What’s happenin’, readers? My legs hurt so bad right now! I just got back from about 10 hours of volunteering for ROTC at the air show.I worked as a cashier at my booth, where we were selling hot dogs to raise money for Air Force. It got kinda crazy at times, but I stayed busy and even got to use my French skills 🙂 The show itself was pretty cool, and there are still planes roaring overhead as we speak. One of the perks of being at Riddle is that you’re right next to the airport so you don’t even have to leave your dorm sometimes to see this stuff.

Last Monday we had a hurricane day. I know I was always way stoked when we had a snow day up in Washington, which wasn’t often, but I thought it was pretty sweet telling my friends back home I got the day off because a hurricane was passing over. Except for a lot of rain, it really wasn’t that bad. It did, however, drop to about 66 degrees during the day, which combined with wind chilland the fact that we’re used to the weather being about 20 degrees higher, it was fairly brutal. In my maintenance classes, we were expecting we’d have to make up that missed day on Friday, which was University Day i.e. no school, but the FAA cut us some slack and let us slide, so we everyone got a three-day weekend and all was well.

So, time management. It’s gotten better I have to say. I’ve spent some time working on my foreign languages, which was fun, and I haven’t forgotten as much as I thought I would have, luckily. I also got to read more, but I’m still not too far in my book. I still should probably study some more though. I realized I study a lot better and am a lot more productive when I work alone in the library, so that’s what I’ll plan on doing from now on.

Yesterday, Carlos Mencia came to Riddle, for those of you who know your comedy. I didn’t go because I was having homemade lasagna (very good, very good). Cake and ice cream, too. From what I hear from everyone that went, he was hilarious.

Other than all that, everything’s been going pretty great these past two weeks. I’ve met so many new people, it’s great. For some reason, it feels like you meet people so much faster in college than you do in high school. So that’s been cool, making a bunch of new friends from different places. I’ve also relearned to appreciate my freedom here a lot more, so I just did a lot more stuff that I wouldn’t have done earlier in my experience in Daytona so far. Life’s pretty good. One more little piece of advice, for college or in general: if you ever feel like you are being forced to give up something you value in your life, take a step back a reevaluate what’s really more important to you, because chances are, anything that makes you give up what you love is something you would be much better off without.

Don’t be shy with your questions, a lot of you have already sent me really good questions, so just keep on asking away! (If it takes me a couple days to get back to you, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you, I’m just really busy, plus I don’t have my own computer, so I just might not have access at the time.) So, kenyonj@erau.edu

Later!

Hey, guys!! Long time, no speak.. or so it seems :o) This past week, fortunately, has been AMAZING!! Let’s recap.

On Monday, we had no school due to HuRrRiCaNe WiLMa!! So, I went to the beach with my friends Beth and Marcus. Then, we went back to Marcus’ house and ate breakfast. Around 5:15, I get a phone call from a random guy named Phillip who is a member of the AHP frat. He said to be in my room between 6 and 7. So, you’d better believe I was there. At about 6:05, there’s a knock on my door. I open it to find five pledges with TONS of presents from my BIG sister. For those of you who aren’t so familiar with Greek life, a big sister is someone in the sorority who has more experience. Big/Lil week is when we, the lil, are showered with presents.

Anyway, I’m really excited for the remainder of that day. So, I go to sleep and wake-up for class on Tuesday. I have three classes, but nothing due. It was one of those show up and look pretty days. Then, that night, I have a meteorology club meeting. They had a local meteorologist come in and talk to us about his career. Then, afterwards, the president of the meteorology honors society got up to speak. After he’s done with his talk, he calls me to the front of the room. In front of EVERYONE, he gives me my BIG sister present. It was awesome!! After the meeting, my friend Rachel and I go with Marcus to the store to get some Halloween costumes. Then, we call it a night.

Wednesday was awesome, too. We went to the CaReeR eXPo with University 101. So, class got out earlier than expected. Not feeling so well, I go to bed around 8. At about 11, I hear this pounding on the door. My big sister sent our Xi Man from last year (that’s what we call our sorority’s sweetheart) to deliver me some presents. It was so cute!! I was so excited. She baked me a cake that said: I love my lil Maria.. is that not the cutest thing you’ve EVER heard?! After this, I’m feeling slightly better. So, I eat some of the cake with some friends and go to bed, again.

