so it’s cool.

Adding this to my schedule doesn’t help much with a lot of other things though like school work. I already have to make time in my schedule that I don’t have to do ROTC, and now I have a job to fit in there somewhere too.

I’m like 90% sure I’m going to be staying in Daytona for spring break. One, a plane ticket is expensive, two, why go to WA for spring break when you could be in Florida? and, three, I might have other plans anyway, but I’ll elaborate later. I don’t know when I’ll be home next, maybe sometime in between the end of Spring B and Summer A, but I’ll focus on that more when I get there. Right now I need to focus on food cause I’m starving, so post any questions on the discussion board and I’ll get back to you. Later!

Hi!

Hope everybody is enjoying their last 2 months of high school, or semester at a college. Life at Embry-Riddle has not changed much since my last entry. NASCAR started, which I am sure everyone is writing about, has been crazy. I volunteered with the tennis boys for the club for about 7 hours Saturday morning and it was just crazy. The big race was on Sunday, but on Saturday was the Daytona 200 or 300, not sure.

We had cars parked on our soccer fields, our own parking areas, hotels, pretty much anywhere where they could park cars, it was used for. I have never seen anything like this so crowded before just like back home. What I found really interesting was that people could actually bring BEER with them. At times, I was a “bag control” guy, but I was never to ask for ID. Usually I’m used to seeing anyone with beer outside get arrested, but this was different. In Germany, it is extremely okay to bring beer or anything outside and walk with it. So that kind of reminded me back of home. But I got burnt! The sun was hot, around 80 I’d have to say. Everybody from our school either worked there, or volunteered because that’s what you do when NASCAR comes around here.

This is the busy time for us here in Daytona, right around Spring break. You have NASCAR, now all the motorcycles are gonna come soon and then Spring Break. The weather here has been very warm, but at times cold. So people are getting sick around the campus too. But it’s Florida, what do you expect right?

So the courses this semester are much easier for me, I am having MUCH MUCH better grades then last semester. Last semester I had chemistry, and I am not a chemistry person, nor math. This semester I am glad I don’t have to take either one of them. I did get some courses approved during the summer at a Community College so I can save myself some money. Now some of you might be asking why didn’t I do that before I even got here? Well I just KNOW what I want to do with my career and that’s why I like to get started early with everything, not only education.

Well, not much to say anymore but NASCAR was about everything this weekend. Hope everyone enjoys their months before college! It’s a lifetime experience I’d have to say..CYA! Contact me by posting your questions on the discussion board.

Wow, so much has been happening I really don’t know where to start! Life’s just streaking by, class and ROTC are great, with the exception of EGR 120. Yeah, I know it’s dumb, but I can’t win with that class. And when I got in my first test and received my first ever F, it was like the world had stopped spinning. I was in one heck of a depressed state for like a week, because just the day before I had been a straight A student. I decided to cut my losses and yesterday I audited the class. I’ll still attend class and learn stuff, but it won’t affect my GPA. I feel kinda bad that I flushed down 3 K, but better that then flushing my GPA. I guess I’ll work on it over the summer, and retake EGR 120 next fall. By that time I’ll have enough practice to be able to manage.

Yeah, that was like a major bummer (I’d never failed a test before in my life), but the next week something better happened. I got myself a new car! It’s a Saturn SL, and it gets an obscene gas mileage of 40 miles to the gallon. My suitemate Ben drove me to Orlando and stayed with me the whole day while I ran from pillar to post to make the sale legal and get all the paperwork in order, then I emptied out my bank account and drove my baby onto I-4! It feels so great having my own car, I’m now free to go where I want, when I want. I’m planning to change the lighting, put in new speakers and wheels and perform a couple of upgrades before the summer is out.

Anyway, ROTC is going great, we had a Physical Fitness Evaluation and I got into a friendly competition with another flight mate of mine. We ended up pacing and ultimately trying to beat one another, and achieved awesome run times! Guess all that gym time is paying off.

And just about three days ago, I actually had five jobs! One was journal writing, of course. The other was Math and Engineering Tutoring, down at First Year Programs, I think I mentioned that one before. But since I now had a car, I decided I wanted a job that paid better (insurance still has to be paid!), so I went off campus and got myself three jobs.

The first was a temp job at a flower shop nearby. It was almost Valentine’s Day, so they were drowning in calls for roses and bouquets and lilies and teddy bears and candy boxes and anything shaped like a heart. I worked about twelve hours there on the computer, typing up orders that came over the Internet, entering it into the database, typing up Valentine’s Day cards (if I ever write “I love you, Poopsie-woopsie” to my girlfriend, shoot me, please, I swear you’ll go to heaven) and inflating giant balloons that say ‘Be Mine’, ‘I love you’ and ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’. On February 14th I made even more dough by delivering flowers to ladies across Daytona, Holly Hill and Ormond Beach. I was very happy because, thanks to Google Maps, I had no problem finding my way around town, and because of my Saturn’s mileage. Most people spend more on gas than the gas allowance the store gives them, but I pocketed 60% of my gas allowance, because I didn’t use that much gas!

