ERAU Family Weekend!

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Maddie

This past weekend was Family Weekend here in Daytona Beach. My mom and brother came to visit, but Chris also came to surprise me! When I pulled up at the airport to pick up my mom and brother, Chris was there!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Ormond Beach (we got a great deal) and first began the morning by grabbing breakfast. I sent Logan (my brother) off with a friend to an engineering class since that is his interest. Chris and my mom came to meet my Professor, but instead of sitting in on the class, they went to go “officially” check-in for the weekend.

Of course my mom went to the bookstore and got all the goodies. She also met up with a friend from Castle Rock (our hometown) since her son also is a student! This is a picture of Logan and I. Can you believe he is as tall as me? I can’t!

When my family came to Family Weekend my freshman year, they were sad Logan couldn’t come too. Now that he was able to come, we were all very happy. It is huge for him to be able to see the school he hopes to attend, but also hopefully makes his first couple days at college a lot less scary, especially since he was able to sit in on a class.

After my first class, I took my family to meet some friends and faculty that I love. The folks I work with in Admissions even gave him a t-shirt!

Logan really wanted an energy drink and I really wanted to show him our cool deck… So here we are!

We also toured the school and then went to lunch. My mom went to my dorm and napped while Chris and Logan came to my last class of the day with me. My Professor was very sweet to them and they both really enjoyed the class. Logan now loves Aviation Business since my class was very fun and his morning Engineering class was more serious. I feel bad for tarnishing his view but… I’m also not too mad about it, haha!

There were many options for us on Friday and Saturday (like trivia night), but I just really wanted my family to see the campus and for Logan to sit in on a class with me. We decided to go to Disney since most of Saturday’s activities would not be super fun for Logan and because my mom had already been to most of the activities my freshman year. Plus… I mean it’s Disney!

After spending an arm and a leg, we went to Epcot. We decided to go to this park since we have not been in a long time. Logan is 13 (almost 14) now, so he has grown to like it a lot more than he did when he was way younger. The weather was great and the longest line we waited in was only 30 minutes!

Please enjoy some pictures from the weekend!

I was so happy Chris came to surprise me!

Epcot’s yummy and surprisingly affordable food!
Left: chocolate tasting Right: beef wellington

Sunday was the day scheduled by the school as “free time”, but my family left Sunday afternoon. So, instead we went to Orlando (since they were leaving out of MCO) and went to the outlet mall there!

I was sad to see everyone go, but I was also glad they came. It was honestly one of the greatest weekends of my life! When I am at school I greatly miss my family. Seeing them gives me the motivation and strength to continue to work hard on my studies!

Some restaurants we ate at (and that I highly recommend):

Tia Cori’s Tacos
Oklahoma Joe’s
Giuseppe’s Steel Pizza City
Neighbors Ice Cream Parlor
Blaze Pizza
Chicken Salad Chick

You go through life wondering what is all about but at the end of the day it’s all about family.
Rod Stewart

Until next time! ~ Maddie

Clubs, Greek Life & More!

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Emily

I couldn’t get a lot of pictures the past few weeks due to classes. I’ve been wracking my brain to think of something to write about for this entry, and was almost ready to throw in the towel, but I had sudden inspiration to talk about clubs and extracurricular activities and how fun and important they can be.

Since I started at Embry-Riddle, I have been told that joining clubs and being involved is key to college life. Many professors, and even former Embry-Riddle students themselves, say that being involved can help with job interviews internships by providing leadership experience and other skills. The faculty in my major, Communication, hosted an event where Riddle graduates came to speak with us. All of them told us about how most of their internships helped lead to a job, or that landed their job because of extra-curricular activities that they participated in during college. One of them said that their interview consisted of just talking about what she did in her engineering club and another about her study abroad trip. It all goes to show that the grades and your GPA will only take you half way when it comes to the real world. Employers seem to be looking for active well-rounded people for the most part.

