Introduce a Girl to Engineering Workshop: Year 2!

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Carly

Another year, another successful event!

On Saturday, February 26, the Embry-Riddle Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) Introduce a Girl to Engineering Workshop (IGEW) Committee hosted our annual IGEW event!

I’ve been on the IGEW committee since October 2020, or the fall of my freshman year. New SWE members are given the opportunity to join one of SWE’s committees via the Committee Ambassador positions, and I was selected last year for the IGEW Committee Ambassador. In April 2021, I was elected back to the committee and we began work for IGEW 2022, which just happened.

The goal of the IGEW committee is pretty self-explanatory- we want to introduce more girls into the field of engineering. To do this, we host the annual IGEW event on a Saturday in mid-to-late February. It’s also free and open to any third through fifth grade in Volusia County. Each elected committee member develops a fun module that demonstrates engineering concepts to the girls and teaches them about engineering.

This year, I designed the Airplane Module, which aimed to teach the basics of aerodynamics. In my module, the girls would first be taught background information and then receive three pieces of construction paper. The paper would be used to create a vastly different airplane design. From there, they could experiment with the airplanes- potentially add tape or stickers to increase weight, throw them harder or softer to change the thrust, and modify the designs to change the lift.

IGEW is a big event, and usually in-person, but for the past two years, it was unfortunately held virtually due to the pandemic. Each module was packed and placed in a tote bag that the IGEW participants could pick up. The event happened on the same day as bag pick-up, so the committee was busy running the station for bag pick-up, which happened behind the student union.

In the bag, there were written module instructions and plenty of other goodies. Each participant got a personalized certificate, T-shirt, lanyard, and a bubble pop toy. On the IGEW website, we posted instructional videos to go along with the modules. There are also videos from guest speakers, including a few ERAU employees. As a final supplement to the event, a few STEM resources were shared.

The event is a lot of work, but we also get pictures sent in from the participants which makes all the work worth it. IGEW is a great yearly project and I’m glad that I got involved early. This year’s turnout was higher than last, and I’m hoping that IGEW 2023 will be in-person.

If you’re an accepted, prospective, or committed student, I highly suggest that you get involved when you’re on campus! SWE is just one of the many (over 200!) registered student organizations on campus. If not a club, maybe an intramural sports team might be more to your liking, or you could join the Student Government Association. I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully in some organizations at Riddle!

Long Weekend and the Daytona 500

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Carly

I was today years old when I learned that airplanes can reverse.

Every February, the Daytona 500 happens and there’s a massive crowd rushing in for race weekend. I’ve never been a fan of the races, but I do like airplanes. And each year when the race crowds come in, so do the Thunderbirds!

It’s President’s Day weekend, which means a long weekend. Friday afternoon got off to a good start- the Thunderbirds were supposed to arrive, but they ran into a few difficulties. However, one C-17 arrived, and the Aviation Maintenance Science balcony was full of students.

It was three hours late (or maybe my friends and I were three hours early!), which meant that I could do a little homework on the tables on the balcony. I ended up working ahead in a nice shady spot, taking a few breaks to watch the daily Delta and American flights take off and land. They come and go every few hours, so I saw a few of them.

The C-17 arrived around sunset, which led to this pretty picture:

At the time, rumors were circulating on if the Thunderbirds were arriving on Friday or Saturday. Most people decided to stick around for another hour or so, including me. Everyone on the balcony watched the C-17 as it ended up reversing onto a taxiway, which is something that I had never seen before. It was super cool- you could see the waves from the engine as it slowly reversed back onto a taxiway.

Well, on Friday I learned that airplanes could reverse. You learn something new every day, right?

The Thunderbirds ended up showing on Saturday at 2:30. Chris and I went to watch them arrive, and they ended up doing a loop around before actually landing.

