Category Archives: 2016 – 2017

First Hurricane Experience

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Hi everyone!

I apologize for the leave of absence from the blog! Life has been very crazy for me; somewhat of a whirlwind. I’m excited to be back blogging!

As you may have seen, there was just a hurricane that hit Florida. Being from Seattle, I had no idea of what experiencing a hurricane was actually like. I was hearing a lot of different things from the news, friends, and native Floridians about what to do. Of course, my parents and friends back home in Seattle were very worried about me, but I managed to make it through!

I evacuated down to Fort Myers, FL, which is an hour south of Tampa. We left on Wednesday night, since classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday. I was concerned about my dorm room in McKay being damaged by winds or rain, so I took my valuables with me. Traffic wasn’t horrible heading down to Fort Myers, since we were traveling in the opposite direction of most people who were evacuating. We certainly had it much easier than some of my friends who were on the road for more than 10 hours!

It is hard to describe the vibe on campus on Wednesday. Students were very worried about what to do and where to go. In addition, the Career Expo was scheduled for Thursday, with Homecoming on the weekend. It was definitely one of the worst weeks for a hurricane to hit, since all of the major events on campus were that week, as well as a lot of midterm exams. It seemed as though most people in the area weren’t taking the hurricane seriously until Wednesday morning. That is when the panic set in. Every conversation you overheard was about the hurricane. People were frantically trying to book hotel rooms, find gas, and purchase sand bags. Once the University announced classes and the Career Expo were cancelled, most students evacuated from Daytona Beach. It actually was quite beautiful to see the campus community come together to help each other out. People were offering up their hotel rooms, homes, and cars to help others find a safe place to evacuate to. I was receiving texts all day from people, some who were just acquaintances, making sure I had a safe place to go.

We were all very blessed that we were able to evacuate safely. Most of us kept our families and friends updated via Facebook. Many of us were worried that we wouldn’t have homes to go back to in Daytona. There was a lot of uncertainty about the force and direction of the storm. Throughout the storm, we all continued to check-in to make sure everyone had electricity, gas, and a roof over their head.

Down in Fort Myers, we did not experience hardly any bad weather. It was windy on Thursday, and there were a few rain bands, although nothing major. We were glued to the Weather Channel all day Thursday and Friday, watching and praying that Matthew wouldn’t completely devastate Daytona Beach.

Our prayers were answered. Daytona Beach was lucky, and did not get directly hit, like was originally projected. Hurricane Matthew was also a Category 3 when it passed Daytona, as compared to the projected Category 4. Of course, a hurricane always causes damage, but we were blessed to not have a lot of severe damage to buildings all over the city. The beachfront and riverfront areas had a lot of flooding and damage, though.

I took a drive down the A1A on Sunday evening, and got very emotional when I saw the damage to the beachfront residences and businesses. In addition, power was out in a lot of places. Traffic lights were not working, street signs were missing, trees were all over, and there was debris all over the road.

We are very thankful for the servicemen and women who helped, and are continuing to help, us to recover from the storm. In addition, Embry-Riddle faculty and staff worked very hard to make sure the students were safe during the storm. Facilities and Maintenance workers have been busy cleaning up trees, restoring power, and fixing buildings, and we are very grateful for that.  Power crews came from all over the United States to help restore power to the area. It is in times like these when you really see a city, community, and country come together to help each other out.

Until next time,

Lindsey

Hurricane Matthew and the Industry/Career Expo

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Greetings!

14448965_979559538837000_6374416581809021170_n-2October was starting off so well, until Hurricane Matthew decided to visit the Florida coast.

On October 1, I traveled up to Atlanta for the day to visit some of my co-workers at Delta that I worked with during my internship this past summer. It was really nice to re-connect with them and hear about what is going on in Network Planning. Plus, there was an airline collectible show going on at the Delta Flight Museum and ran into some old friends at the event.

 

Update on the Industry/Career Expo

Once returning back to school last week, the Career Services office was quite busy as we were finalizing preparations for the annual Industry/Career Expo that was set to take place that Thursday. However Tuesday morning, it became apparent that Daytona Beach and the rest of the Florida coast would be impacted by Hurricane Matthew.

We had to make the decision to postpone the Industry/Career Expo for the safety of the students and employers coming to campus. I spent most of the day in the office on Tuesday, and I do not think I have ever seen our office that busy!

