Hello again to all my journal readers. As the year comes down to an end, I find myself having the same thing I did in all the end of my previous school years, a bad case of laziness and procrastination. This is the worst time to have such a thing, but I hope to get out of it for a week or so, so I can do well on my finals. I have one full week of classes, then about a half-week of finals and I am officially done with my first year of college.

For those of you who have not finalized your choice for college, I do want to say one thing. I waited until May 1 to submit my deposit to Embry-Riddle. I had a hard time choosing whether or not I really wanted to fly for my career. It’s a hard choice for many, but most, if not all, look back on that decision with no regrets. This also goes to all you engineer majors, ATC majors, engineering physics majors, space physics majors, etc. Just remember that some people will make the wrong choice and be forced to transfer schools. But remember that you want to be happy knowing you tried instead of remorseful and regretful that you never attempted. I am not vouching for Riddle here, I am saying in general. I was in your spot last year and it wasn’t easy, but I am happy with the choice I made. Good Luck to all of you who are still deciding on where to go and wherever your plans take you, good luck in the future!

On another note, life around here has been laid-back lately. The weather has been much better with the temperature getting warmer and the rain leaving, it makes for some great flying weather. Speaking of which, I think I am finally going to get my Private Pilot License this week, if I pass the check ride! It’s kind of weird to be thinking that it is already late April and I still have not been able to attain the license. I originally planned to have it before Spring Break, but some delays changed that, then when I came back, I finished flying, turned in my paperwork, and waited for my check ride. Well, I was told that I had missed a certain flight which was required so I promptly made it up. I then completed the paperwork, but someone at the flight department forgot to tell my instructor that my paperwork was completed, so I waited even longer for my final oral. Since two weeks had passed from my last maneuvers flight, I, just today, went flying again and practiced those maneuvers which I need to know for my check ride. I was told today that I WILL be scheduled for my check ride sometime this week, so I am keeping my fingers crossed so that I can get the dang thing scheduled and, hopefully, passed.

This weekend we had a concert here sponsored by Embry-Riddle which was pretty cool. I am not a big fan of the bands that played, but I am not going to complain. I got in for free and enjoyed my time there. One lesson was learned though: standing next to the speaker doesn’t necessarily enhance the concert experience. Well, I am just kidding, I knew what I was doing by standing near a speaker, but I didn’t realize how long it would take me to get rid of that ringing and hissing in my ear (I am still fighting it as I write this journal). It was fun nonetheless. The bands that played were ‘Riddlin’ Kids, ‘American Hi-Fi,’ and ‘Bowling For Soup.’ When I go back to California this summer, I will be going to the Warped Tour and I am looking forward to that one. Music has always been one of my main interests. Most people are surprised when I tell them the type of music I like. It ranges from Rock to Rap to Acoustic to Classical. If it’s good music, I’ll listen to it!

Well, putting my music rant to an end, I just want to thank all those of you who have complimented me for my journals. I can’t say how good it makes me feel to know that at least a few people, if not many, are actually enjoying what I write. Thank you once again for your attention, comments, suggestions, and support. I will be writing one last journal entry around this time next week, and will have a recap of the whole year for you all. I would just like to ask that if you are reading this and would like me to include anything in particular, post a message on the message board and I’ll make sure to include it. Anything from Aeronautical Science, flying, even campus and dorm life. If there is anything I may help or assist you with, let me know. Until next time!

Sergio

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing great!!!

Ok, I will start with today. Couple of friends and I have got into this habit of playing volleyball and the more we play, the more I like the game; I was horrible when we started playing but now I am getting good at it. Yesterday we played it for three hours and today for two hours and we play it in one of the sand court by Doolittle hall. Today we had six people on each side for three games and later on four people on each side for another three games, it was absolute fun!! I have decided to play it often.

The Badminton club has organized its internal singles and doubles tournament first time in the history of Riddle; they are this weekend and the next weekend. I am glad I will be part of this event; I love playing badminton as a recreational sport. There are more than 20 members taking part in this tournament. And one more thing, I am the Public Relations Officer of badminton club. So I am really looking forward in publicizing the club and make it a successful one. So this is to all the future students, come and check us out!!!