Since it was a weekend, the Aviation Maintenance Science building was locked and the balcony was inaccessible. Chris and I had been tracking the Thunderbirds on FlightRadar24 to ensure that they were actually coming to Daytona, and indeed, they were. Luckily, Chris and I both have cars so we found a spot along the runway and ended up parking there. We’d timed it just right so that we didn’t have to wait too long.

However, the Daytona 500 (and Thunderbird mini-airshow) didn’t actually start until Sunday at 3. So after we watched them land, Chris and I hung out for a bit before going our separate ways. I ended up working on some of my Solid Mechanics homework, where we’re learning about torsion. I find it interesting since it’s a concept that can also be applied to engineering structures.

Sunday was fun. Chris picked me up and we went Thunderbird-watching at a pretty spot across from campus. Every year, the Thunderbirds fly over the Daytona 500 stadium when the national anthem is sung. After that, they’ll circle around a few times before landing.

The Thunderbirds took off from 7L, which was the opposite end that we were on. It wasn’t instantaneous; we ended up waiting around for almost half of an hour before they came back. I liked our spot- they ended up flying almost directly over us when the race started. After that, we watched them fly off into the distance before they came back several minutes later. That was pretty epic- they were landing on 25R, which was the end of the runway we were on.

The Thunderbirds ended up flying over the runway and then went around and into the traffic pattern one by one. All six of them landed about twenty minutes later right in front of us, which was pretty epic to watch. And boy, were they loud.

*Me and Chris!* *The picture was taken after the Thunderbirds had taken off and we were waiting for them to come back.*

Overall, it was definitely a well-deserved and fun long weekend. I did a bunch of homework for the week, did one round of Carpool Karaoke on Saturday night, and went to a birthday party on Sunday night. Monday was super quiet- I didn’t do much besides homework and hang out with my friends.

Classes resume on February 22, 2022- which is a Tuesday (or maybe we should call it a 2s Day!). It’ll be good to get back to my classes on a shorter week. I had two exams last week and have two more this week, so the President’s Day weekend was a good time to study while also taking time to myself. It’s important to have a good school-life balance.

I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

*One of the Thunderbirds landing on 25R… right in front of ERAU!*

Preview for Preview Day: Everything You Need To Know

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Carly

Attending Preview Day? Don’t know what to do? Reading this post is a great place to start!

So, it’s that time of year again! Embry-Riddle is getting ready for its annual spring Preview Day, which takes place on Saturday, April 2. When I was a future student, Preview Day was scheduled for mid-March of 2020, which was unfortunately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, ERAU hosted a modified version of Preview Day. Instead of one day, students were encouraged to come on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday throughout the month of April. As a Women’s Ambassador, I ended up assisting with Preview Day as a first-year student, which was super fun. I even got to meet a few of you!

This year, Preview Day looks to be in full swing. We recently had Family Weekend at ERAU, where I met a few of my friends’ families. Preview Day is similar, but instead of parents having the weekend to explore ERAU, new students get one day to explore our campus. And as usual, campus tours are always running- you can schedule one here.

Why should you come to Preview Day?

Preview Day is a great time to tour the campus, see what ERAU has to offer, meet other students (both your classmates and current students- maybe you’ll even meet me!), and get some added bonuses like registering for classes early (if certain conditions are met- see the section below). Most of our facilities will be available for touring, so you’ll be able to see what the Embry-Riddle campus is like.

What happens at Preview Day?

To be honest, I never attended a preview day and last year’s modified preview day was a bit different. But as the name implies, it’s a day where you get a good preview of the classes. Usually, you’ll be able to tour the various colleges, see some of the clubs and organizations that our campus has to offer, and even get a look at some of our labs.

I know that some clubs and organizations are hoping to showcase their opportunities on Preview Day, so you might even find a student organization that you like. I ended up looking through various Instagram pages and wanted to join the ERAU section of the Society of Women Engineers, and I’ve been involved with them ever since freshman year. If you’re into it, definitely check out club social media pages!

