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!

Vossen/AccuAir Roush Mustang

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Sam

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 December 17, 2018 by Merrick

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!

Tips & Tricks

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Emily

As we all know, it’s the last weeks of the semester and that means FINALS! And, just simply trying to bring up your grades. But I feel like, as college students, we shouldn’t over stress ourselves the way we do. Sometimes taking time to relax is the best thing we can do because when you’re pulling all-nighters to study and cram in information the last few days, you will fry your brain. This was something I had to learn coming into college, as someone who has grown up with major anxiety, dealing with and handling the stress that comes from it has been something I had to learn. So, take from a master of sorts and maybe my advice will help someone out.

Study and break- Obviously you should study for your tests and classes, but don’t overdo. Don’t spend 2 hours in a row studying, take small breaks in between, take your time, and don’t fry your brain.
NO ALL-NIGHTERS! All-Nighters are not good for your health. It is very beneficial to you to get a good night’s sleep before a test and class. Your performance will suffer because your brain has not gotten the full recommended amount of rest. I know from personal experience that when I get a full beautiful rest, I realize I’m more aware, more refreshed, and just all around feel good.
Eat breakfast or a meal before your exam. This seems obvious, but I promise that being hungry during a test is not fun and can result in your feeling sick and will distract you.
Don’t study the day of. Cramming before an exam is not the best idea for your head because again you will fry your brain before you even go and take your test. The best thing to do is go to class and be prepared and with a fresh brain. This was some advice that my Math professor gave me and, so far, it helped me out so much. This may not be for everyone, but it can sure help some people who know the info but just is a over stresser.
Don’t over think it. Even if you’re worried about a test, the worst thing you can do is panic and over think.

Stress is something that we can all manage, and it can be quite easy to do with a little effort and self-awareness. Before a test or something big, it’s important to your mental health to treat yourself while you’re working hard. Relax, take a breather, and do something you love to do. This depends on the person, but here are some things I suggest doing that help me:

Art! I love to mindlessly paint, sitting back and just doing random drawing patterns, and of course editing my photos. This may not be for everyone, but it really does help me a lot.

Watch a movie! Unwind with a good movie, whether that be at the Theater or Netflix on your laptop. This is a great way to unravel, to escape and let your mind wander into and enjoy a movie. On campus, Touch ‘N Go (our schools entertainment coordinators pretty much) does free movie showings just about every week, and sometimes they do them outside on a big screen for all to see and enjoy.

And lastly, I would say spend time doing something fun with a friend. Having a good friend to just help you take some stuff off your mind and to just laugh and hang out is such a good way to relive some stress.

Hope this helps you to have stress-free finals and a stress-free holiday!

My Life @ Riddle

Daytona Beach Edition