Category Archives: 2015 – 2016

Introducing President Skye

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Hello everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day everyone!

 

Skye

A week in the life of Lindsey

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This week is a huge week for me! It has been very busy so far, with more to come! Although, it is expected, since it is the end of the semester. Once Thanksgiving Break hits, I will be almost free! So, I’ve decided to give you an update on what a week in the life of Lindsey looks like. Here it goes…

Monday: Mondays are always great days for me. Most people seem to dread them, however, I always look forward to them, since my sorority has chapter in the evenings! Besides getting to see all of my sisters, I also only have two classes, which makes Monday much easier. However, when I was not in class, I was focusing on my three final projects that all are due next week!

Tuesday: Tuesdays are normally a lot busier for me. Classes are an hour an fifteen minutes long on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as opposed to fifty minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Because of this, Tuesdays always seems to drag on. Once classes were finished, I had meetings scheduled to discuss the upcoming Farmer’s Market Tri Sigma is putting on. We had to discuss last minute logistics, since the Market is on Friday! After the meeting, my afternoon was filled with sending emails, writing a report, and running around campus picking up and delivering various things. We also have our weekly Women’s Ambassador Program meetings on Tuesdays. We are in the process of hiring new girls into the program, so I am super excited! After that meeting, I had an RA meeting, where we discussed closing procedures for Winter Break! I cannot believe it’s that time already!

Wednesday: Once again, Wednesday is going to be comprised of more meetings. I have a Women in Aviation meeting to attend, in which we are discussing our upcoming conference in Nashville, TN. I am stoked about this conference, so I cannot wait to start planning for it. Next, I will have several meetings for the sorority. I accepted a Treasurer position for the 2016 year, so I will be learning how to fulfill all the duties of the Treasurer. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to serve on the Executive Board for Tri Sigma. Once all of my meetings are over, I will be headed to Orlando for the night!

Thursday: Thursday will be a huge day for me! I have an interview with United Airlines in Chicago, so I will be flying out early Thursday morning. Once I get to Chicago, I will have a few hours to get downtown, before my interview. After the interview, I will meet up with my Dad, since he happens to be in Chicago for work at the same time! I am so excited to see him, since I haven’t seen anyone in my family since early August. Then, I will be catching a flight back to Orlando that night. It will be the first time I am flying non-rev (meaning I am flying standby), so I am hoping that there will be seats available! I am looking forward to being back in Chicago, even if it is for a couple of hours. It is such a beautiful city.

Friday: Whew! If I make it through Thursday, then Friday should be an even bigger challenge! The Tri Sigma Farmer’s Market is from 8am-2pm, and I am the coordinator of it. I will be getting back late Thursday night, and then waking up early to setup for the Farmer’s Market at 5am! I think I am starting to go crazy, already. Although I will be exhausted, it is totally worth it. The Farmer’s Market is one of my favorite events of the year, since about 30 vendors come onto campus to sell produce, homemade items, and jewelry. All the proceeds of this event will be going to children in hospitals in Florida, and the Domestic Abuse Council. Since the event is so close to the holidays, all of the vendors are putting holiday twists on their merchandise! I cannot wait to see how it turns out!

Saturday: Time to go SCUBA diving! I started a SCUBA course last weekend, and on Saturday, I will be doing my first real dive in a spring. We are waking up early to go to Alexander Springs, where we will complete three dives. I am very excited to get to dive in a natural habitat, rather than a pool.

Well, that is my week for you. Add in some homework, presentations, and studying, and it sounds about normal! I know it will be overwhelming, but I love to stay busy. If all goes well, it should turn out to be a very fulfilling week! I will update you on how it goes!

Until next time,

Lindsey

S4S & The Power of Words

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Skye

The End of the Semester is Approaching… Bring on the Stress

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It is the middle of November, and it seems like classes are speeding up, rather than winding down. With three projects due the day before Thanksgiving, weekly assignments, and endless meetings, I feel like I will never make it to Winter Break. However, it is a refreshing feeling knowing that once I make it to Thanksgiving, I will be stress-free.

That being said, where has the semester gone?! I feel like I have been in Daytona for two months, not four! It seems like each semester flies by faster than the last one did. I cannot even imagine how fast my senior year will go by…

I know this time of year is full of a lot of stress, so I wanted to share some ways I am coping with the stress. I believe it is so important to do something for yourself at least once a week, whether this be going out for ice cream, going to the beach, or just watching a good movie. Taking time for myself helps me to forget about my stress for awhile, and focus on having fun.