Thursday morning, I wake up pretty excited because it’s the last day of classes for the week. It was homecoming weekend!! So, I make it through the day. Then, I start getting ready for the first Halloween party of my life. I never used to celebrate this occasion. While I’m getting ready, I get a phone call from a guy named Paul. He’s in the Pike frat. So, no less than 10 minutes later, he shows up at my door with a TON of presents from my BIG sister. I’m so excited, too, because the men she sends me get cuter and cuter each day. Later on, I go to the Pike party with some of the sisters and pledges. We have a great night and close down Cancun Lagoon. I have pictures.. at the end!!

On Friday, I have to wake up to go shopping around 9. Then, I start making a shirt that has to be done by 1 for the parade. When I get it on without ruining the paint job, I grab some food with the girls at Propellers. It was great.. I love hamburgers!! Then, we head over and work on the float until the parade starts at 3. Before the parade starts, an SAE brother came over and said his pledges were going to sing to me. They sang the sweetest song about how I’m a rose or a violet or something. Then, they gave me tons of presents!! After the parade, we go back to take a nap until the basketball game. Two of our sisters were up for HoMeCoMiNG QueeN, but didn’t quite make it. I was bummed, but such is life. After the game, we got ready for the Sigma Chi party. It was a GREAT time. I’m not one for partying.. I don’t drink. I just love people!!

On Saturday, I get to sleep in. I’m very happy about this, too. Went to see Carlos Mencia at the ICI around 8. He was HILARIOUS. Never seen his show, but will be watching it, now. After that, I hung out with my friend Derek. We watched a movie and fell asleep. I was all partied out.

Sunday, was fun. I went to a BBQ for my sorority at Ponce Inlet. I saw dolphins swimming SoOo close you could almost touch them!! It was fantastic. Then, we had our new member meeting. After that, I called a Pike brother to ask for some help with Calculus 1. Now, I’m writing this.

I had a great weekend. This week shouldn’t be horrible, but I have a bit of homework due. So, I’ll be a little stressed. I have some pictures, now. Hope ya’ll enjoy them. If you ever have any questions, feel free to e-mail me: olivab46@erau.edu

That was the FASTEST 2 weeks thus far!!! I can’t believe it!! time is going by so fast down here it’s unreal, I hope it was just as fast for all of you guys!!! The past two weeks here in Daytona have been REALLY good. we had two 3 day weekends in a row which made it feel like I hadn’t been to my Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes FOREVER. . which felt really good! we had a Monday off due to hurricane WILMA!! and last Friday off due to homecoming, and I didn’t have UNIV 101 all that week either, so it was a BEE-EE-EEHH-YOU-TIFUL week last week! I never get why they give these huge hurricanes lil wimpy names like Katrina, Wilma and tropical storm Ophelia, they need names like BERTHA or something., haha.. I had LOTS of fun over for the SPOOKY holiday. went to a big sigma chi party, it was fun, really fun. there were lots of really crazy costumes there, LOTS OF FIRE CHICKS!!! haha. I was a mime. I was going to go trick or treating with some friends but ended up going with an older buddy of mine on his instrumental check ride, which was a LOT better than trick or treating!! down on the first floor south wing of Doolittle, they turned it into a haunted hall which is pretty sweet, I haven’t been in it yet, but it should be up for a while so I’ll be sure to check it out sometime soon. Over in Spruance Hall earlier today, EVERYONE on staff and faculty was all dressed up, it was pretty cool! usually we don’t hand out candy at Abercrombie&Fitch cuz they are dumb and have stupid policies, but our manager hated saying no to the little kids all the time, so she gave in and gave out candy. . it was pretty nice of her. there were TONS of little kids running around campus and the students were handin’ out candy, only at Mckay tho, cuz there doors are outside, at least that’s all i saw on my way to the flight line. cute kids! That’s about it for Halloween!! lol

as for other things, i’ve had a busy past couple of days, . i got my Private Pilot book stolen from me or i misplaced it. . lol. . so i didn’t have a book for about a week and a half and that was a killer, so i had to work on finding it, i ended up finding out that some chick took it from me during a study session 2 fridays ago, and she left my papers in it ,and my professor found it. .lol. . my car is acting up right now, the right brake is being DUMB! it locks up every once in a while and i have to pull over if it gets bad to let it cool down or something it’s weird. . lol. i keep putting it off which isn’t good. . haha. i finally got my FIRST credit card bill, almost 2 months LATER!! the minimum payment is only FIFTEEN bucks, i was surprised, that’s pathetic! but of course i’m gonna pay more than that … but enough about that stuff.,,