Then I took my money and git, so that isn’t a job any more. I also went to Port Orange and attended a training session to be a blackjack dealer. It’s a sporadic job, and they call you when they need you, but the money for one night’s work is excellent. Several of the events I would deal cards at are in Orlando and Jacksonville, so the farther away it is the more I get paid, so that’s pretty cool too.

The third job is going to be my bread and butter; pretty much it’s a job at the Ocean Walk theater complex, at a novelty ice cream chain called Cold Stone Creamery! I’m serving ice cream to all the kids who come down to watch movies, and I make tons of money. Tons of money always improves my mood.

So that’s five.

This last weekend was a three-day weekend, which I wasted completely and happily, chilling out, going to the beach, doing random stuff with people on my hall. Classes are going well, I now have to work on a mere fourteen credits, so I have a lot more free time on my hands, which is nice. I find myself often driving down to the beach in the middle of the night and just to spend some quality time with myself, and get my thoughts in perspective. It’s been pretty cold out lately, but I’m hoping it will warm up soon. Spring break is almost here, and I can’t wait!

More next time, dudes! till then, chillax, and keep Jivin!

MOTTO FOR THE FORTNIGHT: Tact is the art of making guests feel at home, when that’s where you wish they were.

February 22, 2006

Wow, what a week! We just got hit by the Daytona 500 and what an experience. There were so many people here in Daytona let alone the traffic. Actually, this entire past week was like that for race week, but the Daytona 500 was like the grand finale. My Fraternity worked the races as a fund raiser; basically we acted as security for the parking lots on campus not allowing any race fans to park in them. At first it started out slow, not many people tried to get past our blockade. Later on in the day though, there were people every other minute trying to get in willing to give us money if we let them by, as a college student it was tempting but I was there for a reason.

About two hours before the actual race began, my friend called me up and said he had an extra ticket into the Daytona 500. There was so much energy from this one event surrounding the area, there was no way I could pass up an offer like that, so I got a Brother to relieve me from my security position and went to the race. I assumed we were going to get some cheap seats because the scalpers who were all over the streets were pushing $120 to $175 per ticket, but was I wrong. After walking through the huge crowds of people just outside the race track, we showed the security our wrist bands and were waved through. I never felt so much energy then I did walking through the tunnel to the inside of the track. It turned out my friend had the gold VIP wrist bands which meant we were allowed full access to the infield rather then the color coded zones. It was crazy in there, from the high class RV busses to the BBQ’s going everywhere; it was like one huge party. People were so happy for the race and everyone was partying together from one RV to another. I never knew race fans were so nice to each other and in general, or maybe it was because we were in a very pricey section. My friends and I ended up watching the race at the most dangerous turn, turn # 2 where there was actually one crash and two contacts. We were so close to the track we could feel the wind whipping off the cars as they screamed by. It was such an amazing location where we ended up at the Daytona 500 I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to experience the race.

Classes are going very well, I just started doing the in-class radar scenarios last week through voice instructions to my partner in the other room. They are a lot of fun because you get so into the situations, but in all honesty they are kind of tough. There is so much small information you need to apply so quickly that the work seems to get slightly overwhelming. The best thing I can do though and which I have been doing is to work aggressively at getting rid of the traffic on my radar. This is my first radar class so I am sure with a little bit more time things will transition a lot more smoothly, but I still enjoy the course. All my other classes are going well, Principals of Business is beginning to become a lot more applicable and I am really interested in what we are going over now.

That’s all for this time, if you have any questions feel free to email me. A lot of you have been, and I hope my feedback is beneficial to all of you. Until next time, keep up with your school work and stay out of trouble!

Hey Journal Readers!

It is Superbowl Sunday and life here is great. The semester is definitely in full swing which means lots of work, and also lots of things to do around campus. My classes are going great, so far. I am learning a lot of applications of economics and math for what my future will hold. One of my coolest classes is Advanced Computer Based Systems. It is the second installment to Embry-Riddle’s computer technology education, this course is catered to business students. In it, we are currently learning the more extensive applications for Microsoft Excel. I am looking forward to learning how to use Macromedia’s Dreamweaver, which will help me learn web design. It should actually be a fun class to have.

On the Task Force One front, we have started to put together our mission and vision statements, and we are getting help from the Student Government Association as a whole, so we should have our bylaws reviewed and hammered out in a couple months. We also started planning our spring event, and one of our coolest ideas was to hold the event during the day accepted students are designated to visit here. If that plan goes through, I hope to see all of you who are going to be here out at the pool, for Spring Splash ’06.