How do I register for classes on Preview Day?

After paying your tuition deposit, make sure that you have all of your placement tests and transfer credit in! Without your tuition deposit, you cannot register for any classes, and without your placement tests/transfer credit, you can’t register for math (MA), communication (COM), or, if you’re an engineering major, your EGR class.

Everyone at ERAU takes general education courses in subjects from math to communication. The classes you take in your first year- and your entire time at ERAU- depend on how much credit you test out of or bring in. For example, one general education class that everyone takes is psychology, but I’d had a dual enrollment credit for it, so I never had to take it at ERAU. Sometimes you’ll have so much transfer credit that you can jump straight into a very high-level class- for example, I know a few engineering majors whose AP credit covered Calculus I and II and they were able to start Calculus III in the fall.

I’ll be honest- I only took the engineering placement tests since I was able to transfer credit in for the first class in the general education math and communication classes. If you’re an engineering major, like me, I highly recommend that you review all mathematics content up to trigonometry (basically anything before Calculus I). We use math a lot here.

If this all sounds a little scary, don’t worry! One thing that you’ll likely be able to see if you attend Preview Day is A Squared, or our tutoring center. Tutoring is provided to all students in general education courses for free, and it’s available for almost all general education courses (math, physics, and chemistry, for example).

What is the best dining location for Preview Day?

Starbucks hands-down for a quick pick-me-up during the day! Preview Day begins at 8 AM and continues through 3 PM, so you might want to grab a quick snack. And the Chick-fil-A here is pretty great if you’d like a meal, too.

What about the accepted student receptions? Are those the same?

Nope! While the accepted student receptions are a great place to also meet new students, they take place in cities around the country. I’ll be attending the ones in Edison, New Jersey (March 14), Long Island, NY (March 15), and Hartford, Connecticut (March 16).

If you can’t come to Preview Day- or even if you can- I highly suggest you come to an accepted student reception if there’s one in your area!

Is there anything else I should know?

Come to Preview Day if you can! If not, that’s okay too- check out the virtual campus tour if you’re unable to come during Preview Day. And if you are able to come to Preview Day, it’s great to have questions for current students- don’t be afraid to ask! Those of us who will be working on Preview Day do it because we want to help new students find their homes at Embry-Riddle.

I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle for Preview Day!

New Semester, New Year, New Launches!

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Carly

And new alligator scares!

It’s officially been over one week since the new semester started here at Embry-Riddle. Since I came back early for orientation week (or, well, the two days of spring orientation) I had a little time to relax. Spring orientation is much shorter than fall orientation, but it’s still super fun! We still did the same things as fall orientation- for example, I was in this TikTok.

After orientation week wrapped up on Tuesday night, classes began Wednesday morning. I like my new classes; they’re definitely a little more challenging, but all of my professors seem eager to help. It is literal rocket science, after all!

On Thursday, there was the first launch of the semester. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch it up close; instead, one of my friends and I watched it from the Starbucks balcony. It was a little small and hard to see very well, but a crowd of people had gathered to watch it anyway.

Over the long weekend, I mostly hung out with my friends. I did have the opportunity to play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. I played on Chris’ computer while he told me where to fly; he’s a pilot and we both enjoyed watching me try and fly around the California coast.

*Carly Goes to Flight School… and maybe stays a flight student?*

It was very fun- I can see how people spend hours playing flight sim. The aircraft in the picture is an Airbus A320, but in reality, Southwest Airlines’ fleet consists of 737s. That picture has annoyed a few of my aviation-loving friends, but for some reason, the game had the Southwest livery (aka the paint job) on the A320.

And, you know, for someone who hasn’t touched the controls of a real or simulated aircraft since September 2020, I think I did pretty well. I flared a little too much and landed a little too hard, but I got the plane on the ground. To quote Chris: “The gear may have collapsed but I’m pretty confident everyone would have walked away.”