More and more people IM me EVERY DAY, which is pretty cool. If you wanna know about the campus or Riddle or what i’ve been doing here in Daytona, i can answer you w/ specific details, but i’m a new one when it comes to the aeronautics. . so i can only tell you what i know, i have a friend who’s only 19 and has a LOT accomplished already, he has his private, multi, CFI, instrument, commercial and is currently working on his CFII, cfi=certified flight instructor. . i don’t know what cfii stands for because it sounds weird if you say certified flight instructor instructor. . lol, but i know that with a cfii you can teach instrument. he’s a cool kid. right now we are working on weight, balance and performance in my basic aero sci class, it’s very interesting stuff, sometimes it gets REALLY tough since i’m new at everything, my professor acts like everyone should already know this stuff which is bull crap, so he just flys by all the charts from the C172 manual and expects us to kow it all, but here’s the deal, EVERY time i get in a cock pit, it just gives me goosebumps and motivates me sssoooo much.

The florida skyfest was this past weekend, i saw some pretty amazing things, but the best feeling was sitting in the cockpit of a KC-135 i think it was, a BIG 4 turbine engine military aircraft, about as big as a 737 or so, it was like i got a glimpse of my future!! ’twas AMAZING. i saw history flights (so they say ) from the P-51 mustang, and the A-10, but the best part of the air show was the turbo truck. which was a semi with THREE JET ENGINES on the back, here is a lil math problem for that —> 3 turbine engines + big rig wrecker = 36 THOUSAND horse power, YA! it was ridiculous, i was cussin’ up a storm when i saw that thing take off after a stunt plane passed it, it beat the crap outta the stunt plane. the stunt plane passed ever the truck and went flying by, then the turbo truck took off and passed the stunt plane with NO PROBLEM, it went from 0-350 in like 5 seconds i kid you not!! well folks, i’ve been up for about 2 days STRAIGHT, and i aint kiddin’, my eyes are stinging me and i’m squinting in the dark, and i get goofy when i don’t sleep, i get all slappy happy sometimes, lol, but ya, i’m gonna get some sleep, it’s 11:19 right now and i don’t have to get up until noon:30 so i can get some good sleep time!! once again for all you readers who are new, my AIM name is gibso2j if you wanna chat, i have tons of new online friends! most of you know who you are! so yeah, IM sometime w/ questions and i’ll help ya out as best i can! tell ya more about my Riddle experiences! haha, well i’m off to bed now folks ! and just a lil FYI.!! no matter HOW much you hate highschool or your hometown (if you do) you definitely miss it! enjoy high school while you can!, not that college life isn’t better, BECAUSE IT IS! , but it’s hard to explain, you’ll see what i mean some day, haha, well , i’m off to bed now, for real, haha, bye everyone!

Hi everyone, and welcome back to Junior’s Jiving Journals! The midpoint of the semester is past, and now the finish line is within sight…two of my courses are ending in two weeks, and then my days will be so much easier – I can’t wait…

This fortnight has been a heck of a lot of fun. I finally got my new computer! I had been planning to buy a laptop for quite a while, and I was getting a bit tired of having to borrow Cameron’s computer or run to the library every time I wanted to look something up. I now have a neat little Toshiba laptop, and I am so pleased with it! I carry it to every class with me, and take notes on it – who needs notebooks when you have a notebook computer?

Well, a LOT has been happening this past week, not only for me but also for Embry Riddle and Daytona Beach as a whole. This fortnight, two big events for Daytona took place – Biketoberfest and the Florida Skyfest, sponsored by Embry Riddle.

Guess I’ll start with Biketoberfest, seeing as it came first….during this week bikers (and biker chicks) came from all over the country and congregated on Daytona. AS the week progressed toward the weekend of Bike Fest, I saw all kinds of bikes, of all colors, designs and engines everywhere. Traffic was a nightmare. Outside pubs you could see bikes stacked side to side all the way down the block – you can get an idea of what it’s like from the picture, taken by my suitemate Ben.

Then came the Florida SkyFest. From 11 AM to 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday pilots flipped, rolled, dived and pulled negative G’s all around Daytona Beach International Airport and Embry Riddle’s adjoining campus. There were some pretty entertaining acts – like a wing walker, and a truck with jet engines on it, which raced a plane down the runway with twenty feet long tongues of flame propelling it! In addition to this military jets were parked on the tarmac – F-15s, F-16s, F/A-18s, A-10s, cargo planes…I was thrilled to be so close to these awesome beasts, who can spit out thirty foot tall afterburner flames and stroll at a speed faster than the speed of sound.

I think that if I couldn’t fly a fighter but I could fly any other Air Force plane, I’d fly the A-10 (even though the Air Force is phasing them out), just for the chance to fire that incredible gun in it’s nose, around which it’s literally built.