Embry-Riddle has a vast number of extracurricular opportunities, from cooking, to creative writing, music, engineering, all the way to clubs about cultures. Even if you somehow can’t find an interest, you can create your own club with enough people and support from the school. Also, Riddle has a ton of different sororities and fraternities. Embry-Riddle’s Greek Life isn’t like other schools where it’s bikini car washes and frat parties all night long. Here, most don’t have “houses” but live in the dorms and function more like what seems a club, and they’re a lot more professional.

So many clubs! Cars, airplanes, academics, culture, skydiving, sailing – the list goes on and on!

I’ve been searching for something I truly like. I’ve gone to the school newspaper meeting, the aviation photography club meetings and they just didn’t click well for me. Recently I met someone in the same major as me (which is rare for a communications major), and she invited me to an event to meet a sorority. At first, I was reluctant because I’m socially awkward and was nervous. But I went to give it a try, and because I was looking to get involved and push myself anyway. I was absolutely delighted and mesmerized these fantastic women. Each one had their own special role and their own beautiful personality. They supported and loved one another like family and made me feel like family as well. Being a woman at Embry-Riddle can be overwhelming. I’ve had many classes where I was the only girl and I’m only in my second semester, so seeing all these empowering, friendly, and sweet girls was amazing! I’m sure from what I heard that joining a fraternity is a similar experience.

There’s something out there for everyone and I truly with all my heart encourage you to join a club, study abroad, or check out Greek life. Not only will you have a great time, make friends, and create memories, but you’re also setting yourself up for success when you try it out. I hope this small entry will inspire some to get involved and see how it can help you on your path of awesomeness.

Lists & Looking Forward

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Merrick

Happy January everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, back into the swing of things and fully thriving, if that includes stress, lack of sleep, and tired muscles, but nonetheless I am still keeping the lovely positive mental attitude.

A few updates as of lately: I am currently typing this from my desk with a view outside of the 100% forecast of rain and thunderstorms and the construction of the newest residence hall building, it’s a Sunday morning, I’m still in my pajamas, I have a cup of tea, and my laundry is currently in the dryer, its a good life folks.

This past week, although it only consisted of four days due to no school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was absolutely exhausting. Four day weeks still mean four days of classes, inclusive of homework to compensate for a day off, tests, quizzes, and 3 days of AFROTC Field Training Preparation training days with less time to recover. On Friday we had PT in the morning, I had classes and meetings all day, then I went to the gym to do abs, shoulders, and upper back, it’s Sunday and I’m still sore.

Following that excitement, I woke up at 0200 on Saturday morning to meet with a group of cadets from AFROTC and head over to the Daytona International Speedway to volunteer for the Rolex 24 race. My volunteering shift was filled with lots of standing and the weather was very windy and cold, it ended at 4:30pm and once I got back to my dorm I showered, ate, and went to sleep.

Naturally, I’d assume you all can infer what that means: Sunday is the day of homework. I’ll rest next weekend… hopefully?! I am a person that very much values self care time, although I frequently have very little time for it between the thousand other things I do. That being said, a great remedy for me to organize my days and perhaps schedule some time for me to do a little yoga or squeeze in a face mask are by listing out everything I need to accomplish that day. In listing things out, not only do I get a sense of accomplishment when I get to cross things off, I have a definitive timeline of my progress on little goals that put me one step closer to being able to take a shower, get ready for bed, and relax (aka sleep)!

I’ve been very busy lately, so here is an aforementioned photo of my family and I from over winter break!

Typically I write daily lists either via sticky notes, which are then stuck to the back of my phone for the duration of the day, or if I don’t have sticky notes around I compose these to do lists via digital notes in the Notes app on my phone.

Today on the list, aside from laundry and blogging, is my weekly Resident Advisor report that I do every Sunday, uploading a few other digital forms for my RA position, composing a handwritten memorandum for my AFROTC Training Officers, preparing my clothes and gear for AFROTC training in the morning, and homework for Differential Equations, Aerospace Flight Vehicles, and Dynamics, plus studying!

Here is another picture of my mom and I from a hike over winter break that makes me very happy.

I’ve been pretty busy lately to say the least, but spring break is around the corner, and one of my friends that I haven’t seen in over a year may be visiting me sometime in February! Despite the stress and fatigue of this semester, there are always things to look forward to.

