Tag Archives: April

April & Audiobooks

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Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, Florida prepping to graduate and relocate to Dayton, Ohio post graduation pursuing my Master’s degree in Operations Research at the Air Force Institute of Technology. I am VERY much looking forward to commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force! With only a few weeks left until my undergraduate journey comes to an end, the only thing that’s been on my mind is the finish line… i.e. the starting line to my career and the rest of my life! With my family and friends finalizing travel plans to come to FL for the graduation ceremony and festivities I can’t help but be more excited every day.

A common theme for my life currently is focusing on ‘the grind’. Thus, I am putting all my energy into school, working out, prioritizing sleep, rest, and mentally recharging to stay in a consistent routine. Something new I’ve been interested in that’s helping me unwind, other than different workouts, is leisure reading!

Post workout at the ERAU Fitness Center!

While I don’t always have time to read physical books, I’m trying out my newest literature pick via a few different platforms. What I mean by that is, I’m trying out a new method of the “picking up where you left off” concept. Hence, I now have The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien in digital pdf format to read on my phone during short breaks throughout the day or while walking on the treadmill. Additionally, I’ve checked out my *first* leisure read from the ERAU Hunt Library for a physical copy of the book to read in my room, lounging on the hammocks around campus, or as a fun beach day copy! My third and final version of The Hobbit is… drum roll please… an audiobook! Spotify Premium for students is only $5 a month, and comes with a free Hulu and SHOWTIME subscription! In addition to music, which I use Spotify for everyday, Spotify also has podcasts, and a plethora of audiobooks. This digital library includes most classics like Harry Potter (my latest audiobook listen) AND The Hobbit (my newest listen)! I typically enjoy audiobooks while walking to class on campus, cleaning my room, doing laundry, or as a way to relax before bed!

Newest book I recently borrowed from the ERAU Hunt Library!

Highlights I’ve been enjoying lately in addition to homework, term papers, technical reports, presentations, and my new book endeavor include: consistency in my gym routine, the sunshine and weather warming up as summer in FL approaches, watching Season 2 of Bridgerton on Netflix, and the new season on The Kardashians coming out April 14 on Hulu! Keep on keeping on folks, good things to come, will report back soon!

April & Air Force Updates

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Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, we’re about two weeks out from finals and my life is currently hectic. I find that when I am faced with a lot of assignments and not a lot of time I rely heavily on routines and lists. Some of my favorite tried and true routines that I’ve found which work best for me include being very productive while I do laundry and drink coffee!

Something really interesting that I have been thinking about lately in my *limited* free time has been that there is a huge difference between free time and availability, although the two are often confused! A lot of times in college you will most likely be asked when you have class, meaning that the time you don’t have class is “negotiable availability”, but its very important to schedule in free time during your weeks to prevent burnout!

A super cute stress survival guide with fun tips that I find online I wanted to share!

Something very exciting that I got to do this week was submit my “dream sheet”! A dream sheet is an Air Force Form 53 where you list out six potential career fields you want once you enter active duty. You rank the six choices from your top to your least favorite choice. My top three were Intelligence, Information Operations, and Public Affairs, but there’s always a chance I get engineering too (because of my degree in Aerospace Engineering).

The reason I don’t want to be a professional engineer post college is simple, I’m not passionate about it! I am extremely grateful that on my fourth of five years working towards a degree in Aerospace Engineering I have been as successful as I have and that I only have one more year left. I am graduating May 2022 and I am so excited!!

My puppy niece Daisy with a big stick, also showing that if there is will, there is a way!

My time at Riddle has opened my eyes to things I am passionate about though, including joining the Air Force post college thanks to Air Force ROTC solidifying my already prospective goals from the time I was in high school. While in college I also realized I was very passionate about language learning!

Riddle is a heavily tech reliant school and while it does have many great programs outside of engineering and pilot training, I was already too far in when I realized I really liked languages! I made the conscious decision to follow through on earning my Aerospace Engineering degree in hopes that in my career post college in the Active Duty Air Force I will be able to use my language skills more frequently.

Riddle does offer options to minor in a variety of language studies, but if you’re in higher level classes the language programs aren’t extremely extensive. I’ve supplemented this by spending all my summers participating in language learning programs like Project Global Officer, available to all branches of ROTC students, in order to maintain and expand my Arabic fluency. If there is a will, there is a way!

I hope this inspires you to find out what you’re truly passionate about and consider if there is a way to be practical as well as have some fun along the way pursuing your goals and seeking new opportunities! More exciting updates to come, keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

AFROTC & April

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Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, keeping my wanderlust at bay with promises to myself that doing the little things now will allow me the opportunities to travel and do the things I want to do later.

Up until fairly recently, approximately one day ago to be exact, my summer plans were up in the air, BUT thankfully with the help of some amazing program coordinators, advisors, AFROTC cadre, and my friends I have a semi organized plan for what’s happening when finals conclude and I start the summer between my sophomore and junior year.

AFROTC officially wraps up with the conclusion of my Field Training Preparation semester on our final training day which looks to be roughly a week before finals.

My favorite girl gang and I at AFROTC’s annual Dining Out event.

After AFROTC concludes, the last day of classes for everyone is Thursday, April 25, followed by Friday, April 26 being Study Day. In my opinion Study Day is basically a super stressful holiday, where you spent the day hopping between your room, the library, study groups, supplemental instruction sessions, exam reviews held by professors or teaching assistants, and doing SO many practice problems.

Next, exams start on Saturday and run until Wednesday, May 1. After this, as a Resident Advisor, I stay on campus doing closing procedures and final preparations in the resident halls after residents have left to prepare to switch over to summer RAs and students moving in to take summer classes. My RA leave date is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7. After packing up and moving out, I’ll drive back to Virginia with my mom on May 8 and have about 10 days where I’ll be working part time at one of my favorite garden centers and working out a lot until May 17, which is GO TIME.

By that, I mean I leave for an intense fourteen days of Field Training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. I get back to VA from Field Training on May 31, then I have a day to recoup and pack, before leaving to Tucson, Arizona!

A particularly radiating sunrise view from my dorm room, which gives me high standards for the views in Arizona.

I have the amazing opportunity this summer to once again take part in the Department of Defense’s Project Global Officer program to study upper levels of Arabic domestically at the University of Arizona for two months. I am extremely excited to take part in this truly awesome program once again and continue my Arabic studies. After last summer when I initiated my Arabic studies I’ve truly been hooked and have been trying to gain as much exposure and knowledge as I can everyday. I finish up in Arizona on August 7, then I travel back to Virginia for a few days before coming back to Florida August 11 for RA training for the fall 2019 semester and Orientation Team training. 

Side note: I recently planted some basil seeds in a cup by my window sill and they’re flourishing!

This summer will be busy to say the least, but I’m excited. Today was my grandmother’s 71st birthday and while I talked to her on the phone this morning she listed to me her full day’s schedule of events, to which I responded that she’s 71, she should relax. In response to this she told me, “No, I don’t want to relax, that’s boring” which is a philosophy that is resonating with me for summer 2019. Will report back soon. Keep on keeping on!