Category Archives: 2019 -2020

Daytona & Decorations

Posted on by
Reply

Happy January everyone! Also happy new year! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, back in Florida with the temperatures in the 70s and the golden sunshine. 

The first week of school has concluded and it was busy to say the least. Mind you, the first full week is yet to come, but our initial three day week sure did have me exhausted, and classes aren’t even in full swing yet!

A brief look into my first week’s schedule: 

On Wednesday, the first official day of classes, I started with an AFROTC Fitness Assessment early in the morning, then proceeded to have my Aerospace Flight Vehicles class, Differential Equations, a meeting with my boss for my Resident Advisor position, a hall wing meeting for my 38 residents, and then RA duty for the night where you are required to be “On-Call” in the residence hall starting at 5pm, then sit at the desk and perform building rounds from 7pm until 11pm, and be “On Call” again until the Housing and Residence Life Office opens at 8am the following morning.

My second day consisted of waking up and running, my Modern Middle Eastern World Affairs class, Dynamics, and a boxing class with my favorite girl gang.

Friday started with the first official training day for AFROTC, ergo the first Leadership Laboratory of my Field Training Preparation semester which was challenging, followed by my Air Force class, then Aerospace Flight Vehicles, and another serving of Differential Equations, concluding my day and first week with a group bonding activity with my AFROTC flight in the evening. AFROTC flights change every semester, so team bonding is extremely important outside of training to ensure you all perform cohesively during training!

As an RA, your job includes decorating your hallways in the dorms where your residents reside. This semester I based my theme loosely on comic book fonts, with most of the inspiration originating from the 1966 film Batman: The Movie. 

Some of my hall decorations included: Wham!
Zok
Boff!
Zoom!
Blam
and of course, Pow!

Although it was so nice being on break and really getting a chance to briefly take my mind off of all my responsibilities, it definitely feels good to escape the cold weather, and begin to get back into the swing of things, but I do miss my friends and family from back home.

My mom and I on a hike over the winter break.
Some friends and I that I got the chance to visit over the break!

Next week will be a busy one as well, and between Orientation Team, my RA position, AFROTC, Aerospace Engineering, Arabic, and numerous other tasks and obligations that pull me in a thousand different directions, I’m sure this semester will be challenging, but definitely worth it.

Stay motivated and positive as you settle into the new year. Will report back soon!

Home & Holidays

Posted on by
Reply

Happy December everyone! I’m currently blogging from Washington DC. I traveled from Daytona Beach to Orlando then to Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach to see family and friends, and now I’m spending some time up north visiting with my sister. It’s starting to get so cold here, I feel like Florida has definitely gotten me accustomed to warmer climates. I’m definitely lucky to have been able to borrow my brother and sister’s warm clothes while I visited because my small carry on included jeans and a flannel that were not cut out for this 30 degree weather. Such a drastic climate change from blazing summers in Kansas and mild and humid temperatures in Florida.  

In other news, I have been enjoying my break so much. I’ve done a ton of yoga at a studio only two blocks away from my house (score!), have been running on the beach (in the cold yikes), doing push-ups and ab workouts, have gone on a couple hikes, and of course took my dog, Kita on walks with my dad, in addition to eating a bunch of good food, visiting local coffee shops, and sleeping.

One of my favorite things I got to do over break was paint a shed my dad built. Surprisingly enough painting the entire thing only took a few hours in the afternoon with my family all grabbing brushes.

Painting a shed! I promise the tiny brush was only used to cover nails.

Kita got painted too!

I also got to spend some time hiking with my sister and mom, which was great! Got to break in my new hiking boots I got for Christmas, broke in some new running shoes, and also some new ABU boots for Field Training Preparation (FTP) next semester. To say the least my feet are extremely sore, but better now than later.

On a hike with my mom and sister!

My aunt also took some amazing family photos for us that are currently being uploaded but will be sure to be included in the upcoming posts.

I fly back to Florida in a few days and can definitely say I will miss the leisurely pace of a balanced life and no homework. RAs always arrive back to school early to decorate, inspect, and set up the dorms again before all the residents return for the upcoming semester. Until then though, I’ll be sleeping and eating well in preparation for FTP, as well as working on scholarship applications and internship applications for the summer.

