While trying to plan the big move and such, we have discovered some new local activities! In Winter Park, they had a duck derby! Which I admit, looked to be mostly for kids, but my boyfriend and I had a ton of fun. They had fresh coconuts, you could decorate and race your duck, there were little crafts table; it was great. Then, we went to Zaru for dinner in Mills50 district which had amazing fresh udon noodles and tempura. More locally, we took a sunset beach walk, collected shells, and took pictures of jellyfish! Highly recommend downloading the Volusia beaches app that gives you information such as a live map of which beach entrances are open to vehicles and/or people.
I am THRILLED to announce that after graduation I will be moving to LA and starting work as a Reliability Engineering II at Vast! Vast is building the next space station and moving towards artificial gravity technology. Their missions and technology excite me so much, and I am counting down the days until I start! This May, I will be graduating with a degree of M.S. Systems Engineering with a concentration in Engineering Management. Here are some Vast media and pictures taken recently for the job/graduation announcement 🙂
So, I am in the process of deciding between some job offers with good news to be announced publicly soon! However, I thought a list of things to consider when setting up a job and life for yourself after graduation may be super useful for some people. Keep in mind, this list is just what I have encountered thus far; I am still learning the process myself.
Job Benefits & Pay
What will your job cover? Insurance, relocation stipend, etc.
How much are you paid (yearly, biweekly, taxes, etc.)
This is going to help you plan the rest of these bullet points.
Housing
Start to research areas you like and reasonable price ranges for you
Make sure you know and are comfortable with your commute time
Budget
Think about setting up a monthly budget. This will help you have enough money for things like rent, food, and savings but also allow you to have some guilt-free fun money.
Make sure that you have a budget plan for getting set up at your new location (moving money, transportation money, first deposit on a place, etc.).
Moving
How/when are you getting to your new housing location? How are you moving all of your stuff and who is helping you?
General Timeline
If you have some time between your graduation and job start date, how do you want to spend that time? Relaxing, vacation, family, friends, etc.
Transportation
How are you getting around your new city/area and to/from work? Is the public transportation clean and safe enough at the times of days you may use it? Is your car going to fit in the majority of parking garages and spaces? Is there parking at your job?
Get Excited!!
Start to plan some weekend adventures for when you get there! The beautiful thing about full-time work is that you will (hopefully) get some more work/life balance time for things like exploring your area with friends. Start researching things that you are looking forward to doing (state parks, bike paths, farmers markets, etc.).
It’s Spring Break and you know what that means for a graduate student – more work! I don’t get a break these days, but I make sure to have fun every once in a while. I got the opportunity to visit the Daytona International Speedway for the IMSA Rolex 24 hour race! I absolutely love NASCAR and racing, and have so many memories of going to the speedway as a child. I grew up in Daytona Beach, so it was a yearly thing for my family and I to visit. Funny story: Apparently, I am so used to the sound of the cars that I fell asleep in my seat one year during the Rolex 24 hour, and everyone was wondering how in the world I was sleeping through such a loud race! I was about 6 or 7 at the time, but it was late and I guess the car engines lulled me to sleep!
I saw so many cars there – it was like a car show and race – all taking place on the infield. We had special IMSA passes that let us in certain areas. It was so cool! Of course I had to check out the Lamborghini shop and see my favorite sports cars.
I also visited the Tanger Outlets recently and stumbled upon the craft fair that was ongoing. I ended up meeting these artists that paint, and one canvas really caught my eye. I absolutely loved the rainbow bunny painting that she had on display. I ended up talking to them for 10 minutes, telling her all about my bun, Zelda. Needless to say, I left there with a new piece of art and, after I got home, she ran right up to me and loved her painting! I will be hanging this up on the wall in her “bun room.”
Taking a vacation as a graduate student is challenging but necessary. We choose to enjoy life and take many breaks when needed. We recently attended Megacon 2025 with our family friends in Orlando, FL and we had a blast! Stayed at the Hilton properties (as always) and met so many creative cosplayers and crafters. They had everything from Star Wars to Avatar to Anime. We even got to meet some popular idols in pop culture like Chris Sabat (Vegeta from Dragon Ball) and Kyle Herbert (the voice of Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender)!
Even on Spring Break, life doesn’t stop. We are planning our wedding for July of this year and it is a LOT of work, but it has been such a fun process so far. We already had our cake tasting, photographer and honeymoon booked, and the venue deposit and food taken care of. I found a wedding cakery that is going to make a 4-tier cake and all gluten-free, with 3 different flavors: amaretto raspberry with cream cheese frosting, vanilla buttercream, and chocolate mousse cake! So relieved I can eat cake on our big day. Next up: bridal shop appointment and dinner rehearsals! We are both over the moon! Can you guess the color scheme of our ceremony based on our photos?
