Special Thanks to Random UK students

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Danielle

I have found that the most difficult thing about an internship is moving. It is an absolutely stressful experience. From finding someone to fill a vacant room in what was my Daytona apartment to a last-minute hunt for a reasonably priced apartment in Lexington, I was constantly jumping over hurdles. Renter’s insurance, guarantor forms, and lease applications consumed me the weeks prior to my internship. If you are familiar with these terms, then you know an apartment hunt can be tasking. It’s even more tasking when you’re moving to a new state. The icing on the cake? The reality hits you that you don’t know anyone in your host city.

I didn’t share this “fear” as I prepared for my internship, but if someone asked me, I couldn’t deny it – I was afraid. I found not only friends at Riddle, but family. How could I make it four months without the company of my closest people. My boyfriend says I got lucky in Kentucky, so I guess I worried for nothing. I was fortunate enough to move into a four-bedroom apartment with University of Kentucky students.

Strangers at first, Tanayisha and Allison made my internship beyond memorable. I truly owe my sanity to them. They showed me around Lexington and made the transition process a lot easier. They even took me to a series of UK events including a forum with Viola Davis. Allison took me to trying boxing and Tanayisha took me to meet a few Greek probates. Just last week before my departure, Allison and Tanayisha took me for a day at the carnival.

Needless to say, I was very fortunate to have them. Internships present a lot of frightening factors we tend to overlook. After my experience, and the ones I’ve heard from others, it’s safe to say that it is first and foremost okay to be afraid. Secondly, be open to letting go of that fear. I missed my friends, but I’m glad that I made two more in Lexington, KY.

Back to Business

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Danielle

If you’ve read any of my early blog postings, you’ll know that I’ve accepted another internship term with Space Tango. This time, however, I’ll be working remotely from Daytona Beach. Just between us, I did it for the VIP launch viewing down in Cape Canaveral (insert subtle wink here). Work perks aside, this is a huge opportunity to practice a lot more than Public Relations.

I long for game days in the office. Go big blue!

Aside from handling my usual tasks, my time management and communication skills will be challenged. I’ve already begun to experience the difficulties of working remotely, but with new challenge comes new opportunity. My first four months involved a decent learning curve, but I think working remotely gives me an opportunity to get even more hands-on. I can’t do everything I used to do in the office, but I’ve come to recognize tasks our team overlooked. Within the next few months, I hope to strengthen our digital image.

Much like this blog, I’ll be posting entries on the Space Tango website about the team, company history, and upcoming events. I’m mostly looking forward to the launch of CRS-12 that will be carrying an array of experimental payloads for the TangoLab facility.

Pizza increases productivity!

Ultimately, I am bound to experience some adversity, but I have a great team in Lexington that constantly communicates and guides me. I thought that working remotely would be a loss, but this is certainly a chance to be experience true independence in the workforce.

75th and Final Post

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Nicolas

Hi everyone!

These past two weeks have been very busy in Daytona Beach. After my last final on Tuesday, I only had a few days to pack everything in my apartment since I was moving out. I needed to put all my stuff in my car and that was a challenge. I sold the larger furniture or else it would have been impossible to bring it all back to Canada.

Monday was the big day for myself and 702 other students from the Daytona Beach Campus. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation Business Administration in three years!

The next day after graduation, I was already on my way to Canada. I had done this route very many times so I knew what to expect. I also knew that traffic in the Baltimore/Washington and New York City area can be really bad. This time, I decided to take a different route that was a bit more inland. Instead of following the East Coast and passing through large metropolitan areas, I would go through smaller cities such as Columbia, Charlotte, Harrisburg and Syracuse. The trip was slightly longer in distance, but I saved time without being stuck in traffic for hours.

Long journey ahead!

I arrived in Montreal a few days ago and now I am preparing myself to start my journey at Air Canada at the end of May as Manager, Planning and Scheduling. I will work with the North American Network Planning team. I will plan and schedule flights more than one year ahead of the schedule is actually flown. I am excited because the new Boeing 737 MAX will enter service in October! Air Canada has ordered 61 of the type to replace its current aging narrow-body fleet.

As you saw in the title, this is my 75th and final blog post as a student blogger. Whether I was sharing with you my study tips for finals or I was talking about my numerous trips around the world, I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs for these past two years! This is my last entry as an official blogger, but you might find me in the Alumni section from time to time.

Have a great summer!

Nicolas

Spring 2017 Semester is Complete!