My path to becoming a Resident Advisor is heating up. I received a pass from the first round to the second, the first round being an interview in which I had to present to the board as an RA presenting to his or her residents. The second round was a group activity, which I think went great. I will find out in the next few days if I have earned a second interview, after which comes RA class. I am reasonably confident, though I am anxious to find out as all people are after they are interviewed and observed. I really hope for the position.

Things here in Daytona Beach are warming up in more ways than one. The temperature is steadily rising, and hopefully it should be in the low 80s soon. (In February! Yay!) Also, Speedweeks 2006 begins in 5 days with the Budweiser Shootout, so the city should be filling up more rapidly. The other cool thing about Speedweeks is that all the teams fly in on corporate jets, and the runway outside my dorm is shut down and all of those planes parked on it. So I should be able to see a whole bunch of different planes in the next few weeks, just like the ones I saw at NBAA in November.

So, I imagine that in the next two weeks I will have so much more to tell you, and I look forward to getting you informed about the happenings of the Embry-Riddle campus. As always, the discussion board is there for you, as is emailing me at willicdb@erau.edu. Also, make sure you get yourself on the mailing list that the school provides to give you information such as important dates, application materials, and just interesting facts of why Embry-Riddle would be the right place for you. You also might get a poster or two (or eight.)

Until Next Time,

Carlos

A lot’s been happening over the last two weeks! First of all, I took my first ever flight in a small aircraft. I know, it’s ridiculous. I’m in an aviation university, and I’ve never flown in anything smaller than an Airbus. My suitemate, Scott Hasbrouck, is a pilot (he had his pilot’s license before he had his driver’s license, his parents had to drive him to his first solo!), though he’s studying aerospace engineering, same as me. He needed to keep current, so he took me up with him as an observer. We flew in a tiny Piper Aero that weighs less than his car!

Anyway, it was the most magical thing. For those of you out there already flying, more power to you dudes! I loved every second of that flight. Amazing! In almost no time we were bumping up against Cape Canaveral’s restricted airspace, then we turned back toward Orlando and Daytona Beach. Along the way Scott put us through some very sharp banks, and 2-G plus forces, and allowed me to take the controls for a while. Wow! The view was incredible, and though I’ve flown before, its been only commercially, and there’s a certain feeling of liberation that comes with flying a mile high in a tiny little aircraft that you just can’t get with a plane weighing more than a fleet of semis. I’ve always ribbed my other suitemate, Ben, who’s studying Aeronautical Science, saying that people like me build planes, monkeys like him fly them. But after that flight I sure envied him! Pretty soon I decided that if I could get the funds together, I’m going to try and get a minor in Flight. After all, I’m at the world’s best aviation university and why not take full advantage of it? And I’m sure flying skills would not go unappreciated in my job and after all, it is the Air Force.

Okay. The dreaded EGR 120 test came and went, leaving me with a 51. Yeah, it was that bad. I’m going to have to do something about that, or my perfect GPA is going to get flushed, and after what happened at the AFA luncheon, I’m not eager for that to happen.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that, didn’t I? Or was I saving it for effect? Anyway. Last time I wrote that I was awarded the General Spruance Merit award for being ranked the No 1 Freshman cadet in the detachment for Fall 2005. I was told that I would get the opportunity to meet General Spruance and receive the award from him, in person. We even have a building here at Embry Riddle named after him and if you’re coming to Riddle, you’ll come to know Spruance Hall very well, it’s where you go to wrestle with all kinds of red tape, ha ha. I thought hey, that’s pretty cool. Little did I know that I would not only be meeting General Spruance, but the former Chief of Staff, USAF Four star General John Jumper!

Hey again, readers! Hope everyone is doing well. This past week has been pretty frustrating for me. I’ve had a lot of financial annoyances and difficulties getting my schedule to work out. If any of you reading this plan to do both AFROTC and AMS, be prepared to have to take a lot of matters into your own hands. Also, do your academics first. If you want to do any of the other branches, I’m just gonna say forget it. There’s absolutely no way you’ll be able to get that to work with your schedule. Because of all this I’m going to have to ‘skip’ LeadLab on Monday to do my class work. Basically, anyway you look at it, I got really screwed over, and it wasn’t my fault. I think it’s been a pretty stressful week for everyone and we’re all kind of taking it out on each other.

Last week was the Rolex 24 at the Speedway. I’m honestly in no way interested in Nascar, but it was a lot of fun.