Will report back soon. Keep on keeping on!

Is College Hard?

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Maddie

Hi everyone!

We have only been back for about two weeks and I already feel that we are in full swing. What ever happened to syllabus week? Personally, I prefer not to waste time. I love to hit the ground running, especially this semester, because it means we are that much closer to the finish line!

It’s that time of year where I like to try extra hard to fill my blogs with good, hearty, helpful content. While I hope you get the feel of college life at ERAU by reading my blogs, I also want to leave you with something after you finish. Hopefully you can take at least one thing away from this long blog post!

This week, I wanted to answer a question I get asked a lot by incoming freshman/transfer students. It’s a question I had myself coming into college. First things first, I want to specify that ERAU is very different than any other college (or so I hear). Many of my friends who went to state schools have a very different experience than I do. This isn’t necessarily bad, but I want to make the specification that every college experience is different, especially between a private/public university and even more so at such a specialized college.

The question is: Is college hard?

As a forewarning: I am not trying to brag about anything. I work very hard and it took awhile to find the balance I have in college. That being said, I am still not perfect. Sometimes I have to take days off work to study and I don’t get an A on every assignment. I want to be real and help someone out and that is why I am sharing this information!

I was filled with fear that college would knock me off my feet. I graduated high school with above a 4.0 and I STILL was worried I’d fail out of college. Yet, here I am – thriving!

I am in my last semester, have a 4.0, work four jobs, and have leadership positions in multiple clubs/organizations. AND, I am able to have free time for myself pretty much every single night and every weekend. I travel, watch Netflix way too much, and go hang out with friends. You can have it all, I promise. Of course, this may vary by major. My engineering friends seem to have more homework, but I have more group meetings. It all really depends.

It takes time to learn your jam. My first semester of college was slow. I didn’t work and I only took 13 credits. If you plan on moving into your dorm and having life figured out after orientation, I would calm down a bit. We expect so much from ourselves and that can be unhealthy. Give yourself time to grow and adjust because many others are as well. I do this thing where I panic in the beginning of the semester thinking my classes are so hard, but by the third week I have learned they’re very manageable and it just seemed hard. I would recommend waiting to get a job until your second semester on campus, but join many organizations your first semester and weed out ones you feel are less valuable to you as the semester goes on. This ensure by spring that you will have only things you enjoy and find beneficial on your schedule.

Don’t compare yourself to others. Remind yourself that your friend in business is working 20 hours a week after class because their classes are different than yours. Or that your friend in engineering is not working or as involved as much because they have more homework than you. You are not the same person – your circumstances are completely different. College can be hard if you try to fit in and be this “perfect” person. Be yourself. Do things you are passionate about and it won’t feel overwhelming. You must make time for things that make you happy.

Choose what you want. If you want lots of spending money, get a job. If you want straight A’s, focus on that. If you want to be super social, join clubs. If you want to add to your resume, join a project. We forget that we get to choose what we do in college. It really helps to experiment and find what mix of the above get you what you want. If you know you take longer to complete assignments or study, maybe consider working only a few hours at an on-campus job that allows you to do homework. I had to quit clubs I liked because I knew they were taking too much of my studying times. I only work a couple hours at each job in order to have time to take on leadership positions in my clubs.

Go to class. Some people don’t and I know some schools allow this. Embry-Riddle does not. Almost every single one of my professors in college has taken attendance. You can’t even be tardy. My personal opinion is if you pay to come to school, you should actually go. Every class is fast-paced and beneficial. There is never just busy work. Missing a day at ERAU is not like “oh well” but rather you will find yourself in office hours trying to catch up. Please just go to class. Please.

There is not a class that is impossible to pass. There are so many resources available to students to not just pass, but get A’s. Go to every office hour if you must. Email your professor. Hang out in the tutoring center to do your homework and study. Some classes are harder than others, so you may have to adjust your extracurricular and work schedule according to your classes. If you have a hard physics class, allot time for you to get the help you need. Maybe cut your number of work hours in half or go on a semester-leave for a club. You are a student first. I truly believe if you try hard enough, you will succeed.