Happy new year and I hope everyone has been enjoying their holidays. Will report back soon once the semester starts up again!

Learning Photoshop Over Winter Break

Posted on by
Reply

Over winter break I took some time away from videos and started experimenting with Photoshop. I took the bottom picture of this FR-S behind a hotel just off Atlantic Ave. and turned it into the above picture. The only thing about the picture that remained the same was the car. I turned the background of the picture into the San Francisco skyline with a falcon 9 rocket launching in the background. Of course I loved the turnout of the photo so much that I had it printed, framed, and gave it as a Christmas present to the owner. I look forward to learning so much more about Photoshop and experimenting more with photography!

Vossen/AccuAir Roush Mustang

Posted on by
Reply

 

Recently, I was tasked with creating a video for the Vossen and AccuAir Roush Mustang for their upcoming SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show car. After 3 days of filming and many iterations of this video I have come up with what I think captures the feeling of this build; a simple, yet elegant video to go along with a car that has the aforementioned design language. I hope you have as much fun watching this video as I did making it. Happy New Year!

RA Life, AFROTC, & Rest

Posted on by
2

Happy December everyone! Finals are over!!! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, but in a few hours I’ll be in Orlando departing from MCO, then I’ll be heading back home to Norfolk, Virginia. 

Just a brief recap of fall 2018 before the new year and spring semester begins: This has single-handedly been the most challenging semester of my life, but I passed all of my finals and my classes, friends, so thank you so much for the support. Key shout-outs here go to the boxing girls and my best friend Obie wan.

Many students have already left Daytona, but RAs are the last ones to leave (as well as the first ones back) as we do health and safety inspections and have to check all the rooms to prepare our residence halls for shutting down and for opening back up to residents. Fret not though, this process only takes a few days and after that is freedom. 

I am so excited to be able to relax over break. I’m sure it will be filled with all the things I love and only get to have sparingly while I’m in college, including but not limited to: lots of working out, home cooked meals with fresh vegetables, yoga (YESSS), seeing my best friend home from college, living walkable distance from the beach, my dog Kita, and also my family. I may read a book for leisure, shocking I know, as well as listen to lots of music. I also will be sleeping in glutenous amounts and will be going to all my favorite local coffee shops. Taking a break every once in a while is so well needed and deserved for both students, professors, and faculty. Everyone has been working so hard since August, we all really deserve this chance to reset, relax, and recharge before the spring.

Next semester in AFROTC will be Field Training Preparation which is extremely exciting as well because after that comes Field Training during the summer, which is one step closer to commissioning and graduation. Field Training in a nut shell is essentially a 15 day “boot camp” which is very strenuous and is a required step to complete before GMC (General Military Course) underclassman become POC (Professional Officer Course) upperclassman in fall 2019. Over Thanksgiving my early Christmas present was new running shoes and, although I feel I’ve broken them in, as soon as next semester hits I will probably rethink that.  

Some of my family from AFROTC and me after our final Pass in Review ceremony of the semester

Also here’s a picture from when I contracted around this time last year and swore into the United States Air Force, which if I haven’t mentioned before, was an absolutely amazing experience and I 10/10 recommend.

But for now, we are in break and de-stress mode and I will continue to get through the holidays with an open mind, lots of exercising and stretching, and good food. I miss cooking so much, but one thing I do not miss though is the cold weather. Perhaps I’ll have a white Christmas in Virginia? I do prefer the moderate climates a bit more though, as per expected with the majority of my year spent in Florida and other hot places.

For everyone traveling this holiday season, or even just driving a few minutes away, remember to de-stress and relax over break and state safe. Will report back soon! Happy holidays and almost happy new year!

Thanksgiving Camaro SS (ThankSSgiving)

Posted on by
Reply

 

Over Thanksgiving break, I finally had the opportunity to film an individual car, this time a 2013 Camaro SS. It has been a while since I’ve had the time to film an individual car, which I always enjoy doing. It is a lot of fun to focus on the details of one car and what makes it unique. Also in this video I took a lot of time to experiment with sound design and try to refine the sound of the car more than focusing on the music. I hope you enjoy this video and if anyone is interested in having their personal car filmed let me know, I would be happy to do so!