The office is diligently working to re-schedule the Expo for Spring 2017, and we realize that this is a much anticipated event by students and employers. Over the course of the coming weeks, employers are planning to visit campus to host info sessions and to do some recruiting. Details about company events are being sent out via email and are included in our weekly email that is sent out on Sunday afternoons which students can sign up for through Eagle Hire.

Stay tuned for additional details about the Spring Expo coming soon!

Hurricane Matthew

This was not my first category four hurricane to deal with. A few years ago, I was living in Houston when Hurricane Ike made landfall as a category four storm. We were out of school for three weeks and without power for about two-and-a-half weeks. Thankfully, this storm was no where near like that.14469646_983286198464334_5263984979174363447_n-2

Tuesday morning, I was able to find a cheap ticket to fly back to Houston for a long weekend since it appeared that Hurricane Matthew was planning to make a direct hit to Daytona Beach. Luckily, it was just enough offshore that the damage was not as bad as some were predicting. Regardless, it was still scary and some homes are still without power and need repairs.

Starting Wednesday and into Thursday morning, Embry-Riddle evacuated its aircraft to Auburn. It was so crazy to see the flight line empty while departing Daytona Beach Thursday afternoon!

14606451_983556081770679_6995287409030808804_n

After an unexpectedly long weekend, classes are resuming today (Tuesday). It is not clear if the three days we had off will impact our semester schedule, but we should find out relatively soon.

Blue skies,

Jack

Hurricane Matthew

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Hello all!

Long time no speak, but for different reasons. Those of us in Daytona have had a crazy past week, dealing with the preparations for Hurricane Matthew.

My week started off great, preparing for the career fair. I had all of my documents ready and printed, all of the companies I wanted to visit, I had my introductory speech, etc. I was ready, probably over prepared for this career fair. I was SO excited. I had several events with Gulfstream throughout the week and I couldn’t wait to be able to help such a fantastic company pick new full-time and intern employees. It’s the least I could do for what the company has already done for me.

We all knew that there was talk of a hurricane over the weekend, but we never really looked into it. It was more like a figment of my imagination rather than a full monster-sized storm. I pushed it out of my head and just hoped for the best. But with just my luck, that hurricane would turn to ruin my career fair and call for an exciting week and weekend.

Wednesday came around, my plan was to just stay in Daytona, no harm, no foul. I had several people telling me several different opinions of my staying in Daytona. Some were begging me to stay, some were begging me to go out of state, and others just wanted me to go west. I was so torn and I ended up just deciding to stay – alleviate some of the pressure of moving so much stuff. I wanted to stay with my friends and at first that was my biggest priority. Then the storm came.

Come Thursday morning, classes were already canceled for the rest of the week and I was pretty content on just hunkering down and handling it all myself, like an adult. I slept in, made breakfast, was watching the news, when all of the sudden the campus was evacuated. I had promised myself that if campus was evacuated, I evacuated. I started to panic, starting looking up local shelters, calling friends and family, asking for ideas. I was a disaster at first. I couldn’t think because all of a sudden, this so-called storm became a total nightmare. I had to pack up my car, grab food, water, and any other necessities. But where was I to go? Do I shelter in Daytona, go to a family friend’s house? I just sat for a few minutes and thought “what in the world do I do?” Luckily my boyfriends family came to the rescue and I swiftly packed up my car and sped off to Tampa (going against several people’s opinions). But in a crisis like I thought I was facing, I had to do what was best for me and take advantage of a thankful opportunity.

The weekend in Tampa was bliss compared to the alternatives. I had homecooked food, a comfy bed, great company, and relaxation. I honestly couldn’t have picked a better option for myself (I just wish I had head out there sooner!).

Now that I’m back in Daytona, it’s heartbreaking to see the damage that our city and county has endured. It’s hard to believe how much damage was created and how much rebuilding is left to do. It’ll surely be a long time before Daytona gets back to its usual self, but I have to get to my usual self by Tuesday, when classes start again.

Power and water is on and I’m doing laundry and homework, pretending that everything is just about normal. I’m anxious to hear about my exams and homework that I was preparing for and what will happen to all of these due dates. I can’t wait for everything to be back to normal! Is it sad that I’ve actually missed school?

Anyway, there’s my week and weekend story. Let’s see what this next week has in store for us!

Pray for those affected by Hurricane Matthew in Cuba, the Bahamas, Haiti, and the US. Pray for their families that everyone may find peace and restore back to normal quickly!