Lately, I have been doing active things to keep my mind off of school. Last weekend Tri Sigma had our Fall Sisterhood, which was bio-luminescent kayaking at Mosquito Lagoon. We went kayaking in the dark, in the middle of nowhere. It was so amazing to see the water light up every time your oar hit the water. The stargazing was also incredible! However, just like the name, I ended the night with 60 bug bites all over my leg, and am still recovering. Getting out into nature was just what I needed to kick-off the month of November.

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This weekend I started my open water diving scuba certification course. The first day was spent in a classroom learning information, while Sunday was spent in a pool learning skills. I am not going to lie, I was pretty scared when I first went under water, however, I got used to it, and actually really enjoyed it. I cannot wait until next weekend, when I get to dive at both Alexander and Ginnie Springs. I will be completing the course, while diving at two beautiful springs in Florida!

Being busy and active on the weekends has helped me to have something to look forward to, besides due dates for final projects! When I look at my planner and see a full week, I know I have to plan in something fun to do on the weekend. This strategy has helped me throughout my three semesters in college, and I would recommend it to you, as well! For now, I will say good luck with any finals you have coming up, and I hope you are not stressing out!

Until next time,

Lindsey

The Tuesday That Feels Like Friday & College for Seniors

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Have a great day!

Skye Schwartz AKA “Astro Skye”

Veterans Day

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Veterans Day.

November & An Update or Two

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Should Be At A Rocket Launch Right Now

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Hello, hello! Things have been crazy the past few days and it’s only going to get crazier from here on out.

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10/10 will do again. Thank you Newman!

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This Embraer E-175 was only 15 days old when I took this picture last week.

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The cockpit is very stylish and somewhat roomy!

For the last two weeks, a friend of mine, who happens to be a flight instructor for Riddle, had been coaching me in the flight simulators that we have here on campus. He put me through engine failures, landing patterns, IFR approaches, and stalls. As someone who really enjoys flying but cannot afford to do so in reality, this is a great substitute, and I really do appreciate him doing that for me. Plus, having a flight instructor guide you through everything makes flying the simulators a lot more fun and meaningful.

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I didn’t understand Rachel Week’s costume. She told me who she was dressed as and now I feel stupid.

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This guy’s costume was the best I don’t care what everyone else said.

This Wednesday, I covered Tri Sigma’s 8th annual fashion show which was very interesting. Because I’ve never covered the fashion show before, I was technically going in blind when I accepted the task. At the end of the day though, I was able to capture some memories that will last a lifetime for everyone involved, and I got practice in shooting fashion shows: a win-win if you ask me.

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Actually this guy was the funniest.

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ERMERGERD ITS A ROCKET. ERMERGERD.

Probably my biggest highlight so far was that I was cleared by the Air Force to cover ULA’s (United Launch Alliance) IIF-11 launch that was supposed to happen today (Friday). Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed until Saturday because of a leak in the water suppression system. It’s also because of the scrub that I won’t be able to cover the Stewart Airshow that’s happening this weekend as well.

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“Oh so artsy b&w image.”

Regardless, I had a blast on Thursday going out and setting up remote cameras out on the launch pad. I got to meet some really nice people and saw some familiar faces from the last time I was at Cape Canaveral which was back in April for SpaceX’s CRS-6 launch. I was also amazed at how close ULA let us media credentialed individuals get to the rocket. I was definitely a lot closer to the Atlas V than I was to the Falcon 9.

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Lens flairs so unnecessary they call me JJ Abrams.

With this semester coming to a close in just 4-5 weeks, (I know right?) I find it hard to believe that we’re now at this point in the semester. Actually, let’s just forget that the end is near and look towards my next update. Sounds like a good plan. Cheers!

The JetBlue Experience

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About a week ago, during the day of Halloween, I had the opportunity to fly on JetBlue Airways for the first time. In this story, I will share my experience with you.

One thing I found I learned about JetBlue is that it is a low-cost carrier that still provides a good inflight service to its customers. Unlike some other air carriers of this type, passengers do not have to pay an extra fee for drinks and snacks. On my 2 hour flight from Orlando (MCO) to New York (JFK), the passengers had a choice of six different snacks. Another thing that I thought was interesting is that the airline does not use carts in the alley of the cabin. Those carts are heavy and in the way of the crew and of the passengers when they want to walk around the cabin. If there are no galley carts, I do you get a drink? A flight attendant goes row by row and ask the passengers which refreshment they would like. It is like in a restaurant, the flight attendant writes on a paper the drink the passenger asked and matched it to its seat number. A few minutes later, another flight attendant comes in the aisle holding a tray of the drinks the customers ordered. It is the first time I see this kind of method to distribute drinks. This process is probably faster and does not block the aisle entirely during the service, since it does not require a cart.