December & Almost Done!

Posted on by
Reply

Happy *drum roll please* December everyone! ‘Tis ACTUALLY the season, thrilling, I know. I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, but I spent Thanksgiving in Savannah, Georgia and in Charleston, South Carolina, also thrilling. Thanksgiving was a well needed break and now until the semester officially concludes is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: final exam season.

Over the break I did a good amount of homework, but probably not as much as I should have done. There is always an endless supply of homework in college, but I also got to relax a little bit which was well worth it. So really, it was a win because I also took a lot of naps whenever I could.

Thanksgiving naps!


Example A: a sleeping portrait of yours truly during a Thanksgiving nap photographed by my lovely sister.

In addition to the naps, my family and I ran a 4 Mile Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning! We also explored downtown Savannah, and I drank a lot of coffee as per usual. My idea of relaxing includes sleep and caffeine, so naturally I partook in both, I hope everyone got to relax and recharge before finals begin!

Example B: If you’re ever in Savannah I recommend the Coffee Fox coffee shop, yum!

We also went to Tybee Island and saw the lighthouse, the beach, a lot of stray cats, and dolphins!

Tybee Island Lighthouse!

I also played photographer, and the lighthouse was in the back of the picture I took for the ‘rents.

Sometimes you must lay on the ground for the best angles. (Shoutout to Puddle + Sushi for making it on the blog.)

I had such a nice time over break and, unfortunately, it was short lived, but winter break is around the corner and the finish line is near! Although all students are pretty much experiencing the same feelings right now, wishing they had more time for sleep and less of the high doses of stress that finals bring, the marathon will conclude before we know it. It is the last week of classes and there is so much to look forward to. Just a small reminder to push out until the end, it is worth it, and despite the late nights, early mornings, highly caffeinated days, and stress, the finish line is near and we are on the final stretch!

Will report back soon. Study hard and keep moving forward friends!

What Finals are Really Like

Posted on by
Reply

Can you believe it’s already that time of the year again? No not the holidays… Finals. I can’t bring myself to be too festive until I finish finals or I’d get too distracted.

There’s a whole Study Day. Here at Embry-Riddle we have a day off so we can study for finals. The caveat to this is that we have finals starting on Saturday, Sunday is off still, but then they resume from Monday thru Wednesday. Either way, it’s nice to have this day off. Some students take this day to go relax at the beach while other meet with classmates or professors to become more prepared.

You can definitely get sleep. Finals are at all times. You can have a final at 9 am or 7 pm. Finals are also spread out (not at your normal class time). This allows for plenty of time to study AND sleep. We are constantly reminded of the importance of sleep, so I hope everyone takes full advantage of it like I do! I like to get up early and study, take the final, and go to bed early to get lots of rest before my next exam! If you are worried it’s like the movies and you will get 0 hours of sleep, I promise you this is not the truth!

The food hours are better. For one, Starbucks is open later, which is great for those who prefer to stay up and study for their tests! We can all use a little extra coffee or tea during finals, so these extra hours are surely taken advantage of! There are also extended hours on our restaurants, so you’re able to get grub at almost any time!

There are many free things. I know the library and the housing office like to hold different events for finals to help make the students feel less stressed. One of them is Exam Cram – where there are typically cookies, donuts, coffee, and tutors. The Student Government also has tutoring/study sessions during study day! They even hand out little treats for students as pick-me-ups.

Your professors understand. Your professors know how busy you are at this time of year. They were students once too, so they know firsthand the stress that finals brings about. I think it’s nice when they try to give a study guide or even just reassurance that everyone is doing well in the class. It’s important to remember they want you to do well! Don’t be afraid to email questions or visit their office hours. Some professors have extended office hours during finals!

Not all finals are cumulative. For those who do not know, cumulative means that you will be tested on all the things you have learned that semester. This semester, I have no cumulative tests. All my finals are my third test of the semester. I think it’s nice to have this,  but I know some people without finals, so I’m a little jealous of them!