Until next time, blue skies!

~ Emmy

Unexpected Very Long Weekend

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As many of you know, the ERAU Daytona Beach campus has been closed from Thursday to Saturday morning due to Hurricane Matthew. Embry-Riddle announced on Saturday that classes would resume on Tuesday. This leaves time for students and faculty to return home in the Daytona Beach area. Many have driven away from Daytona heading west and north to places such as Tampa and Atlanta. I know people that even flew away north to escape the hurricane.

Knowing that the storm was approaching the state of Florida and that Volusia County would require evacuation, I left Daytona Beach on Wednesday night after classes and headed to my friend’s house in the Orlando area. On Thursday morning, we went to buy soil bags to protect the house from potential flooding. The store didn’t have any sand bags in stock.

The next morning, we woke up and Hurricane Matthew had already passed and was continuing on its way to the north. Compared to the east coast of Florida, Orlando was not badly hit by the storm. From the location I was, there wasn’t any debris on the ground. I am still in Orlando since my apartment does not have electricity. I will head back to Daytona once the power will be restored, hopefully before classes start on Tuesday.

Due to the gravity of Hurricane Matthew and the damage it made, ERAU students are enjoying a long five day weekend. This weekend is also Thanksgiving weekend back in Canada (Columbus Day in the US). Many will take these extra days off to cleanup debris around their house. Others will try to get some homework done. As of Saturday, many areas of Volusia County were still without power. It might take a few days before 100% of the residents get their lights back on.

Industry/Career Expo Postponed

Embry-Riddle has decided on Wednesday to cancel the annual “Career Fair”  due to the hurricane. The majority of the company information sessions and the interview day on Friday were cancelled as well. Career Services announced that the event will be postponed until the 2017 Spring semester. Keep checking your emails because Career Services will soon announce the new date for the expo!

Until next time!

Nicolas

Here I am Rock You Like a Hurricane

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With Hurricane Matthew rapidly approaching, I really don’t know how I feel. On one hand, I would really like to experience a hurricane, as stupid as it sounds. On the other, I really don’t want to see the devastation that would happen because of Matthew. With the storm only a few days away, it’s too early to tell what will happen.

Sadly, nothing major to report so hopefully I’ll have some really fun hurricane stories and video to share with you all! For now, please be safe, don’t do anything crazy, and I hope to see you all in another two weeks!

Career Expo Update!

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Hello again readers!

It’s been a busy few weeks preparing for the career expo and continuing with my school work and preparations for competition!

I just have a few reminders for those of you who are interested in getting a heads up for the career expo:

– Make sure you know who you want to speak with! There’s nothing more embarrassing than wandering around like a lost soul through the chaos of looking for a job at the event.

– Make sure your resume and cover letter are on resume paper! A lot of companies actually pay attention to the little details, like that, and that can put you above other people

– Dress up – even if you feel weird. Look professional and prepared.

– Know your elevator speech. Have a brief speech (30 seconds) that explain who you are and what you do and what your plans are

– Don’t be shy – if you are, just push outside of your comfort zone. Approach people and be excited about the company. Be open to others and ask questions. All of the people you speak with with a company have all been in your shoes before. They understand how stressful it is! Just relax and be yourself.

– Be excited! Get excited about each of the companies you speak with. Even those you don’t plan on speaking with! You want to be excited about what you do and completing your goals. Show off who you are and the companies will love that. Be different and unique.

– Don’t be afraid to go see other companies and ask if they might have a job position in your field. You never know which companies may surprise you!

 

That’s it for now! Until next time and best of luck!

Blue skies,

~ Emmy

Industry/Career Expo Reminders

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The Industry/Career Expo is less than a week away! It is the time of the year where more than 100 companies come on campus to recruit students for co-ops, internships, and full-time positions. The event will be held at the ICI on Thursday, October 6 between 09:00 and 16:00. I’m taking this time to give you a few reminders about the annual event.

Fast Pass pick up: Get your Fast Pass early to avoid long lines a the day of the event. It just takes a few seconds! Until October 5, stop by Career Services with your Eagle Card to get your Fast Pass.

Download the Embry-Riddle Career Fair Plus app: The app is available on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. You will have access to the list of employers, which includes their company description, the job positions available, and any type of work authorizations required. The app also offers a map of the fair so you will not get lost the day of the event.