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Jack

In what has felt like a sprint to the end, the Spring 2017 semester is now complete, which means that I just have one more semester left of college until I graduate in December! The funny thing is that I will spend about 10 more days working during the summer at Delta than on campus for classes during my Fall semester!

The last two weeks have been very, very busy. From project presentations to essays to exams, there is a lot to juggle, but it is definitely manageable. While exams in college may sound daunting, most of my “exams” have just been a regular third test over the last third of the curriculum we have gone over; basically, they are not cumulative so we don’t have to stress thinking about what we learned at the beginning of the semester.

Last Friday, I traveled to the University of Tampa to present about how Embry-Riddle’s Career Services Department has its “Students Taking Career Development to Infinity and Beyond.” My friend, Fergie, and I presented about how we as Career Services student assistants and ambassadors help our fellow students when it comes to career development. For example, our Career Services Ambassador Program is made up of 12 students who present tips, resources, and what is happening in the office to about two dozen different organizations each semester. It is all aimed to build more awareness about our office, and seriously, once you start at ERAU, you should come by and meet your program manager as they can help you achieve your internships/career goals!

Well, time to go pack for a quick getaway and some R&R now that the semester is over. I’m headed back to Atlanta next week to start my second summer internship in the Network Planning department at Delta Air Lines!

And, yes, we have a 747 that is now on display at the Delta Flight Museum which is right at the Delta headquarters. It is totally worth a trip to check out because there is truly no other exhibit like this.

Blue skies,

Jack

Summer Internship with ALPA

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Maryam

Hello everyone!

As my internship with Delta Air Lines comes to an end this week, I am very happy to announce that I got selected for another internship with Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for the summer via the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program! Brooke Owens Fellowship Program is a volunteer-led program awarding internships and senior mentorship to exceptional undergraduate women seeking a career in aviation or space exploration.

Created to honor the legacy of a beloved space industry pioneer and accomplished pilot, Dawn Brooke Owens (1980 – 2016), the program is designed to serve both as an inspiration and as a career boost to capable young women. Each Fellow is placed into a paid summer internship at one of the aviation or space companies. The process was highly competitive and rigorous, and it consisted of multi-phase interviews. All the candidates were evaluated on the basis of their technical excellence, creativity, commitment to service, and career growth potential. The host institution that selected me was Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). I will be working with them in the Engineering and Air Safety Department.

In addition the work experience with ALPA, I have been paired with two hand-picked, senior aerospace professionals who will serve as my mentors. One of my mentors is Paul Shawcross and is the Chief of the Science and Space Branch in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. He lived in the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Wisconsin and Boston as a child before attending MIT, where he eventually earned three degrees. After college, Paul worked at the National Research Council and at NASA. He is best known for authoring the White House response to a petition calling for the construction of a Death Star. My second mentor is Karen Lacy. She is a first officer for ExpressJet Airlines and an Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association. Karen is the first female pilot to hold this elected position in the Union’s 86 year history. She has taken on many other roles in her union and held many positions in the aviation industry including ramp agent for Trans States Airlines, an aeronautical chart maker for a Department of Defense contractor, a revenue management analyst for Continental Airlines, a flight instructor in Sugar Land, Texas, and a first officer for Envoy (formerly American Eagle) Airlines. She also spent several years as a computer programmer for Rice University. I am super excited to meet them both this summer!

Read the press release here for more about the competition and all the finalists.

Good luck to all those doing internships/ taking summer courses! Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing summer!

Until next time,

Maryam

Final Stretch

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Jack

Hello!

We are in the final stretch of the Spring 2017 semester! All of my classes are done for the semester, and only four tests remain. Plus, I am off to Tampa to present with one of my co-workers on how student assistants and ambassadors spread the word of Career Services.

The last two weeks of every semester are extremely busy, and the lines at Starbucks seem to get longer and longer. Time management is key this time of year! So, I have been constantly juggling a variety of last minute assignments/projects for my classes, and work has been very busy with a lot of people coming into the office to register their internship for credit.

I have had six different presentations over the last nine days, and all of them went very well thankfully. Even though its now final time, all of my tests are just regular third tests as in they are not cumulative.

Now, off to study!

Jack

Have you Thought About Taking Online Classes During the Summer?