Despite this, I hear it was not as good as the previous years’, and I can believe that. SkyFest was definitely fun, but it definitely needs work. First of all, it got boring. Not to say that the pilots up there don’t have skill – they risk their necks every second they are in the air – but when you see the same dives, fly-bys and spirals time after time, only with different pilots, it starts to get tiring. The Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels weren’t there to alleviate that. One wonders why they don’t condense the show to about two hours duration – but then one remembers that for the first time ever Embry Riddle charged its own students for admission to SkyFest, and that there are booths set up with ridiculously overpriced eatables, which would definitely not be very popular if the show was a short one. I know I would never have paid $7 for a hot dog and a bottle of coke if I could have gotten out in two hours. And then one remembers the tuition at Embry Riddle and one does think – hmmm….now, what’s wrong with this picture??

Anyway, the first day of SkyFest I was a spectator. The second day I was a worker. I had signed up with AFROTC to help them at SkyFest, and ended up making and serving those very expensive drinks and food to people all day long. By the end of the day it was like, ‘Oh, it’s just a plane diving straight at us, no biggie’. I think military displays would definitely have made it a LOT more enthralling – but only the A-10 did a few flips – the fighter jets parked there just sat there, for the kids with grimy paws to sit in and make loud noises in. Previously, Embry Riddle had arranged military displays, but now that they are charging admission, they don’t seem to find that necessary any more.

All the same it was fun, and the pilots were certainly skilled, no doubt about that. Well. Back to the story…since I last wrote in I also spent an entire day at Universal Studios in Orlando. That was pretty fun, but again, it got boring – we spent about half an hour waiting for every three minute ride. One thing can’t be disputed – a LOT of money has gone into that place – it is a theme park in every sense of the word. One amusing thing was that after every ride we exited in the back of a store. For example, after the Hulk rollercoaster ride, we got off and came out into a shop selling – come on, guess it quick! – Hulk memorabilia. T-shirts, caps, cameras, ridiculously overpriced figurines…surely no one would fall for such an obvious marketing ploy but – yeah, you got it, there are always suckers. They’re like – wow, that ride was awesome! And look, souvenirs, why how very convenient! On the count of three, draw your MasterCard and – BUY!

As I mentioned last time, I have Honors pre-registration, and I was able to get all my classes exactly how I wanted them. I have almost nine hours of back to back classes on Wednesday but I have just one class on Thursdays and I can sleep late on days I don’t have ROTC, so I am quite pleased – it wouldn’t have been possible without the pre-registration perk, that’s for sure! I’ll be taking Calc, Honors and Physics II, CATIA programming, Honors technical report writing and Air Force II.

Before I leave you, I should probably put in a word about Homecoming. During Homecoming 2005 at Embry Riddle, I attended an outdoor concert conducted by the band Recycled Percussion, and a comedy show by Carlos Mencia after the Airshow on Saturday.

Recycled Percussion was a fun event, mainly because of its novelty. The band literally ‘rocked their junk’. The rhythm and tempo they achieved while pounding on dustbins, microwave trays and ladders was definitely unusual, to say the least. I especially enjoyed their rendition of the beats of popular songs by AC/DC, Nickelback and others. Some of their stunts even failed – like when they tossed drumsticks to each other and couldn’t catch them like they were supposed to – but that only made us cheer more when they pulled off a stunt (though I wondered if that was more fluke than skill!).

Frankly, Homecoming at Embry Riddle was not what I expected, simply because, to my mind, Homecoming is associated with football. The very concept of ‘Homecoming’ originated from the returning of athletes to their school after a victorious tour. But at Embry Riddle there is no connection between sports and Homecoming. They brought in a racist comedian – another thing that struck me as unusual, as the focus is usually on sports during this season. Mencia was funny, to be sure, but somebody needs to tell him to grasp his ears firmly and pull hard – maybe then he can remove his head from his ass. But that’s not to say that he was not entertaining! To sum it up, everyone worked very hard to make Embry Riddle’s Homecoming a grand success, and that effort went a long way!

Motto for the Fortnight: If God had intended man to smoke, He would have set him on fire.

Hello everybody,

The past two weeks have been full of excitement, anguish and new experiences. The best and worst parts of college have shown their faces to me. All I can do is take it in stride because there is no way to avoid these things.

There is one big disadvantage to having 60 people live on one floor. If one person gets sick, it just spreads around. I currently have a really bad cold, and it’s the third time I’ve been sick since arriving in August. This is nothing compared to the weekend I had last week. One of my friends caught scarlet fever, which surprised us all, but a couple of us took him to the hospital and within a few days he recovered. It definitely is hard being sick for the first time with no real parental figure in your life because you now have to seek health care for yourself. We have a health clinic right in the center of campus, so it is not too far but they aren’t open 24 hours so the occasional trip to the hospital a block and a half away may be necessary. Overall, people are typically healthy and going about their daily activities.