I ran for the elections in Indian Student Association as a treasurer but luck didn’t favor and I lost. Even though I had a great speech and I interacted with members greatly; my counterpart who was a complete failure and had no sense whatsoever of the whole process, won. The rest of the executive board looks fine and I think they will balance out the things. But I have sincerely decided that I will drill the executive board this year and attend every meeting so that ISA could achieve substantial progress in this year. The main problem with students at Riddle is they keep studying and don’t participate in good stuff. I mean we are in college and we are supposed to have fun, I know school is important but that does not mean…blah…blah…blah…I don’t want to bore you all.

The research paper I did for my SS 325, Eastern European Studies class got me a good ‘A’. It was about Terrorism in Eastern Europe and my professor wrote that it was the best paper he received on that topic. So I was quite happy with that remark. In my technical writing class our group was doing a research paper on ‘Laser Propelled Space Travel’, but later we realized that it was too narrow for three people to work on, so we decided to change our topic to ‘Alternative to Rocket Propelled Space Travel’, I did a independent research on StarTram System, a propulsion method in which a space ship is propelled to an orbital speed of 8 kilometer/sec using Maglev (magnetic levitation) technology which is used in Japan for trains. Then it is released into space using a launch tube which can elevate 20 kilometers high from earth’s surface. The maximum speed achieved by trains in Japan using Maglev technology is 350 kilometer/hour, any speeds faster than this is physically impossible in atmosphere so to deal with this impasse researchers have come up with vacuum acceleration tunnel and launch tube for space craft. If the system is adopted then it would cut the cost of space explorations from $10,000 /kilogram to $30 / kilogram. The other group member did it on Space Elevator and Solar Sails, they’re interesting too, check it out.

As you guys know I am staying here for summer, I have already registered for summer classes and completed my housing formalities. I have guaranteed housing in summer because not many people stay here.

I will write back soon. Good luck to everyone for their final exams.

OVER & OUT!!!

Hey guys, looks like it’s time for another one of these biweekly installments. I just realized that we only have two left, which means school is almost out for the year. It’s hard to believe…at times, the year has gone really slow, but it’s weird to think that I’ll be liberated in a few weeks with a year of college under my belt. I’m also looking forward to the extra month of summer vacation that comes along with not being in high school anymore.

The workload this last couple of weeks hasn’t been incredibly taxing, which has been helpful because it was an incredibly rough week otherwise. It’s really tempting to take off for the beach instead of going to class in this weather, but I’ve done pretty well thus far. I ended up dropping math..I didn’t want to risk failing because any failed class while on AFROTC scholarship results in a conditional..and 3 conditionals gets one disenrolled from the program entirely. I think I’m going to end up auditing the class because I’ll have to take it next semester anyhow, but it frees up my M/W/F schedule and allows me plenty of free time/nap time.

I just found out that my dad, who teaches AFJROTC over at DeLand HS is going to let people from S.O. come over and run their last PT session of the semester. As of now, their PT program is run on more or less of a voluntary basis, so we want to head over there and give them a bit of a wakeup call before they head off for summer, so if you go to DeLand HS…head’s up! 🙂

All of my classes are going fairly well..I lucked out this semester with my lack of papers to write, but I’m sure I’ll pay for it a few semesters down the line. I really enjoy PSY 220 (take Bradshaw), and I’m actually learning a lot in my NROTC class.. and for the record, because I keep getting asked, I have no intention of switching. I thought that I’d dive right into the ATC program with the first course, but it’s mostly history for now, so I guess I’ll have to wait until next fall to get to the fun stuff.

I’ve also realized that I’ve got some really good friends here lately. I guess it takes tough times to bring out the best in everyone, but I hadn’t realized how close I’ve gotten to some of the people here in knowing them a relatively short amount of time. S.O. is like a family to me, as well as some incredible people I’ve met along the way. My best friend Katie from home also came to visit me this week which definitely put me in a much better mood. It was nice to introduce her to the people she’s heard so much about and have her experience my life at Riddle. It was also a well deserved break from monotony on both ends, and ended up keeping me sane when I ended up needing it most..thanks Kate!