TIP: I don’t take notes on my laptop anymore because I found myself getting distracted. I would jump from notes to sending and email to notes to filling out some paperwork I needed to do. Learn from me – it’s easier to pay attention in class and learn than it is to try to teach yourself with the PowerPoints posted online (yeah, college professors usually post their slides online – it’s super nice). This will help when you go to study because you will have already learned it once. I think I realized this when I was learning so much in my one class that didn’t allow laptops out.

I hope this helps whoever is worried out there. I promise it’ll all be good. You can do this! ~ Maddie

Lazy Sunday – Porsche Cayman

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Sam

Lately, the weather has been amazing here in Florida so I have been taking every opportunity to go out and film! I’ve never written a script for a film before this one and I like how it turned out. Filming off of a script made me feel a little less creative in the field with my shots but, in my opinion, turned out better. I didn’t go home with any shots I felt that I had missed and it was an amazing feeling. It was definitely worth the extra effort of working out and revising what I was going to film before I did it. In this film I attempted to capture the feeling of a lazy Sunday for a Porsche owner.

Thank you for watching!!

The Beginning of the End

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Maddie

Welcome back! Who else is rejuvenated after such a long break?

I am so excited for this semester because IT IS MY VERY LAST SEMESTER of my undergraduate degree! This is not some sappy blog post about how difficult the journey has been, because honestly… it hasn’t been all that tough for me.

Yes, I have suffered through the painstaking long distance relationship and homesickness and working my butt off, but I feel all of that is merely a fading memory already. All the minor painful bits are overshadowed by the pure excitement of the ever impending finish line.

Some classes I struggled with and others I genuinely enjoyed attending. I’ve had professors that I adored and clung to their every word and others that I thought I couldn’t escape soon enough. There were tears and blood (just kidding) but it was all worth it.

I feel like I am talking as if I graduate tomorrow… Woah woah there cowgirl, buckle up for one more semester.

All in all, I am just saying that I feel we glorify the pain of college. We are romantics for the sleepless nights, “failed” tests, and freshman 15*. In reality, I never pulled an all-nighter. There was not a single assignment I truly “failed” (though if we are being honest, there were some tests with grades I wish were better). And I am most happy to report there was no freshman 15 here! *For those who do not know, the freshman 15 is what people call it when you gain weight going to college. They blame the food and bad habits, but my doctor once told me we look for excuses for things such as weight gain. Most “freshman 15” are probably a natural change/occurrence or due to a drastic change in lifestyle rather than college itself.

I am usually a Scrooge when it comes to New Year resolutions, but this year I am challenging myself to be more positive. So many times we get in the habit of joining people in their negativity. If we are told a class is hard, then we automatically go into it thinking that it will be difficult. I am pushing myself to see past these rumors and to attempt new things with an open mind. Maybe you thought that class was hard because you didn’t find the topic interesting or maybe you missed every other class. We are independent beings and I encourage everyone to go into college with this mindset.

If your roommate joins a sorority and you feel it’s not for you, then don’t feel you have to go out for recruitment. I am the guiltiest person when it comes to expectations. I expect a lot from others but an extraordinary amount from myself. While I obviously, wholeheartedly encourage everyone to try new things and push their limits, only do what you are passionate about. Do what you believe is best for yourself and I promise you will fly.

I guess what I am saying is accept the challenges of college with positivity and I promise your days will fly by!

~ Maddie Dietrich

First Weeks Back!

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Emily

The start of a new semester is always busy the first couple weeks. You’re learning what all your new classes entail, meeting new professors, and new people. It seems like it all happens so quickly and that can be quite the adjustment from high school, but after the second week or so passes it gets good. You get used to the new schedule and begin to enjoy all your new classes! It’s also important to stick to who you are as well. Through college you are going to learn numerous different things, but sticking to your hobbies and your passions is what keeps you true to yourself.

As we all know I love photography and that is my hobby. The beginning of the week, I was taking some photos around campus and I’d like to show you what I have.

Daytona & Decorations

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Merrick

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!

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 January 4, 2019 by Merrick

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 January 4, 2019 by Sam

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!

My Life @ Riddle

Daytona Beach Edition