My biggest news from this past week is that I spent the week at our Student Government Association fall retreat. Although we retreated to the ICI center, (our athletic center) which is only a block from where I live, it was full of fun and learning how to be a successful leader. I was one of four first-year students there being that the only way first year students can get involved in the SGA is through Task Force One, which you should all get information about if you are accepted. The retreat was an amazing experience, though it did involve a short night on the hard gymnasium floor. It culminated with a trip to Orlando for dinner and a show Saturday night. I was really grateful the SGA invited the executive board of TFO to the retreat, because they didn’t have to and I think we really benefited as a group from the things we learned.

On the fraternity front, unfortunately I had to withdraw from pledging Pi Kappa Alpha for financial reasons. In college you need to prioritize how you spend your money, and I chose to be able to fly home for Thanksgiving. I feel appreciative to the brothers of Pike for giving me the opportunity to try and join them and in a heartbeat I would attempt to pledge again if the situation ever became right.

School is getting tough. It’s that blunt. I am fighting the urge to lose focus and not go to class, because it is setting in now that no one is forcing me to. I make it to almost all of my classes every day and I am working on making that 100% attendance. These days, I have several papers and presentations I am working on so that does take a little more time than homework was taking in the beginning of the semester.

The moral for these two weeks is that Embry-Riddle is a BUSY place to be. But without chaos and lots of things to do, I’d be very, very bored. So a hectic life makes me happy.

I am going to lie back down now, because I am still not feeling that well, so I hope you all stay healthy and keep your grades up.

Until next time,
Carlos

Greetings from the beyond! How are ye all doing? Hope the past fortnight has been good to y’all, as it has been to meeee……

But before I begin this edition of Junior’s Jiving Journals, I’d like to remember herein Vinay’s dad, who died a few weeks ago of cancer. May his soul rest in peace. Vinay was a classmate of mine back in India, and let’s all hope he’s on his way to recovering from that loss.

Right. So what have I been doing this last week? Hmmm…well, let’s begin with the military. Unfortunately, I fell ill because of something I ate – fever, cramps, puking – the whole gross nine yards. It figures that the next day I would have to take the PFD for AFROTC – that’s the Physical Fitness Diagnostic, in prep for the very important PFT – Phy Fit Test. You have to do a minimum of 33 pushups, 40 situps and run a mile and a half in about 12.5 minutes at the crack of dawn.

Okay. Got up at 5 AM and puked. On an empty stomach. Ever tried that? Jogged over to the PT field and felt the sensation of Deja Fu (The feeling that somehow, somewhere, you’ve been kicked in the nuts like this before). As you can probably guess, I didn’t do my best. But considering how I felt, I did alright – I passed everything except the pushups – and missed the cutoff by just two. Just recently I took the PFT, and got a score of 90.5 out of a 100.

Which is not bad at all.

As for studies, things are settling down now. the trick is to stay ahead of your homework, then there’s plenty of time left for study and ROTC…and if you procrastinate, a bit of fun. But dates on the calendar are still closer than they appear!

I’m working on a design project for one of my classes – we design a payload of photography equipment and a rocket to take it into space. And when I say design, I mean design. Right from the CCD material to the rocket pad and fuel ejection systems, we design every nitty gritty detail and chalk our rocket together. It’s not easy – there’s a sh**load of calculations, parameters, integrations and factors that have to be taken into consideration.

Last weekend I saw a coupla movies, including BATMAN BEGINS in the Student Center and FLIGHTPLAN, which was not bad. I’d recommend it. Dan Ahdoot, a comedian, performed in the Student Center this Friday. I went to the beach a few times and chilled. Also my Air Force instructor has arranged visits to two Air Force Bases in November – Shaw and Charleston. We get to fly in Air Force planes on the way, so that promises to be a lot of fun.

I also went to DJ training this week but I wasn’t able to follow it up with the required three hours of training with another DJ while he’s doing a show – my schedule always conflicts…oh well, I’ll manage it sometime soon.

BiketoberFest is coming up soon, next weekend. People who were here last year say that if you can get out of Daytona, do – or buy yourself very expensive earphones to drown out the bikes! Gas prices will shoot up, Main Street will be snarled in traffic jams, motorbikes will be stolen…Homecoming is on October 28th, so there should be something fun to report there!

