T-39 Days Until Graduation

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Hello There,

It is finally starting to set in that there are just 39 days to go until graduation; only 16 of those are class days for me (partly due to almost a week off for Thanksgiving, interviews, weekends, etc.).

During my time as a student, I have learned that how busy I have been comes in waves. For example, we usually have big homework assignments due and/or tests the last week of September or the first week of October. In addition to that, there is also the Industry/Career Expo among other campus events. Then, classes are kind of quiet mid-to-late-October as Fall Break comes and goes. The last week of October and first week of November tend to be busy with the second round of tests/projects/major homework assignments. Then, it is quiet for a bit until just after Thanksgiving as more projects/large homework assignments are due, and it will be time for finals. Although I am an aviation business major, this seems to be relatively true for most degree programs.

When you are a graduating senior, you also have to factor in time for the job search process and traveling for interviews too! More on that to come next month…

In other news, I worked with the marketing department to create a promotional video for prospective students earlier this week. It provided a great way to reflect on my time at ERAU, and it was a fun experience.

Until next time,

Jack

Wanna Go Fast Ocala

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Wanna Go Fast Ocala 2017, held at the Jumbolair Airport located in Ocala, Florida, nestled in the Horse Capital of the World, took place October 28 & 29. Participants were given a chance to take their vehicles top speed down Jumbolair’s private 7550 foot runway and race door-to-door against the competitor of their choice. I was thrilled to attend and capture this great footage. Check it out!

Fall Break

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Hello everyone!

I hope you’re well! I hope those who were job hunting or looking to do an internship for next summer were successful during the Expo. I talked to a few companies during my volunteer shifts with Career Services. I did win the Instagram Expo Challenge! My prize was that I could give $100 to any student organization on campus. I gave it to the Women’s Ambassador Program since I am a Coordinator for it, and I really love what we do!

On the 13th through 15th, I traveled to Washington D.C. and Chicago with the Admissions Department at Daytona and Prescott to help promote Embry-Riddle. I represented the Daytona Beach Campus as a Coordinator for the Women’s Ambassador Program. There were two other students as well from the Prescott campus. I got to present myself in front of around 200 people in D.C. and about a 100 in Chicago and share my college experiences. Talking to the parents and the possible future eagles was a great experience! We also got to tour the National Mall and see the National Geographic Museum in D.C.

During my fall break, I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth and 2 of my permanent teeth removed since they grew out of my gums. I still have 5 of my baby teeth, three on top and two on the bottom. I was pretty much loopy the entire day after my surgery, but I am starting to do better.

I hope you all had a great Fall break!

Until next time,

Maryam

Mid-Semester Update

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Hello!

We are a bit more than halfway through the semester, but since we missed about a week of classes due to Hurricane Irma last month, most of our classes just had mid-terms last week and earlier this week.

The semester seems to just be cruising right along. We had our

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Fall Break just last weekend in which I returned to Houston to continue the re-building efforts post-Hurricane Harvey. Now at the time of writing this, it is about 53 days until graduation, and there are even less days of class left! Boy, time sure does fly!

Being a graduating senior is quite nice; it has been fun looking for and interviewing for full-time positions as well as enjoying my last few months of being a college student before I enter into the “real-world.” There is also a lot to juggle being a graduating senior due to the job searching, interviews, school work, working, and just being a college student!

There is not a whole lot left this semester, and I have no doubt the last part of it will fly by.

Stay tuned…

Fall 2017 Industry/Career Expo

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Hi All,

The Embry-Riddle Career Services Team just wrapped up its Fall 2017 Industry/Career Expo, and once again, it was another great success.

More than 2,500 students, alumni, and guests attended the Expo; 99 companies were at the Expo including American Airlines, Boeing, Gulfstream, HondaJet, Lockheed Martin Corporation, SpaceX, and Textron. The ICI center was packed with people; hundreds and hundreds of resumes were being put into the hands of recruiters; and many employers started inviting students to participate in interview day (for those companies that opt to stay to conduct interviews the day after the Expo).

There is so much planning and coordination that is involved in putting one of these Expos on, and I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to help put on these events. Sure, I am a student too, but helping put these on is such a cool experience. Now, by saying how “cool” these events are just understates how cool it is to have so many different employers on campus recruiting my fellow classmates and hearing about all of the different internship and job opportunities arise from the Expo.

When growing up, I heard the saying that “the aviation industry is all about who you know.” Thanks to these Expos, I truly understood what that meant, but I would argue that that this saying can be applied to any industry. It has been great to see some of the same recruiters and company representatives come back each Expo year after year because it makes starting up a conversation so much easier. Plus, getting to speak with different alumni and learn how they got to where they are today is very fun and informative.

Whether you are a first year student or alumni of Embry-Riddle (or any university for that matter), I highly encourage you to attend the Industry/Career Expo. Sure, it is daunting handing over your resume to a perspective employer as you start doubting that your resume is free of errors or worrying that you are potentially not qualified for a position, but it is amazing what can come out of just a little networking at these events.

Blue skies,

Jack

Visiting NASA 747SP Aircraft

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Hello everyone!

I hope you’re doing well and your semester is going great! I’ve had a couple of events happen, and they have been so much fun! On September 27th, I got to attend Shaesta Waiz’s arrival celebration. She is the first female certified civilian pilot from Afghanistan and is the youngest woman to fly solo around the world in a single engine aircraft. She is also the founder of Women’s Ambassador Program at Embry Riddle, for which I am currently a coordinator.

I also got a great opportunity to meet Nicole Stott, a NASA astronaut. She was a Flight Engineer on ISS Expedition 20 and Expedition 21. She was also a Mission Specialist on STS-128 and STS-133. Ms. Stott was a mentor to one of the Brookies from the Brooke Owen Fellowship that I was a part of this summer.