Clubs are doing fun things. Even though studying is important, clubs want to have an end-of-the-year celebration. When you’re on campus and involved, I encourage you to attend as many of these events as possible! Yesterday Women’s Ambassadors made body scrub and today, Women in Aviation is having Chipotle for dinner. We are also going to the Christmas light drive-thru at the Speedway for Housing!

Groups are encouraged. Many professors will hold extra study sessions. I had one for my economics and math classes. This is super nice of the professors since they are taking their time for the students – just another reason to love Embry-Riddle! Beyond this, many professors encourage groups to work together to study. You can find students working in the Hosseini Student Union, dorm study room, Ignite, computer labs, or many other places. I know that the study rooms in the dorms are equipped with white boards and cords to connect your computer, so this is awesome for group work!

Have a happy holidays everyone! ~ Maddie Dietrich

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on by
Reply

Happy post-Thanksgiving y’all!

I hope you had a relaxing break and lots of yummy food! Maybe you found some good deals at Black Friday too! This post may not be of interest to everyone, but I wanted to share some personal things. I love sharing tips and tidbits about ERAU, but I also want y’all to get to know me! That way the girl with the “really good advice *wink*” isn’t too much of a stranger!

Here is what I did for my break!

Saturday, November 17th through Monday, November 19th – Chris landed early in the morning at MCO. We went out to breakfast at a popular restaurant called Keke’s (note: it was very good) and then shopped at Mall at Millenia. Later we came back to the dorms and ordered Buffalo Wild Wings on GrubHub. It was delivered to the dorm and we watched a Christmas movie while eating our wings! Monday was pretty normal with classes continuing, but I really enjoyed having Chris to run to after class! We went shopping at the Outlets in town and spent way too much money! We told ourselves we were being good and proactively Christmas shopping but in reality, we both left with clothes only for ourselves and a bag of candy. Oops!

Tuesday, November 20th – Chris and I headed to Orlando after class and stayed at the Embassy Suites by the airport since our flight left super early the next morning. We parked the car at Wally Park ($5 parking with a free shuttle) and then went to the hotel. We stayed in watching TV and eating the free pizza we scored from Blaze Pizza in Daytona for their opening. All you had was follow them on social media and show them at check out! I posted it for all my friends to see and enjoy for themselves! Update: it was super duper good pizza! I love making my own and if you’re familiar with Mod Pizza (our hometown favorite), it’s very similar but maybe even better (just a tiny bit pricier)!

Wednesday, November 21st – Wednesday we left the hotel at 4 am to head to the airport. It was busier than usual but nothing too crazy. Chris and I have TSA Pre so we zoomed in and out pretty fast. We got Starbucks and McDonalds since we had over-budgeted on time. What can I say – better safe than sorry?! We were lucky to have an open seat in our row, so we napped on the plane and watched Ocean’s 8, which I highly recommend (girl power am I right?!) My mom and brother picked us up from the airport. We went to Castle Rock and got my favorite green chili breakfast burrito (a Colorado specialty) and my driver’s license renewed (it’s finally up-right but boy is adulting fun!) We had lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Chris ran into an old friend, and then spent the afternoon watching my 13 year-old brother shop (who knew teen boys could shop so much/be so picky?) We ended up at my favorite dinner place, a Mongolian grill. The time change kinda kicked my butt this day, but I was super excited to shop at our fancy, new grocery store in town that night!

Finally arrived home!

Thanksgiving! – Chris and I made almost all the food and did all the cleaning. Can you believe that? What may be harder to believe is how delicious it was! Thanks Pinterest! The hit? Chris’ knock-off Honey Baked ham. Since we didn’t have time to run and get one, we decided to find a copy-cat recipe and try it ourselves. It was very rewarding when we bit into it to find out it was DELICIOUS! My personal favorite side dish was the green bean casserole I made without any cream of mushroom/chicken soup. The recipe I used was more natural and fresh-ingredient based. I forgot how much I love cooking until I go home to a kitchen (and free time)!

Corn caserole

Our version of a Honey Baked ham

I set the table!