Also, as an Honors student, I have priority registration, which begins next Monday, so I ‘ll get first dibs on whichever class I want to take…no standing in line, no finding that a class I really want is full, no having to settle for classes at inconvenient times…I’m really bummed about my schedule this semester, so I intend to have all my classes in blocks that’ll allow me to sleep the hot afternoon away. Dont ask me what made them schedule a class from 4:45 to 5:45 PM – all I can say is that while some people drink at the fountain of knowledge – others only gargle.

Well, I think I have to study now (on a Saturday night!), so I’m gonna sign off with my motto and say goodnight. Keep those questions coming, and I’ll help out best I can… nayak48c@erau.edu, vedajr@gmail.com or AIM me at vedanayakjr. Goodnight, everyone…peace out!

VJ

MOTTO FOR THE FORTNIGHT: Show me a man with both feet planted firmly on the ground and I’ll show you a man who can’t get his pants off.

Hey, readers! I don’t even know where to begin today, this past week was so crazy. Most people had mid-terms last week, which is stressful enough, but in AMS we had our actual finals. On the one hand it’s good to know that Tuesday I can start over on a clean slate, but the finality was pretty hard to deal with, especially since I almost failed one of my classes. Being sick for a week definitely screwed me over in a lot of ways. Since we don’t really get homework in my program, everything is really based on quizzes and tests, which until last week, I was convinced we’d had more of, so the fact that I had kind of messed a few up wouldn’t really matter, but it did. Anyway, the important part is that I did pass.

What sucks is that I really need more money for school, and my GPA right now isn’t all that good. I still have another term to raise it, but I don’t know if I can get it high enough to be very competitive for an ROTC scholarship. Fortunately, I did pretty well on the AFOQT, surprisingly my verbal section was really strong and was actually better than my math. Hopefully that will at least help me out a little in the selection process in the future. Since I was a junior in high school last year, apparently I wasn’t eligible for the 4-year scholarship, so I’m just gonna keep on trying until hopefully I get one, one of these days. If you are considering doing ROTC and you are a senior, I highly recommend applying for the 4 year scholarship as you are under no obligation to the Air Force your freshman year.

On that note, the whole bronchitis thing didn’t mix too well with ROTC. I haven’t missed any ROTC stuff since Lead Lab, but I got totally screwed over for PT. My lungs got really weak from all that coughing, so now I can’t even run a quarter mile until I start wheezing. We had our PFTs (Physical Fitness Test) this week and I had to get a waiver for it because I absolutely could not run. This pissed me off for a couple reasons, one, that I feel like a total quitter, two, I know I could have passed all the events before I got sick and three, I might have to do remedial PT (basically an extra morning of PT every week if you didn’t pass all the events), but I’m still waiting for my flight commander to get back to me on that one.

With all the things I have to do for school and no one to remind me to do them, I’ve gotten way stressed out. I even had a dream the other night that I forgot to go to Lead Lab, and then I got so confused that I also almost forgot to go to my Air Force GMC class. (That class is basically where we learn about military standards and the history of the Air Force, and all that other basic stuff.) It was a pretty bad scene, so I’m gonna make pretty sure that I show up for Lead Lab today.

I know a lot of you will probably be wondering about dorm life and spending so much time with other people that you don’t know. I can be pretty introverted myself, so I understand those of you who require alone time. The first six weeks or so of being here, I hardly had any time to myself. Oddly enough though, I didn’t really feel like I needed it. I used to need some kind of time to myself like once a day, but that need sort of fell away for a while. Plus, your friends really do become like your family. But with more work piling on me, I felt a much greater need to be on my own, but when I was doing a million things at once, it was kinda hard to get people to leave me alone, or to find a quiet place to study. This weekend I basically spent in bed recovering from all the stress. I even spent 15 hours sleeping on Friday night, I was that tired. All I did was read my book, sleep and listen to music. Eventually, I want to start back up learning my languages, too, but I think that’s going to require some more separation from other people.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, ROTC is doing a base visit to Shaw AFB in Charleston, SC. Since it’s all free, I’m strongly considering going. That’s another on the perks of ROTC, free vacations. After that I think I might actually end up going home for a week instead of staying here as planned. It’s going to be really expensive but my mom said she’d pay for it so I guess that’s all good. It’s hard to explain, I’m not homesick, but I still really want to go home. I think it’s basically all the stress of school that makes me want to go somewhere where I can forget about it. Plus, after graduation I won’t have that many opportunities to go home anymore, so I might as well go back while I can.