Keep the questions coming, I know you incoming freshmen are getting anxious; you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.. Keep up the hard work and finish strong, don’t let senioritis get the best of you.

Later,
Melanie

Hello again to all my journal readers. It has been quite interesting receiving so many e-mails from many of you who are interested in learning more about Riddle’s flight program. This is why this journal will be very oriented towards the flight program here. Life is still the same here, just turned 19 this last weekend, I am about four weeks away from finishing off my first year of college, and I am doing well in general. I went down to Tampa for Airfest 2005 and had a great time; unfortunately, choosing not to wear sun block proved to be bad choice. Life here has been laid-back lately, but it has been nice to get some time to relax.

We will soon be registering for Fall 2005 classes and I have set my schedule to be much like this semester’s schedule in order to continue a bit of the academic success I have been able to attain. Next year, I will be taking Meteorology II, Technical Report Writing, Aircraft Systems and Components, Flight Physiology, Aircraft Performance, and the Multi-Engine Flight course. A looks to be a very full schedule, but quite interesting also in that I will be taking many Aeronautical Science courses. I am also going to be taking 2 general education courses back home. It was quite a deal, 6 credits for $170. As a California resident, I got quite a discount on my tuition back home. Next year looks to be very promising; I am looking forward to it.

Aeronautical Science here at Riddle is unlike your average flight program. You will be introduced to the basics of flight, from Newton’s Laws and how they relate to flight, to Bernoulli’s Principle and how it directly relates to flight. You will start off by taking AS 132, also known as Basic Aeronautics I. In this class, I built my knowledge of Aeronautics in general and was then taught the specifics of Private Pilot flight. Many aspects were covered ranging from Performance problems, Weight & Balance problems, Maneuvers, Emergencies, Cross-Country flight, etc. It basically prepares you to fly for the rest of your life by teaching you basic principles that apply to most, if not all, airplanes in everyday flight.

For the rest of your stay here, you will take AS 133, AS 232, and AS 272 which take you from your Private Pilot certification all the way to your commercial certification. All these courses are ground-instruction courses and they go together with your FA courses which are your actual flight labs. Around this basic knowledge, you will also be introduced to classes ranging from Aerodynamics, to Aircraft Engines & Turbines, all the way to Domestic and International Navigation and Crew Resource Management. The Aeronautical Science program has been tailored in a way that the airlines have asked it to be. Though all that is required of Aeronautical Science students is a “Commercial Multi-Engine Instrument” certificate, many go on to complete their CFI and CFII and even become flight instructors here at the school; this becomes a great option for those students who are interested in building flight time.

In your last year here, you will be put in a Canadair Regional Jet simulator course which teaches you the ins and outs of airline/regional carriers. By the time you graduate Riddle, you will have attained a broad, yet very well prepared curriculum that enables you to become knowledgeable enough to fly for an FBO and in many cases, the major airlines. It takes time to get to a major, especially in this day and age, and most use regionals as a stepping stone or as a way of getting their foot in the door. If you love to fly, you will attain your dream of becoming whatever you want to be if you want it enough. Flying at Embry-Riddle is expensive, but many will tell you that flying here is an experience of its own in that you are provided with many resources and much assistance in your flight course. I have never had any problems with flying here nor on the academic side of my education here neither, but flying here will prove to be expensive to most. I recommend looking into private external scholarships as well as grants and loans to provide money for your stay here at Riddle. It has become a problem for me in that I will be unable to attain my Multi-Engine rating before the summer as I wanted to, but I will come back in the fall with money in pocket so that I can finish it off.

Overall, it has been a fun and rewarding experience to fly, one that has been enjoyable since the first day. If you have any specific questions about the flight program here at Riddle, the Aeronautical Science department, or Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in general, feel free to post a message on the message board. I will answer as soon as possible and make sure that your question gets answered. Thanks for your time and will write again soon.

Sergio

It’s incredible to think about how fast the weeks are just flying by these days. I look at the calendar, realizing it’s already 10 April, but still feel like it’s late evening from two months ago. With just three weeks to go, it’s definitely Crunch Time. As one of my old professors once told me, “May is coming; get on the horse.”