Believe it or not, that’s all for now. Can’t wait to share my next adventure with you happening next week. Stay tuned! Ciao!
Ok! So, I want to split this blogpost into two little parts. The first will detail a little adventure with some recommendations about it. The second will detail a few local businesses that I’ve found recently around campus.
Firstly, my boyfriend and I took a little day trip to Savannah, GA the other day. I was born/raised in Florida and never knew that Savannah was THAT close or that fun!! Driving from around campus, it was only about 3 hours each way which is the perfect length for a fun road trip. We left around 7am and got home by around 11pm. The historic area is the perfect few streets to have some good food and walk around little shops. The JW Marriott on the waterfront has an enormous lobby that is open to the public where you can see tons of fossils, rocks, and other cool displays for free. You can also drive a few minutes from the historic downtown to see a few local forts, walk on the beach, see the lighthouse, or visit the marine museum/aquarium. Those attractions usually close around 4:30pm though, so I would time your activities carefully. For dinner, we went to a restaurant that was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives called Sea Wolf on Tybee Island. The day trip was so fun, and surprisingly not too far from Daytona! I highly recommend doing this with some friends.
Secondly, I wanted to offer a list of some local, small businesses that I’ve discovered lately for you all to support if you would like. This ranges from fun activities and fitness classes to restaurants.
Pho To Luv
Their food is the BEST Vietnamese food that I’ve had in the area. It seems to be family owned and JUST opened about one month ago. They are so nice, and their pho is my comfort meal. All the prices are super reasonable too. They are right next to the Starbucks on ISB near the high school on the corner.
Art Rageous
They have a website where you can sign up for a bunch of different art classes. My boyfriend and I made some custom glass bowls. They also have some pottery and painting classes among other things. The instructor was so nice, and it was a great way to spend an evening.
CORE Pilates
This is a smaller local Pilates studio run by a really nice lady. As a hypermobile person, I can also testify that she really knows how to modify anything if needed, even for injuries. Her classes are a ton of fun and a really good workout (plus sometimes she brings her dogs).
Bounce and Bang
This is a cute place that does things like drum and bungee fitness. It has a cool night-club vibe with the lights inside, and they do a bunch of fun fitness classes throughout the week. This is a great way to do a little cardio with a fun spin, and the people are really kind.
Don Giovanni’s
This is a semi-local Italian place. They have 2 locations, one in Port Orange and one in Ormond I think. I go to the one in Port Orange which seems to be run by a family. Their food is SO GOOD, and the people the work there are fun and extremely nice. I come here super often with my family.
Beauty Lounge
I go here to get my nails done (highly recommend getting luminary gel). I personally go to Milan, but all of the people here are extremely good at what they do. This place is right next door to Home Depot on ISB, and they even have a little cafe next door that you can order from while you get your nails done.
I’ll start with the most local activity that my boyfriend and I did recently: glass bowl making. There is a place about 5-10 minutes away from campus in Port Orange called Art Rageous. We took a class that guided us through cutting our own glass pieces and arranging them into a pattern for a glass bowl (mine, of course, is the one with the planet in the middle). They will now take about 2 weeks for processing where the studio puts them in a kiln and melts it into a bowl basically. This was a great local, fun activity to do for date night; it is a small business that is good to support as well. Then, my boyfriend did a 5k that was for St. Patty’s Day and hosted by a church in Orlando. Although we didn’t stay for all of the festivities, there was a whole St. Patty’s Day festival that day with dancers and food and other activities. The day after, we went to Magic Kingdom which was so fun!! Again, if you don’t already know, the ICI sells Disney tickets. I got mine for about $100 which is very worth it compared to normal pricing. They also offer discounted tickets for other places like Universal, Busch Gardens, KSCVC, etc.
I wanted to post about my recent concert experience because I thought that the venue was such an amazing semi-local find!!
I’ve been a huge mxmtoon fan for years since she was just uploading simple ukulele covers from her room. So, when she announced a tour, my boyfriend and I immediately bought tickets. Luna Li opened for her, and she was amazing. I now listen to some Luna Li almost every day. The venue was SO COOL though. The tickets were the best “bang for your buck” tickets I’ve ever gotten. The concert was at the Beacham in downtown Orlando which is about a one hour drive from campus. Most of the concert area is standing room which was $35/person. The Beacham is usually used as a nightclub (and was converted after the concert). However, the box seats were only a few dollars more at $50/person which was worth it for us. We were expecting just rows of chairs in a box, but it was so much more. It was a huge box to the right of the room, almost on top of the stage. We were super close, and there were only 6 other people in the box. There was one long padded bench/couch thing for sitting, and the balcony view was the BEST. If you ever have a chance to get those seats for a concert there, you really have to do it. That was the best concert experience comfort-wise that I have ever had (and only 1 hour from campus)!