My goal for the rest of the term is to make a lot more time for productive studying, to have more time to read, because I like reading a lot and it should help me unwind from school stress, and to be more involved in ROTC. Since I got sick I started slacking off with all the optional stuff we do, and I’m not cool with that. I have to keep reminding myself that being in ROTC is a privilegeand I should treat it as such. So we’ll see how all that goes, and if I can actually make time for everything. The main thing in college, like everyone says, is time management. In two weeks, I’ll update you on whether or not I’ve actually had enough discipline to do everything I’m supposed to.

I’d best be going now. With some luck, I’ll have more interesting things to report on next entry. Any questions- you know the drill: kenyonj@erau.edu

‘Til next time!

Hello all you journal readers,

I hope everyone is doing good!! things are getting better here in Daytona Beach. School is going good, my grades are up and all is well! The past 2 weeks have been VERY exciting down here. Not much has happened here around school other than sports events! I went to the Riddle vs FSU hockey game last friday, IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! the place was packed with wild and crazy fans, we beat them 5-1! Riddle is awesome at sports, anyway, we were hitting them REAL hard, no fights though. My favorite saying of the night came around when there was about 2 minutes left in the game. Everyone was like “warm up the bus, warm up the bus, it’s time go hooommmeee” and everyone whips out their keys and shakes them. it was REALLY fun!! I recommend anyone who hasn’t gone to a hockey game before. .. GOO!! there are incredible. I went to visit my older brother in Melbourne last weekend, he took me out with his friends then we went to a bar and listened to local bands. (there are some gooodd garage bands out there) I helped him move into his new place. I was really sore and all, and his g/f runs her own massage clinic, so i got hooked up with FREE PAMPERING!! I worked yesterday and it was the best work day i’ve had since i’ve worked there! all we did was mess around and take pictures all day, it was great.

The weather around here is FINALLY clearing up, it kept raining day in and day out, but it hasn’t been raining that much at all!!! It’s been really nice, it’s not too hot either. Like 2 or 3 days out of the week it’s typical hot florida, but any other time it’s actually kind of cool, and I’m from up north, but I’m beginning to become a Floridian, so cool to me now is like 75 or so. At night it drops down to about 68 or so i’m guessing, I had to wear a hoodie last night. I was loaded with homework the past week, i felt like i had too much to do EVERY NIGHT, air space and flight planning worksheets, plotting, writing essays, studying for test/quizzes, reading books, studying things i wasn’t quite sure of. I’m sure EVERYONE has had one of those weeks where you’re just like “PLEASE JUST GIVE US A BREAK!” but it’s weird how every teacher/professor loads you with stuff all at once. Things have settled down now that we’re into the new chapters and things.

I have had lots of people add me to their AIM list and ask me questions, I’d be glad to answer ANY questions that ANYONE has about ANYTHING. I know a lil bit more than most freshman around here, where to go for what, who to call to know this, ways around different things, etc. once again for those who haven’t been reading or haven’t read my journal and what not, my AIM screen name is gibso2j . . so yeah, i’m usually up rrreeeaaalllll llate all the time, I’m an insomniac, which means I can’t sleep or have problems getting to sleep, and the cool thing is, it doesn’t affect me at all, until the weekends when I WANT to stay up. Anyway, you guys can contact me at anytime. Questions about housing, where is the best place to live, meal plans, car or no car?, things like that.

Things are starting to get a little hectic here in Daytona because of Biketoberfest this upcoming weekend! I was out and about Saturday night and it took me 10 minute to move one block on A1A, bikers are EVERYWHERE and things have BARELY BARELY heated up yet, I hear that you can’t get ANYWHERE once it all starts up , the best thing to do is walk, but my friends and I have some cheap rooms along the beach that we’ve reserved for this wknd, I don’t know if I’m going or not because my McKay hall friends invited me to an NHL game on the 22, but bike week is bike WEEK so i’ll have plenty of time to check out all the sweet street bikes..THE FOOD IS GREAT! I had about 7 meal plans left and went over to the cafateria EARLY (or else all the good drinks and snacks are gone ) and used up all my meal plans and stocked up my room with food, drinks, and snacks!! I had Sobes, chocolate milk, subs, pizza, chicken wraps, starbucks coffee, cookies, pies, just EVERYTHING, . ’twas good. Anyway, basically I’ve just been having fun ever since I got here, but the downside is I miss my girl, she knows who she is. Relationships can get tough during college, but anywho..