Our Navy unit just had its annual Dining In ceremony, a ceremony where only those within the unit and a guest of honor are invited. It was a fantastic opportunity to have fun with everyone, share a good many inside jokes, poke fun at each other, and just enjoy a good meal and a great evening. Though not much like what it was last year, it seems everyone was very pleased with the event. My roommate and the Mr. Vice for the event and myself got together to perform a heavily derivative skit about our Staff Sergeant and another Sergeant in the unit, reminding the midshipmen about the joys of Orientation. We took the ideas of Pablo Francisco’s skit on movie previews and presented a side-splitting rendition of our own “Orientation: A Sergeant’s Tale.” The evening topped off for many of us over 21 at the bar, discussing politics, sociology, philosophy and the works. It was a tremendous experience for me, to finally have that kind of stimulation at this school. I miss it dearly, and to find we have such fantastic thinkers both in the Unit Staff and the Battalion itself is deeply inspiring. It was so stimulating that my roommate and I are postulating the formation of a discussion group to meet twice a month, just to give midshipmen the chance to do more of this discussion and group learning than we have.

Color Guard is gearing up to present for a dedication ceremony of our gymnasium to a former instructor at the school, Jamie Fletcher, a former SEAL and aviator who died in an aviation accident about a year ago. Once that’s finished, it’s just graduation and our commissioning ceremony for those few that’ll be around when we’re done. Training will change dramatically, where I will no longer take on the National Ensign position, giving our Officer Candidate the opportunity to learn the position, as he’ll need it for presentations before and during the summer. Likewise, it’ll be time to start planning to whom I’ll pass the torch onto. I’ve been put up for a few positions within the unit, including Public Affairs Officer and Color Guard commander for next semester. I don’t know how likely I am for any of them, but either way, I’ll have to groom a replacement. I have a few in mind who would do well, but as to their interest in the position, I’m not certain. I’ll likely have next semester or year to figure and work that out.

Something along similar lines is something that’s fast grown from a matter of personal curiosity to immediate contention. I’ve always been chided about being proper and living morally, and it’s never really given me much issue until the last few weeks. Until recently, there’d not much been the necessity to really make such a lifestyle evident, but a friend of mine spoke with a Captain from SOCOM and in a shared communication, this captain particularly stressed the need for moral, mature leaders throughout the military. I’d always come from the camp of understanding that mature leaders were the residing norm in the military, but that email and some issues I’ve discovered have forced the issue directly to my doorstep, where I can no longer look at aberrations and write them off as “it just happens like that.” Unfortunately, at this time, I cannot go into more detail about this issue, but for all those aspiring officers, and even enlisted men who are reading this, the point is raised for one primary issue. The military is full of interested, capable men and women. There is no problem finding people who are capable of doing their jobs and doing them well. At a time when the military is condensing and looking only for the best, and especially as we move into an era where warfare is falling under increasingly stringent criticism and attention, those leaders who posses such qualities as discernment, self-control, dependability, loyalty, deference, truthfulness, and above all humility have the edge and the preference. It is a lack or immaturity of such things that cause the disgraces we’ve found so many events, not the least of which the torture of prisoners.

That’s all for now. Many of you have been writing in with all sorts of excellent questions about the school, your options, and life in general. It’s been great to converse with those of you who are willing to step out and make your voice heard. Keep it up! Until next time:

Onward + Upward

Hello readers, I’m a bit more tired than usual this morning because some smart ass decided to set of the fire alarm in the dorms off at three o’clock this morning. That is the second time it has happened since I have got here and it still hasn’t gotten any funnier. I don’t mind a bit of banter but I hate having my sleep interrupted.

The soccer club had their alumni game this weekend, and I am glad to say that the current team won it for the first time. A lot of the alumni seemed to be nursing a hangover, which didn’t help their performance but I am not sure how much of an effect this had on the outcome. We won a comfortable five zero and I even managed to get myself on the score sheet. It was a thirty-yard rasper. It was good to see the players that went before us at Riddle. We had a bit of a social on Saturday night after the game, a great day in fairness.