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Nicolas

Have you ever thought of taking online classes during the summer to increase your chances of graduating early? It is not too late to register for this summer! That’s the path I took for the past two summers while also doing an internship. I have talked about Online vs. Regular Classes previously, but now I have gathered two stories of students who took online classes while also doing an internship or working a full-time position. Overall, they were great and recommended experiences:

“I took International Business during Summer 2016 while on internship with Alaska Airlines. My professor was great, and he posted video lectures online each week, so I would watch his chapter lecture, read the chapter, and do discussion posts. We could do the posts on our own time, as long as they were done by the end of the week. Additionally, we had a group project to do, which was challenging because one of my group members went on vacation and didn’t do her part. I believe we had also two exams, which were obviously open book. Lastly, we had a final paper, in which we had to write a business plan for how we would expand our American company into international markets.

I probably spent 30 min to 1 hour each night doing homework or reading the textbook (3 to 4 hours per week). Towards the end of the class I spent more time on the class, since I had a final paper to write. It was pretty easy to take a class during my internship. I started the online class a week before my internship, so I had a feel for it before I jumped into working full time. I worked 40 hours per week (typically 8am to 5pm) with an additional hour of commute each way. Once I got home I would do some homework for my online class. I spaced out my homework throughout the week so that I wouldn’t have to spend my weekends doing homework (since I had flight benefits and wanted to travel!).

I really liked combining an online class with my internship. I felt like I was being very productive over the summer. My manager at my internship was very impressed that I was able to take classes along with working full time.” – Lindsey Hanbidge, ERAU Daytona 2017 Graduating Senior

“During the summer of 2016, I took a Leadership online class as an elective while working full-time at an airport for a ground handling company. The class was straightforward and included weekly discussions and assignments. We also had a term paper and a final exam. I would say that I spent on average 3-4 hours per week on that class. It was crucial to set a side a time during the week to sit down with no distractions and knock out my class work. If you put it off until Sunday night each week, you will definitely regret it. With all that said, working full-time and taking an online class at the same time is totally feasible and totally recommended!” – Jake Neville, ERAU Daytona Class of 2016

Editor’s note: Current residential campus students must submit appropriate paperwork before enrolling in online courses through the Worldwide Campus. Consult with the Record’s Office, your advisor or program coordinator before deciding whether online courses are right for you.

End of the Semester Review

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Billy

Hello again! I’m so sorry about the long period of radio silence. Things here have been a bit hectic, but I have so many things to talk about so hopefully this might make up for the lack of blog posts. I guess I’ll have to start back way, way back in March right before Spring Break.

Shortly before flying back home to New Jersey to start what would be a moderately eventful Spring Break, I bought myself a DJI Mavic Pro! Eagle eyed readers might remember that I bought a drone my freshmen year, and they would be correct. Ultimately I regret to admit that that drone was a waste of money, but the lessons I’ve learned about drone operation and aerial imagery have long stuck with me.

Once I got home to New Jersey, I spent most of my Spring Break helping my parents out at their nail salon, mostly working as a receptionist and interpreter/translator. Whenever I had some down time, I’d fly my drone at the park by my house. It was really fun to get back into the hobby of aerial photography, but I just wish it wasn’t so cold during break.

I love the snow and it was one of the many reasons why I was super excited to fly back home, but I realized that it takes a lot of time, energy, and planning to fly out in the cold. Not to mention, you’re kinda at the mercy of the weather. Thanks to “Winter Storm Stella,” which turned out to be a bust by the way, the weather was pretty lame since it rained and sleeted a lot. Oh well I guess.

It wasn’t until towards the end of the week that the weather got better so on Friday I spent a day in New York City and spent Saturday packing up my things for my flight back to Orlando on Sunday. And just like that, on that cold Sunday afternoon, I found myself on a train headed back to Newark International Airport so I could start class the next day.

School for the most part has been pretty challenging as always. I think on the week I came back, or the next week, I had three tests scheduled in a row. Definitely not super ideal, but at this point, this has happened about two times so far this semester so I was kinda used to it. I did ok on one of the tests, while I did a lot better on the other two. However, I didn’t have time to contemplate my test scores because the following Sunday I had to shoot a wedding.

I’ve never done wedding photography before and wedding videography is a whole different animal. I will admit I was super nervous because with weddings, you only get one shot so if you blow it, well you’re out of luck. If I had to do it all over again, I’d definitely hire someone else to shoot video with me because one camera man is definitely not enough to cover everything.