I got bored early on today and decided to make up a scavenger hunt list, and I got about like 12 guys and 3 girls to join, and we’re going in teams of 3 and doing EVERYTHING on the list, we have to record it so we have proof, and see who gets done first, .. my list of things is CRAZY!! So I’m off to do that here pretty quick, the hunt should take about 5 hrs or so, maybe longer, I just wanted to see how everyone was doing and let everyone know that Riddle is an OOKKKK place! hehe. well, if anyone wuld like to know about anythig else or my experiences thus far, just let me know by AIM, or post your thoughts/requests up on the message board, thanks guys!! c-ya!

Well, today is Friday, Oct. 14.. tomorrow is my 18th birthday!! That’s right, I’m a young one, here on campus. Actually, I’ve met another person or two who are even younger than LiL me. So, I’d say there are a fair share of younger students at Riddle.

Anyway, things are going alright. They sure have been better. I’ve had some CRaZzZie things going on, but.. despite them.. I’m doing just fine. I had a mini-breakdown, last night. I had this HUGE project due, this morning, in my IT 109 (Intro. to Computers) class. I started it MUCH earlier than I usually begin projects, but it wasn’t quite early enough. Luckily, I found some awesome friends who could help me out with it. So, I got it turned in on time. However, I was a wreck in the process. Procrastination is NOT the key to being a successful student, here. Trust me!!

As far as the birthday is coming along, my boyfriend is here!! He flew in on Wed. He’s staying until next Tuesday. So, I’ve still got him for a few more days!! This weekend, we’re going with my best friend from Riddle, Beth, to her place in Clearwater. She misses her friends, and I could use a break from the dorms for a bit. I got a HUGE package in the mail, yesterday. I got a TON of gifts from the family and from Monty. It was great 🙂 I love presents.. especially the opening them part.

As far as my other classes, things aren’t going too bad. I’m feeling MUCH more confident in CaLC.. AS 120 should be getting better.. and World History isn’t ToOo bad despite the teacher.

I hate to write this early, but I figured I’ll be busy, this weekend. If I can, I’ll write another entry within the next two weeks and post the birthday pictures.. and maybe a picture or two from my experiences with the Alpha Xi Delta sorority 🙂 Have a great one, guys!!

Hi again everybody.

There has been so much going on here lately in the area. This week is BiketoberFest and there are motorcycles everywhere. Traffic is not too bad on the mainland side but beachside it is, the noise from the bikes is kind of getting a bit annoying. I have seen some crazy/weird people I don’t think I would have ever imagined seeing, but they all ride ridiculously awesome motorcycles. These bikers definitely do carry the ‘stereotype’ of being hard partiers from what I have seen at night, but they all share a fun time together. Daytona Beach is like nothing I ever imagined.

I am officially a member now of the Riddle-Surf club. I went to the surf trip this Sunday and it was a lot of fun. Basically everyone from the club goes to the beach together and surfs, the more experienced surfers usually ended up teaching the beginners. If any of you ever want to learn how to surf, I definitely recommend joining the surf club.

Since I’m on the topic of clubs, a good amount of you have been e-mailing me questions about my Fraternity. Now that I am about half-way through pledging, it is beginning to get a bit more challenging. Luckily all of my pledge brothers are really fun to be with. Pledging is not ‘too’ bad, we give each other support when needed. Greek life is definitely not for everyone, but if it is for you, I guarantee it will be the most fun and greatest experience you will ever have. Most Fraternities promote scholarship so grades are always number one priority; at least with Sigma Pi the concern is pretty high up there. It seems like every weekend is getting better than the last and I can see a noticeable bond forming between us pledges and the Brothers. I definitely feel proud and privileged to be pledging Sigma Pi Fraternity.

As far as my academics are going, I am doing pretty well. I am approaching another hell week of tests every day, but I feel very prepared for them now that I know how the tests are structured. My ATC classes are getting a lot more interesting too. We are finally going over stuff that we will definitely use every day in our controlling careers. This past Thursday I went to an ATC club meeting where the supervisor of Daytona Beach Intl Control Tower gave us a great lecture on the career as well as his own personal experiences. A lot of people showed up and the topics/ questions were very good. It made me proud to be an Embry-Riddle student.

One major point I have to say for all you interested in becoming a controller is don’t just do it for the money because the job will defeat you if your heart isn’t in it. Also, things are looking very good for the future in ATC. I am so anxious to graduate ERAU and get called to the FAA academy, but at the same time I am loving my Fraternity and never want to leave this school.

Many of you have been e-mailing me questions so keep it up! I enjoy getting back to you with my own opinions. My e-mail for those of you who don’t know, beim582@erau.edu .

Well, I got to go so that is it for this entry. Do good in school and for all of you future FAA controllers out there, STAY OUT OF TROUBLE and good luck!