I am off to Nice in the south of France tomorrow for a wedding. It’ll be great, not just to see everyone from home but this will be my first wedding and, I am sure, a great party. I will be flying on Tuesday morning and not arriving until Wednesday, almost a full day of traveling, even with the time change. Well worth it though. I am very sad to say that I will have to miss a few days of college, but needless to say I think I will get over it. I will be thinking of all of you here at college working away, when I am living it up in the south of France. I suppose it is close to finals but all my classes are going well and I wouldn’t miss this wedding for the sake of a few days in college.

When I get back from Nice, I think that we have only got about two or three weeks left before we are heading home for the summer, and that is the end of my second Freshman year in college. And believe it or not, contrary to popular belief, especially with all my moaning on this journal it has been a good year where I have met a lot of new and good friends. I am very glad that I got the opportunity to write this journal as I now have something that I can look back on, and reminisce about the year that has gone. You know how it is sometimes, you never really appreciate what you have until it is gone. For instance, the dorms, very boring at times, but I would definitely recommend staying there for the first year of college at least. I mean if nothing else it is a great place to meet people who are usually on the same boat as your self, their first year in college and their first time away from home.

Anyway I have to go to work and I have a lot to do today, with going away tomorrow and that, I have some washing to do. Take it easy. Hugh.

Hello Everyone-

The count down for the semester’s end has begun, only 3 more weeks until I’ve completed my first year of college! This past year I have grown so much, college has been an amazing experience and I’ve defiantly ‘broadened my horizons.’

Although my spring break ended two weeks ago, it hasn’t really seemed like it because I’ve been entertaining my friend, Kaiti, and my family the past two weeks while they’ve been visiting me on their Spring breaks. Kaiti got into Daytona Beach the Wednesday after my Spring Break ended and stayed until Saturday, and my family got here last Friday and stayed a week.

Kaiti and I have been friends since elementary school and she goes to school in Chicago where she’s the Girls Track Star. She’s a great friend and was so determined to come see me over her break that she drove 31 hours here on a Grey Hound Bus and 33+ hours back. We had a lot of fun while she was in town hanging out. I took her to the beach an afternoon and to our pool on campus. Also, it was campaign week for SGA elections, so I recruited her into helping me in the kitchen bake chocolate chip cookies, brownies, rice krispies, and cup cakes for my campaign. ‘HONOR… for COA’

Elections were this week Tuesday and Wednesday, and I found out on Thursday morning that I got in! So I am officially a member of SGA’s student rep. board for the 2005-2006 academic year. I’m so happy that all my campaigning paid off, but I was slightly disappointed because two of my close friends did not get the positions for which they ran. The great thing is that everyone has taken this election seriously but not let it deicide who they are, and those who lost seem to be taking it as well as can be expected.

My family was here this past week, it was so nice to see them and spend time with them. I’d been anticipating their arrival and it was nice to know they were in not only the same state as me but they were 15 minutes away. My family stayed at the Fairfield Resorts on Ocean Walk off of A1A. They had a condo for the week and I brought over all my friends for dinner and to hangout on the beach and the pool deck. We had a ton of fun and were outside by the pool or ocean almost the entire time they were here. Also we went to a baseball game with the ERAU Eagles vs. the Daytona Cubs. It was a great break having them here but also hard because so much was going on. I really need to get to my homework and back into the swing of studying. I’ll be able to relax some more once the semester is done. Until then it’s back to the craziness of getting everything completed and all the materials covered before finals.

Until Next Time, Happy Landings!

Kristina

Hey everyone! Oh school is almost over for the semester and I am so excited! I am just ready to get outta here and just be at home with my family and make some much needed money to get a car amongst other things!

This semester has been one full of trials and tribulations for me…I have learned more and more that college is more than what you learn in the classroom, but is also what you learn about being on your own. I have learned how to teach some of my fellow peers chemistry to an extent in the chemsitry lab and I have enjoyed every moment of it. Mixing chemicals in the lab has also made me feel like a very important contribution to the labs and to better understand what the students are going to be doing each week…

As this year has been going on, I have figured out that maybe being in Engineering Physics is not the major for me…I am currently debating this for my own growth as a person…There have been so many days that I just don’t want to be in this major, not at all because of the difficulty, but because it is not enjoyable to me…

Last semester, chemistry was probably my hardest class, but I had enjoyed this class so much in high school that I had still worked through it…This semester I had done a little more soul searching to see if indeed I want to be doing physics and do some research all day for the next 30+ years or so…I came to a conclusion that I had just been in this major because they said that this would help me to become an astronaut! But if this stuff doesn’t seem to interest me anymore then I don’t know what to do.