I think LinkedIn gets underestimated a lot. It is a wonderful tool for those wanting to grow their professional network, especially those looking for work. Please keep in mind that any advice I offer is coming from an aerospace engineering industry background and may look a bit different for everyone. Here are some things you should keep in mind about LinkedIn and its many uses..
Many employers and applications nowadays ask for your LinkedIn profile link. When going through a list of people for a job, the recruiter wants to see your resume which is usually everything relevant to that position and not too long. Having a comprehensive LinkedIn profile may give the recruiter a bit more context to you, as a whole person. Some amazing things that you can consider adding to your profile included volunteer experiences, languages, more notes on your educational background, other projects that did not fit on your resume, and more.
A good practice is to add people to your network semi-often that you have worked with in some capacity. This could be a simple connection request, or you can include a message about keeping in touch for future job opportunities, getting advice as a fellow engineer, etc.
Once you have some connections, make an effort to keep in touch! You know who you enjoyed working with or the people that just always seem to be doing really interesting things. Shoot them a message every few months asking how they are doing and what is the coolest thing they have done lately. Little things like this will help you in the long run and may teach you some things outside your usual area of work.
Interacting with your feed will get you more places than you think.
Comment and like people’s posts. If they are sharing an achievement, it’s always nice to support your colleagues and a good way to keep in touch.
Keep a lookout for job opportunities if that is what you need. Your feed may show you some posts from your connections’ connections who could post job openings or a message such as “if you are interested in this job, please reach out to me and let’s talk about your passion for this role”. This is your time to shine! Which brings me to my next point…..
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. They are human, just like you, and you probably share passions for the same work! If someone posts a job opening, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask about their team, work culture, share your interests for the job, etc. You can also cold-message some people. It is always better if you have a mutual connection since they will be more likely to reply. However, you can look for people at the company you want from the college you went to, and message them about their job. Tell them your situation and share your excitement for what they are doing. You could get a job out of this, or, at the very least, make a new connection!
TLDR: Make a LinkedIn account, build your profile, and don’t be afraid to start reaching out to people.
So, for a really long time, I was super hesitant about using AI like Chat GPT or something like that. Recently, I have found a lot of uses for it though. Here is a list of them: **If you are using this for anything academic, please double check on your professor’s policies beforehand. You may be surprised on how encouraging many are to you using AI in different ways within reason.
Fridge Cleanups
Type in random things that you have left in your fridge or cabinets, and let it spit out a few really easy recipes for you. You can even tell it how much time you have and what tools (stove, microwave, etc.).
Creative Ideas
This is a pretty general one, but if you need to come up with ideas for painting, drawing, holiday decor, etc., AI helps a lot.
Code
If you need to program certain logic, AI can help you brainstorm the most efficient way to do it.
Research
If you are having trouble finding papers or other research sources, AI can find a huge list of them very quickly, and you can specify the source and other things.
If you need to understand a very complex paper on a topic that you do not understand very easily, you can paste it into AI and ask it to paraphrase for you, explain it to a 3rd grader, rephrase it in football terms, or whatever will help you the most.
I have learned some things over the past year that I thought I would share with you all!
Work/life balance is so important. Even if you are working on things you love with people you get along with, work takes its toll on you, and the burnout sneaks up literally over night. Rests, fun activities, and self care are good for you and will help you to be more productive and happier in the long run!
Spotify Premium for students stops after 4 years. After many emails with customer service and their business partners, there are no exceptions to this role even though you may take longer to complete your degree or have an extra year (or more) to get more degrees. 🙁
Consistently having nutritious well-balanced meals will improve your mental health drastically and really makes all the difference during exam season. Freezing a bunch of meals that you made yourself before exam weeks is very helpful.
If you overdo it on the caffeine, you can struggle with heart problems and/or make your tolerance wonky so that it’s not as useful anymore (and costs more money for more bean juice).
College is the time that you make a lot of lifelong friendships and/or industry connections; have fun and make the time for it!
If you have meal plans to cash out but are craving something different, cash out on a bunch of ingredients to cook with at home! I used to get boxes of chicken tenders and then make chicken parmesan out of them. I also used to get boxes of salad bar items like spinach and mushrooms that made a great stir fry.
Set up a schedule for basic things (laundry, gym/fun movement, vacuuming, hair wash days, etc.); when life gets hectic, the schedule is essential.
Do a ton of internships, research, and other projects. This is the time to learn new random skills and figure out what you love to do the most.