So, good for me, I successfully landed a plane (in Flight Simulator) by myself.

I also ended up watching a Delta flight land as the sun was beginning to set. Since I was on campus anyway, I checked the flight schedule and decided to watch the flight come in. I happened to take the picture right as the wheels hit the ground.

I’d planned to watch the flight from the roof of the aviation maintenance science (AMS) building, but the building was unfortunately locked. I ended up going to the flight operations observation deck, which has tinted windows. It was really nice- the sun was setting in the west, and sometimes it was a little hard to see the runway.

In other aerospace-related news, there was a launch on Tuesday night. Classes had resumed, but the launch was scheduled for 7:04 PM, which is a nice time. It was originally planned to be Monday night, but Tuesday had more favorable weather, so it was moved.

As always, I wanted to go, and I went down with a couple of my friends. Just as we got to our launch-viewing spot, we found a tweet from SpaceX postponing the launch by about two hours to 9:02 PM. That was kind of unfortunate since I have a 9 AM class, but we had already made the trip and decided to stay in the area.

And let me just say one thing about launches: no matter how many you watch, they are so worth it.

*Airplanes in the night sky like shooting stars? More like rocket launches!*

Unfortunately, none of my friends had learned from last month. Even though I thought it was cold outside, I stepped outside to watch the launch and hear the rocket rumble. Unfortunately, we were in the alligator spot, and the alligators were not asleep this time.

The alligator growling was a little louder and lasted a little longer. I was the first one back in the car; I did NOT want to take my chances with a mad reptile. I sat in the car while the rest of the group listened to the alligators growling (thankfully, I didn’t see any of them!), and we eventually left the launch viewing site without any more alligator incidents.

After that, Wednesday was a normal day, and my week has continued on. It’s been a pretty good week so far. In addition to my classes, I’ve also become a teaching assistant, or TA, for the EGR 115 Introduction to Computing for Engineers class. The professor that I TA for is one of my favorites on campus- I had her last year in Spring 2021 for the same class.

Looking to the future, Family Weekend is in two weeks, which will be exciting. I’ve already met a few of my friends’ families, and I think I’ll be meeting a few others’ families as well. But as for now, I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

Return to Riddle

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Carly

Never in my life will I take Florida weather for granted again…

So, as of Saturday, January 8, I am back at Embry-Riddle! Even though meal plans don’t start until Monday, January 10, I arrived early since I’m on the Orientation Team and working spring orientation.

For me, winter break was pretty fun. I didn’t have a job since my family took a week-long destination Christmas to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida on the Gulf Coast. We were with some of our other family members, who were from California, and I had a lot of fun. Our rental house was on the beach and a short walk away from a shopping center.

I didn’t end up swimming in the Gulf- it was a little too cold for that. My mom and little sister ended up swimming, but I mostly enjoyed the sun, sand, and shops. We ended up going over to a boardwalk once, where I did a high ropes course which was super fun. I completed the first level before discovering that I did not love heights.

My home airport is Lexington, Kentucky (LEX) and I was flying Delta back, so I connected through Atlanta. On the way from Lexington to Atlanta, the aircraft being used was a 717, and I ended up snagging seat 20B- an aisle seat with no seat next to the window. So, I had a row to myself.

It was pretty cool to have- and I didn’t have to pay extra for it! It was only about an hour of flight time, which was good since I couldn’t exactly lean my head on the window. The flight from Lexington to Atlanta was pretty full and definitely a climate shock. Atlanta was chilly, yes, but not freezing cold. And there was no snow in Atlanta- on Thursday, Kentucky got a massive snowstorm.

As usual, the Atlanta airport was busy. I ended up grabbing a Starbucks (I have a new drink order: the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew!) before heading over to my next gate. The flight to Daytona had a ten-minute delay, which wasn’t too bad.