Ok everyone I will keep you posted on what my situation is…I mean this is really tough because I had been wanting to come here since the 7th grade and now I feel like I just don’t think this is the right school for me anymore…Ok you all take care and I will talk to you all very soon!

*~Terryel~*

MAN OH man! Y’all have no idea. It’s been a crazy week or two for me. First of all, I’m going on a cruise! Hooray. I’m going to the Bahamas, I’ve been there twice before, but hey, what’s another time, hehe. Ya gotta love it. It’s only a four day cruise, but it will still be tons of fun and I can’t wait. I’m spending a few days in the sun instead of class, but I talked to my teachers and they’re pretty cool with it, so long as I turn in everything ahead of time. Which means it’s been a lot of work lately to do. Anyways, that’s only news number one.

News number two, I have gotten a job. That’s right. I haven’t worked since last summer when I did a College Program Internship with Disney, but I’ve gone down to Disney and gotten a job again, yEaH! If you all remember, (which you probably don’t) I worked at Test Track at EPCOT. This time I’m not going to be working at Track, but somewhere in Future World West, which includes The Living Seas, The Land, and the new Soarin’ Attraction. I’ll probably be cast at Soarin’, but who knows. I hope to be cross trained back to Test Track because it was the most fun ever, but I bet Future World West would be pretty cool too. I know everyone is so much fun to work with no matter what we’re doing. Today I did a Traditions class, which is 8 hours worth of teaching. You learn the Traditions and safety and legal information that is needed in the workplace. Next Saturday is my Discovery Day at EPCOT, which becomes another 8 hours of walking and playing in the park. Anyways, gotta go pack for the cruise. I’m leaving tomorrow. Later Guys, I’ll fill you in on it when I get back.

-Darryl

Hello Everyone-Craziness that’s about all I can say regarding the last two weeks.

To start off I had a great birthday. I went out to eat and got a lot of cards in the mail from my family. It was a little weird not being with them for the first time on a big occasion like that, but I still had a great time. My friends at school are wonderful and they definitely helped to make this birthday special.

I also had test overload that week. “When it rains it pours” has never held a truer meaning for me than this past year. Every time I have one test, it seems I have at least three. Thankfully, they were all on different days which gave me a little less stress over studying. With spring break the following week, everyone was trying to get all the material covered and tested before we had a week off to forget it all. I counted my blessings because I haven’t had to study over the break; some of my friends have three tests this coming week.

Spring break was wonderful; I stayed in Daytona Beach all but one day when I drove to Winter Haven, FL to visit my roommate from last semester, Crystal. I mainly worked over the break because we didn’t really have nice weather. Granted it’s warmer than Michigan would have been had I gone home, but it wasn’t really ‘lay out on the beach all day’ weather. My roommate Julee’s sister and best friend came down for the week as well, so we hung out with them in the evenings and tried to show them the sights of Daytona Beach.

At work I was able to spend a lot of time in the phone room as well as go over to campus visit to help with the “masses” that came to tour our campus, I answered phones and gave tours. There were so many people here it was overwhelming at times. I think some of the tour groups were so large that they lasted twice as long as a normal tour would have. And we were understaffed because most of the students we work with left for Spring Break. At least now I have a little extra spending money.

On Saturday I drove to Winter Haven with Ben to go see Crystal, and learned how to water ski! I really didn’t want to learn, but I’m so glad I did (thanks for forcing me Crystal). I was able to get up on every attempt and stayed up for about 5 minutes my last time. We also hung out at the pool and just caught up on each others lives. I really miss her, but love my new roommate.

Easter was fun as well, although not traditional- we went to the beach after church. What else is there to do when you’re away from your family and they’re all eating good food, and it’s a beautiful day in Florida???

Anyways, hope your Easter was Blessed, I guess it’s back to school for me tomorrow.

Until Next Time, Happy Landings!