Last week (October 4th), Brent and I got to visit the NASA’s SOFIA 747SP aircraft. It is a Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) modified aircraft that carries a 2.5 meter, 17-ton telescope. The purpose of it’s mission is to observe Triton, Neptune’s largest moon.

 

The Career Expo is in 2 days!!! It will be on October 12th from 9 am to 4 pm. Please don’t forget to bring your Eagle Card and also dress professionally. I would highly recommend downloading the Embry Riddle Career Fair+ App. It has really cool features like complete company listing, interactive floor plan, event details and many more! I am an Ambassador for Career Services, so if you have any questions about career-related topics, please don’t hesitate to stop by our office. It is located in the Student Center on the second floor in Room 250.

I will also be travelling this weekend to Chicago and D.C. to talk about the Women’s Ambassador Program at Riddle. Stay tuned for more details in my next blog! Good luck in internship/ job hunting!

Until next time,

Maryam

SOFIA

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What? SOFIA is NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy – a modified 747SP aircraft that carries a 2.5-meter, 17-ton infrared telescope.

Where? Florida’s Daytona Beach International Airport and the adjacent Embry-Riddle campus, as part of SOFIA’s first scientific mission to be flown over the Atlantic Ocean.

Why? The purpose of the SOFIA mission will be to observe Triton – the largest moon of Neptune – as it passes by and conceals or “occults” a star called UCAC4 410-143659. This type of event is best captured by a mobile research facility such as SOFIA, high above the clouds.

Who? Tours offered exclusively to Embry-Riddle students, faculty and staff.

When? SOFIA arrived October 2, tours took place October 4, observation missions took place the night of October 6. Read more about the mission here.

 

My First Launch!

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If there is anything to love about Daytona Beach, it’s how amazingly close it is to the Space Coast! You can faintly see the launches from campus, but if you really want the best view, the hour’s drive to Cape Canaveral makes launch viewing even better. Despite how close it is, I have never taken the opportunity to drive down for a front row seat. Thanks to Space Tango, I didn’t have choice – and I was completely okay with it!

I’m interning remotely from the Lexington, KY-based company as their marketing and public relations specialist, so it was only befitting to make sure I was there for the launch of SpaceX CRS-12. This launch carried not only 12 customer research payloads, but an additional TangoLab facility to double available research capacity for Space Tango Customers.

The launch was scheduled for August 14th at approximately 12:31 PM EDT on launchpad 39A, historically know for being used for the first Saturn V launch (Apollo 4) and other Apollo missions including Apollo 11. Needless to say, I was excited. Not only was it my first launch, but I was working. There’s nothing more fulfilling than doing what you love for a living!

I was also fortunate enough to have my family and friends join me for the VIP viewing at Banana Creek, which is also home to the Apollo-Saturn V Center.

I spent a solid 3 hours waiting for launch inside the center, but I was so busy exploring all the exhibits that I almost forgot about the launch! As time neared, my family, friends, and I made our way to the launch seats. Although it was scorching hot outside, it was worth every second of the countdown. I’ve NEVER seen a launch, and the moment I saw plumes of exhaust, my skin was covered with goosebumps.

We were all in awe. In almost no time at all, stage 1 and 2 had separated and Space Tango Payloads were en route to the International Space Station. I took photos, published a press release, and just like that –  my first launch was over and I’m counting down until the next one. While I started my own countdown to the next launch I’d be attending, we enjoyed our access passes to the Kennedy Space Center. That in itself was amazing and well-worth the time (there’s a limited supply, but students and faculty can purchase discounted tickets for KSC).

There are many more photos that I can share and more stories to tell about my first trip to KSC, but I’ll leave that up to you to explore and discover.

⋆ Dani

 

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

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Hello there!

We are at week number five of classes, but it feels like way earlier in the semester!

About three weeks ago, classes were cancelled for about a week due to Hurricane Irma impacting practically the entire state of Florida. Now, it feels like the semester is moving at twice the normal speed as we all continue to get back on track.

Beginning final approach into Houston

Luckily, campus sustained very minimal damage as well as most of the Daytona Beach area. There was some minor flooding along the Halifax River, but in the end, everything is a-okay. Most people (including myself) traveled back home which worked out great for me as I could continue helping with the clean-up and re-building efforts in Houston due in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

The Fall 2017 Industry/Career Expo is just 16 days away so final preparations in the Career Services Office are well underway. We are looking forward to another great expo in which 101 employers will be on campus!

Stay tuned…a lot more to come!

Jack

Back to School

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Hello everyone!

I hope you had a great start to the Fall semester and are settling back. I am currently back to starting classes, and let me tell you, it’s not really easy getting back into my school routine after doing 9 months of internships!!! I also got my private pilot license during the summer right before classes started.

I am currently taking 15 credits, training for my instrument, and have leadership roles in multiple organizations. It’s not super easy getting back, but I do like a little challenge. It is also very nice to get back since I have a great support system from my professors, colleagues and friends!

After getting into two weeks of classes, I can’t believe we got a whole week off due to Hurricane Irma. My boyfriend and I drove to my house in Bradenton to stay with my family. We didn’t evacuate from Florida, but hunkered down and stayed through it. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We lost power for about 8 hours, but we slept through it since it was in the middle of the night. There wasn’t much damage to our house, except for trees that fell all over the place. We took down the storm shutters after it was all over and cleaned our place up. There were some trees outside our complex that were uprooted.

I hope everyone was safe during this period and have made it back safely to Daytona. Remember that if you need any help, please reach out to your professors and let them know.

Until next time,

Maryam