Once I recovered from the wedding, I was handed another project: Completely rebuild the Digital Studio website in four-five days. Thankfully, the time-frame was extended for a total time of about two weeks. Now, before starting this huge undertaking, I was pretty good with WordPress and HTML coding. But, the more time I spent working on the website and trying out different design methods, I felt a lot better about my coding background and attitude towards coding.

A lot of people, like myself, complained that ERG115, the class where you first learn how to code in MATLAB, basically made them hate coding. I totally understand where everyone is coming from, but as I started branching out into other programs and coding languages, I rediscovered my love for coding and problem solving. I guess I needed some time off after doing fprintf(‘Hello world.’); so many times.

Somewhere along the way, I was invited by my friend to join him at Sun ‘n’ Fun. For those of you who don’t know, Sun ‘n’ Fun is this huge airshow out in Lakeland, Florida. Many people have compared it to Oshkosh, but I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, it’s much smaller. Regardless though, I had a lot of fun, but I do wish I’d gone earlier. I went on Sunday with my friend which was the last day of the week-long event, and a majority of the static aircraft, mostly military aircraft, and airshow performers had left. That was ok because I got to see the Blue Angels perform for the first time in my life. After seeing the Thunderbirds perform for three years, this was definitely a welcomed change.

I also got to go to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for the first time. I’ve been to Kennedy Space Center and the launch pads, but surprisingly never actually went to the Visitor Complex.

With my sixth, wow has it really been six?, semester now coming to a close, I’m definitely looking forward to going home for the summer for some R&R. I look forward to taking Thermodynamics at Rutgers and flying my drone a lot more since New Jersey’s airspace isn’t as dense as Daytona Beach’s. I look forward to working either with my family or at a supermarket since I was already offered a job starting when I come home. But, most importantly, I look forward to summer and what it has to offer. Four months is a long time and I look forward to sharing everything when I see you all in August.

For now, good luck, and if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.

It’s Crunch Time

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Nicolas

Next week is the last week of classes of the 2017 Spring Semester! This also means that “It’s Crunch Time” before we head towards summer. It is time to finish those last semester projects/presentations and study for finals.

On Monday, I have a presentation in my Social Responsibility and Ethics Management class. During the semester, we had to volunteer and do ten hours of community service hours as part of a project called Civil Engagement Project.

The following day, I have a group presentation in my Strategic Management class. We will report on how our company did during the eight rounds simulation. During those rounds, we produced sensors and sold them on the market. We were competing against other groups in our classroom.

Thursday will be my last day of classes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University!

There are no classes on Friday as this day is dedicated to studying. My professor in my Aviation Labor Relations course will post our final exam on Canvas (online); we will have two days to complete it.

I will have a total of four “real” final exams that will take place during finals week (Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). My other exams for my other three classes will be taken online.

In just about two weeks on May 8, I will be graduating!

Here are 10 Study Tips to help you prepare for your final exams:

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.
Take notes in class and review them on the same day you took them.
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.
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.
Create a short song or a series of letters when you have to memorize things involving steps or chronology. One time 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.
Repeating things loudly or writing them down many times on a sheet of paper will help you to remember the information for the exam.
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.
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.
Take a break. Don’t study for hours in one sitting, but take some short breaks and move around.
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 on your exams!

Nicolas

Aviation Safety InfoShare 2017

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Maryam

Hello everyone!

I got to attend the Aviation Safety Infoshare at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania from April 18^th– April 20^th. Aviation Safety InfoShare is a semi‑annual confidential industry-sponsored meeting attended by government and industry safety professionals who share their safety concerns and best practices in a protected environment. InfoShare offers a unique opportunity to advance aviation safety outside of individual air carriers and bring about improvements for the industry by sharing these experiences.Participants at Aviation Safety InfoShare include representatives from—

International, major, regional, and corporate operators
Pilot, mechanic, dispatch, cabin, ground operations, and air traffic labor groups
Aircraft manufacturers
Maintenance repair and overhaul organizations
Trade associations
University aviation departments
Government agencies

Grand Ballroom

Id Badge to enter the InfoShare

The host hotel was Wyndham Grand Pittsburg Downtown. I got to attend it with Delta Air Lines. I traveled on company business, and I had my own room at the hotel with a fantastic river view.

View outside my room

The InfoShare was a great opportunity, and I got to talk to a lot of the other airlines. Attendees can only enter the infoshare if they work for an airline and proved it by showing their respective company ID badge. There were even guards at the door making sure no one who didn’t work for an airline entered! I am so thankful that I got to attend the InfoShare and talk to so many aviation professionals!