The flight from JFK to Boston was a short 35 minute flight and we were only offered two snacks, and a bottled water or Coca Cola. The airline calls it “JetBlue’s Express Service!”

Few minutes after takeoff from runway 31L at JFK.

A few minutes after takeoff from runway 31L at JFK.

JetBlue also offers inflight entertainment in the form of small screens behind every seat. Passengers can enjoy up to 100 channels on DirecTV and on Sirius XM Radio at no additional cost. Movies are available for $5 on the continental United States, but are free when flying outside the country. The airline also offers free internet service in the air. This feature is available on most aircraft in the fleet.

Before flight, the crew usually says to the passengers to enjoy their flight, but JetBlue does it differently, and instead says “we hope you enjoy the JetBlue Experience with us today.” I would recommend my readers to fly JetBlue Airways since I definitely appreciated the experience!

Next week, I am heading to Las Vegas for the 2015 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. The event welcomes 1,000 exhibitors and close to 100 business aircraft on the static display.

Nicolas

A Very Short Trip To Boston

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During the day of Halloween, I traveled to Boston to go see my brother, Christophe,  who studies at Boston College. I call it a very short trip since I only spent about eight hours in Massachusetts. I landed at Logan International Airport just past noon and left the same airport at 8:00pm the same day.

Many people are asking me why I did this. Well, it was only $62 roundtrip and I love traveling! I’m going to explain how it happened. On October 1, JetBlue Airways had a huge sale with fares starting as low as $31 one way from select cities for travel on October 31. To benefit from this offer, a passenger had to book his or her flight on October 1 and fly only during Halloween. This is where the idea came to my mind to go visit my brother.

My day started at 3:15am as I woke up and headed to the airport in Orlando (MCO). I was lucky that my roommate was able to drive me to the airport. JetBlue currently does not fly to Daytona, but the airline will begin a daily nonstop service to New York-JFK on January 7, 2016. My flight departed on time at 6:00am for New York Kennedy airport. One of the advantage of waking early is to be able to watch the sunrise from above.

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Sunrise seen at 7:00am at 35,000 ft over North Carolina.

After my three hour layover in New York, I took off on another plane bound for Boston. This flight was only a short 40 minute in the air. Arrived in Massachusetts, I quickly deplaned the Embraer 190 and made my way to the arrivals level to hop on a taxi. My brother and I met one of our friend at Harvard Square, where we had a quick bite in a cafe (accent) nearby. We visited her dorm for a while and then got onboard an Uber and headed  downtown of the city. We stopped at Copley Square to take some pictures.

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Myself, Berkeley, and Christophe in front of the Trinity Church.

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This Episcopal Church was built between 1872 and 1877.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three of us then took a walk on the beautiful streets of Boston. Some of the architecture of the buildings reminded me of Montreal. I think that these two Northeastern cities of North America are very similar to each other. Around mid-afternoon, we said goodbye to our friend since she had to go. My brother and I continued to tour the city afterwards. He showed me one of the coolest stores I had never been before. When you enter, people think it is simply a convenience store, but there is more. If you approach the vending machine you will find out what is behind. It is actually a door that slides to let you enter in this shoe store. It’s pretty amazing!

Adjacent to the store we caught another Uber and headed to Brookline, MA, which is just a few miles west of Boston. There, we met with two of his other friends. We went to a Trader Joe’s close-by to buy some food for dinner. We decided to buy pasta and salad since it was rapid and easy to make for a big group. Now you have probably guessed on which mode of transportation we went back to his friend’s dorm. Yes, we got on another Uber again!

Arrived at destination, we quickly started to cook because I had to leave for the airport soon. Four other of my brother’s friend joined us. I made pasta for 10 people and my friend Mattie made a delicious lemon dressing for the salad. We all ate dinner together in the living room which was fun. I left in a Uber at around 6:15pm for Boston Logan Intl. Airport to catch an 8:00pm flight that would bring me directly to Florida this time.

I am glad I had the chance to see my brother and many of his friends. I have not seen him since he started school in August. I had a lot of fun and the many Uber rides enabled us to see various parts of the city in a short period of time. Overall, the cost of all the ground transportation in Boston was more expensive than my plane ticket itself, but it was definitely worth it!

Until next time!

Nicolas