A lot of freshmen have been looking for a new place to live for either this summer or for next fall. I don’t know if I mentioned this already, but I know I should probably be doing this too. Initially I was thinking about being an RA, because you get to live on-campus for free and you get paid. Not that you don’t do a lot of work too, but it seemed like a good thing at the time. As it turns out though, since I’m doing the summer here, it’s way too much of a time commitment that I just can’t make. You have to do some ‘training’ and things like that over the summer and I know I just really wouldn’t have the time to do it. But for people who do well, you get a place to live for free. And no roommate ? Even though it would be really helpful for me to live on-campus next fall, it’s hit me that I should plan for the event that I don’t get a room. But I’m still only 17! It’s weird thinking about getting an apartment already, but I guess I might start looking into it as a back-up.

That’s all for now; I have a lot of work to do. Post your questions on the discussion board, or e-mail any questions to kenyonj@erau.edu. Later!

Hey Everyone! Hope you’re all warmed up to the school life already, I know I am, maybe I’m just saying that because I had a longer break then most of you readers. Well I’m getting ready to start flying again. I’ll probably be able to fly more this semester than last because I only have one job this semester! The Daytona 500 IS COMING UP SOON. THAT WILL BE AMAZING!! I’M GOING! It’s awesome that I get to go to the Daytona 500; it’s going to be a crazy experience, I CAN’T WAIT! Then bike week is coming up a bit later. I might rent a bike or something! The Rolex 24 was just last weekend, people were camping out near riddle and I all the fields around the airport, camp fires were burning, I love the smell of camp fires, it reminds me of home in Pennsylvania!! But anyhow, Daytona was pretty nutz during the Rolex24, I don’t even want to know how bad it’s going to get during the Daytona 500.

On to the next deal of things.. STEELERS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!. . It felt so good to see those guys win. It’s only right that they won. ahhaha. Bettis did well, whatta a way to retire !!! My superbowl Sunday was alright, I’m sure that it would have been better back home, I heard that back in PA, people all over the city were representin’ the Steelers!!! haha..

All of my classes are going really well right now. The only class that I EVER worry about is my Basic Aeronautics class. Only because it’s my LIFE! HAHA. Psychology is pretty cool. Makes me think about the brain quite a bit. Kinda like an endless cycle of you thinking about yourself thinking of you thinking while you’re thinking. Business is pretty much all common sense. Speech is just a bunch of people talking, including the teacher. Math is just like it was in high school, pretty easy as long as you pay attention. So school is all good.

The weather is constantly changing down here. One day it’s pouring, the next day its chilly and clear when all of a sudden there’s a tornado warning, yesterday was cloudy and muggy and tomorrow it’s gonna be beautiful, just perfectly beautiful. Me personally, I like the cool-warm full overcast days…

I had an awesome last semester, but dealt with a LOT of problems dealing with LOTS or things, pretty much everything. The big things included me TOTALING my car. Then over break, some low life thief stole my new laptop. And on top of that, my car just RANDOMLY overheated one night and wouldn’t stop. SO!,.. I had EVERYONE look at my car EXCEPT my dad. lol, I had mechanics tell me that I had a blown head gasket, I had my friends dad who’s a barn yard mechanic tell me that I could have water in my oil, I thought it was the radiator and it just needed some water and the antifreeze was low. lol anyway, I FINALLY told my dad and he said that the thermometer probably just got too hot and screwed up. So we went to this shop and bought a brand new thermometer for 8 bucks.. put it in, and my car ran like new again. haha thought it was pretty funny that all my car needed was an $8 part!

Well everyone, I have lots of tests coming up this week and they’re all the first tests of the semester so I need to do really well on them. I have tons of OTHER stuff to do as well. Next 2 weeks will be crazy-hectic!!! take care everyone!!

Justin B

AIM—–> gibso2j

Hey all!

What happened to January!? It just whizzed by in a flurry of school and homework and Sigma and a bunch of other things. I’ve been really stressed out lately with too many things going on at once and not enough sleep.

Anyways, some of my classes are going better than others. I switched my computer programming professor and it has made a HUGE difference with everything. I actually understand my new professor and I like programming now too! It’s so unbelievable how much influence a professor can have on the subject matter. I am struggling the most in physics right now because I haven’t had nearly as much physics as the rest of the people in my class, and I am busy playing catch-up. My machine shop lab is awesome- no homework and it’s all hands on! Right now I’m building an airfoil out of composite materials.

We are now recruiting again for Sigma, so we are having a bunch of different recruitment events to meet potentials. I am also the new community service chair, so I basically find volunteer stuff for us to do. Things still haven’t quite settled down yet from installation, so we are still really busy. On the right is a picture of me and my roommate, Marjory at the installation banquet. (Yes, now that I know I can add pictures I will!)

I made it to the next round of the R.A. selection process, and it looks like about half of us are going to be cut during the next round so my chances aren’t that great. I plan to just keep being myself, and if they don’t think I’m the right person for the job, then I will just accept that.

Have a great day!

~Sara