Do some research: Get to know the companies you are interested in working for. Navigate on their websites to know what jobs are currently offered and what are the requirements. Review the job requirements and qualifications. Companies want you to show them that you are interested in working for their company.

Review your resume: Take a look at your resume one last time to make sure that it is properly formatted and free of spelling errors.

Practice interviews: Get together with a friend and simulate an interview. Practice answering questions about the company or about the position you would like to work for.

Attend the info sessions: You should attend the information sessions of the companies you are interested in. From past experience, many of them gives you important tips such as how to approach an employer and how to shake hands. Below is the schedule of the Company Information Sessions prior to the Industry/Career Expo.

overall-expo-company-info-sessions

Don’t wait until the day before: Be well prepared and don’t wait the night before the Expo to complete all the items mentioned above. If you are not sure about something and have a question, contact Career Services by phone at 386 226-6053 or by email at careers@erau.edu.

Click here to get the full list on how to successfully prepare for the Industry/Career Expo.

Good luck!

Nicolas

October is Quickly Approaching

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Hello!

I cannot believe that it is already the end of September!

School is most definitely in full swing; I have my first round of tests starting later this week. Thankfully, I just have two tests, but the pressure is on as my grade in both of those classes is just based on a few tests over the course of the semester. I guess the nice thing is that I very rarely have homework to do, other than to read and study. At the same time, we are beginning to discuss topics for our final paper/project in my upper-level humanities course (Technology and the Modern Civilization).

I am so excited for October to be here. It is my favorite month of the year, but it is also the busiest with school, the Industry/Career Expo, traveling, and turning another year older.

The Career Services Office is busier than ever; students are coming in to get their “fast pass” which is the name badge required to get into the Industry/Career Expo. More than 100 companies and organizations are registered to attend. We just have eight days to go until my favorite day of the Fall semester (other than the last day of finals).

Buckle up, October is going to be a busy month!

Jack

10 Study Tips

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Hello readers!

Last week, I had my first exam of the semester in my Comparative Religions class. This week and next week, I will also have other tests in the rest of my classes. I’ll take this opportunity to give a few study tips to ensure you do well and don’t stress during the days leading to the test.

  1. Do not look at the course material for the first time the day before the exam. Most professors mention the dates of assignments, quizzes, and exams during the first week of classes.
  2. Take notes in class and review them on the same day you took them.
  3. Start looking slowly at the material a week or a few days before the test. You will learn and memorize a lot more if you study a little bit every day.
  4. If you created a study guide, try to break it up and study one part at a time. It will be easier if you study it in small chunks instead of reading the whole study guide again and again.
  5. Create a short song or a series of letter when you have to memorize things which involve steps or chronology. Last week, I had to memorize the 6 types of religious conversion. So I just remembered the first letter of each word and it sounded like this  IMEARC.
  6. Repeating things loudly or writing them down many times on a sheet of paper will help you to remember the information for the exam.
  7. Quiz yourself or get a friend to ask you some questions. I often use Quizlet to test myself. There is a test option where the website generates a set of questions from the data you have to learn.
  8. Get all the information possible you can from your professor. Sometimes, they will tell you the format of the exam (multiple choices, true or false, short answers, short essays and/or long essays) and the number of questions.
  9. Take a break. Don’t study for hours in one sitting, but take some short breaks and move around.
  10. The night before the test, don’t stay up late at night to study. You should have studied a few days before and be ready. You will do better on the on the exam if you have a good night of sleep.

Good luck!

Nicolas

Start of the Hockey Season

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Two weeks ago, I started playing hockey in the Adult C League at the Daytona International Skateway. The C league is a non competitive league where players just play for fun. This is my second season in Daytona as I played last spring semester.

The player average age is between 25 and 30 years old and men and women are welcomed to play. There are a few students from Embry-Riddle that play in my team which is quite nice.

During the season, we play 15 games against the other three teams (all from Daytona) in the league. This fall, the games are usually around 6:00PM and 7:30PM on Sunday evenings. Each game has a duration of about 90 minutes. I like this early schedule since it allows players to go home early. Last spring, the games were at 9:00PM which was quite late. I used to play hockey in San Antonio, Texas and some of the games were at 12:15AM on Fridays (Saturday).

If you are interested in seeing one of the games, you just have to visit this website to see  what time we play. I’m on the White Lightning team. Hope to see you at the rink!

Until next time!

Nicolas