Green bean casserole

Black Friday – We went Black Friday shopping with my best friend in the whole wide world, Olivia and her boyfriend! We went to the local outlets and had a blast people watching. Honestly, that was more exciting than any deals we could find. We also ran into old high school friends, but we may or may not have tried to be as incognito as possible. Next, we went to the restaurant Chris and I met at, where we both worked, and ate with his family. They had just gotten back from Thanksgiving in Las Vegas! Later on in the day we went to the base exchange (BX) in Colorado at Peterson to shop! We got Starbucks and found some goodies. Then we went to see Robin Hood, which I really wasn’t interested in but it turned out being able to keep me on the edge of my seat! I would highly recommend seeing it if you can! To end the day, we went home and made tacos! Of course we stopped at one of my favorite restaurants first to get some salsa!

Super irrelevant but cute picture of my cat Quincy!

Saturday, November 24 and Sunday, November 25th – Chris and I had lunch with his parents in Colorado and did some last minute Christmas shopping. We came back to my house and decorated our tree! We were in a hurry to leave because we wanted dinner before our flight, so the tree is not 100% complete. Let’s be real… my mom would’ve fixed it to her liking anyways, haha! Luckily, our flight home was super empty so we had a whole row to ourselves again. We watched Ant Man and the Wasp and Adrift on my laptop, so the flight seemed to fly by. We slept in late Sunday since we didn’t get back until 2 am (our flight had landed at midnight but driving takes an hour and getting our bags and the car from airport parking took a bit of time too). Once we woke up, we went to De Leon Springs and got pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill. It’s make-your-own pancakes/eggs, so it was a lot of fun. It is also inexpensive and super filling, so I recommend it if you have time! Be warned you do have to pay to get into the state park, but it only cost us $6. There are boat rides, nature trails, and kayaking available for guests. There are also many spots to picnic and swim! After, we went to Andy’s Frozen Custard again and then on to Disney Springs. We had dinner at the Chicken Guy, which is the cheapest place we could find, and had THE BEST chicken tenders we both have ever had. And I might add, we both eat tons of tenders around the United States, so check them out if you’re ever in the area! Disney Springs was filled with carolers and musicians showcasing holiday classics. It really got Chris and I in the Christmas spirit – especially their huge tree and light-up, giant ornaments! Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We parted ways and I am just counting the days until winter break. Has anyone ever said they’re excited for finals? No? Well mark this as the first time in history because I am excited to have them come and go so I can get back home!

DIY Pancakes!

DeLeon Springs

Disney Springs!

Our flight home!

We were super sad to leave the snow!

P.S. It snowed in Colorado and I was very, very, very excited about it!

What’s so Great about Florida?

Posted on by
Reply

Being new to Florida, you may think we’re all about the beach. But as someone who’s lived in Florida all her life, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you more about all the things you can do in the area. Just this past month, I’ve done some fun things I want to share so you can think about experiencing them yourself.

I’ll start with the Annual St. Demetrios Greek Festival. Every year, around the second week of November, people everywhere come to check out Greek Fest right here in Daytona Beach at the Greek Orthodox Church. Going to this Festival is a literal taste of the Greek culture including authentic foods, music, and dancing. The festival has wonderful scenery as you sit back eat delicious food and enjoy an amazing view of our beautiful Florida waters. This event is an excellent idea to keep in mind as it is an annual event.

Another amazing thing about Daytona is how close we are to Orlando! Orlando is full of different exciting places, but it’s quite a busy place to live, which is why I personally think being in Daytona is a nice distance and a lot less traffic! With all there is to do in Orlando, I’m specifically talking about Universal. As college students, it’s nice to take a break and do something fun and since Universal is so close, it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to take advantage of such a super, awesome, fun escape! The most amazing part about all this is that Embry-Riddle sells discounted tickets, so with if you’re afraid to break the bank too much, you can purchase discounted tickets in the ICI Center in the Rec sports office (cash only). And although Universal is my favorite, discounted tickets for different parks like Disney World, Sea World, and Busch Gardens are also available for students.

Even if you don’t go to the parks at Universal, the best part about it is the grand entrance that is City Walk. City Walk has amazing stores, great restaurants, and awesome night life fun. And it’s all just about an hour’s drive away.