I really like flying into the Daytona Beach airport. First, it’s super small; the longest TSA wait I’ve ever had wasn’t longer than five minutes. There are only one to two flights leaving at the same time, so it doesn’t take as long. The airport itself is small, so it’s perfect for those who aren’t very comfortable in an airport alone. Plus, it’s a short drive from campus with little holiday traffic.

A friend picked me up from the airport and delivered me back to O’Connor. From there, I unpacked and made a quick Walmart run to stock up on things my dorm needed for the upcoming semester. I’m super excited for the upcoming semester, too!

See you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

Back to Kentucky

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Carly

In which I can sleep until 12:30 PM every day.

So, now that the fall semester is over at Embry-Riddle, I returned to Kentucky to see my family for the holidays. I ended up leaving on December 16, the day after my last final. Thankfully, if you’re returning for the spring semester, you’re able to keep all of your stuff in your dorm and don’t have to move it into storage.

My last final was on December 15 at 7:15 PM. In my opinion, a night final is better than a daytime final; I’m a night owl and hate getting up early. Luckily, the earliest final I had started at 10:15 AM; in the normal academic year, my first class started at 10:10.

I caught a ride to the airport with a few friends about an hour before the flight. We were super early- the one thing that I love about the Daytona Beach airport is that the TSA wait time is super short. It usually takes me between 5 and 10 minutes from the time I walk through the airport doors to the time I arrive at the gate.

I’ve never flown out of MCO (the Orlando airport) during the holidays, but I know that the lines can get super long and time-consuming. If you ever go to MCO, you’re also likely to get stuck in traffic trying to get to the airport, too- everyone wants to fly out from MCO since it’s a larger airport. MCO is also a destination for more airlines like Southwest and Spirit; DAB only consistently has flights operated by American and Delta.

There were plenty of Embry-Riddle students on the flight I was on, and I ran into several friends there. Apparently, the plane we were flying on had been delivered to Delta in September of this year and only had about 900 flight hours on it.

*Leaving Riddle, taking off over the beach on 7L!*

I had about a one-hour layover in Atlanta and ended up running from the T gates over to the D gates since that was where my plane to Lexington was. The Atlanta airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, and during the holiday season, it too was packed. I passed a few TSA checkpoints and I was so glad I wasn’t stuck in the line there.

The flight from Atlanta to Lexington was shorter than the one from Daytona Beach to Atlanta. It was also a smaller plane (CRJ-900 compared to A321), but still a beautiful piece of engineering nonetheless. I was lucky enough to watch a parallel takeoff. It’s definitely a must-watch event for aviation enthusiasts.

When I landed in Lexington, the weather was completely different than that in Daytona Beach. It was sunny in Daytona when I left, and a day where I could’ve worn shorts. However, in Kentucky, it was cold and rainy- definitely a “pants and long sleeves” sort of day. In addition to my T-shirt, I’d brought along a sweatshirt knowing that Kentucky was cold.

I’ve been in Kentucky for a while now, and I definitely miss the Daytona Beach weather. It’s actually cold in Kentucky- 20 and 30-degree weather compared to the mid-60s or low 70s in Daytona. It’s definitely different- my college friends aren’t a few dorms away, we’re hundreds of miles apart, but we’re still finding ways to stay connected to each other over the break.

I end up flying back to Daytona Beach on Saturday, January 11 since I’ll also be working spring orientation! I’ve been selected to be a part of the 2022 Orientation Team and I’m very excited for spring orientation. Although I miss Embry-Riddle, it’s nice to have winter break since I’ll be catching up on sleep and time with my cats. Happy holidays, and I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

*My cat Chocolate sleeping under our Christmas tree!*

I Tried My Friends’ Starbucks Drinks

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Carly

I’m convinced that my body composition is like 90% Starbucks at this point.

Finals week just ended at Embry-Riddle, and like many others here on campus, I had a need for Starbucks. I usually rotate through the same few orders (Pink Drinks and iced caramel macchiatos!) but I decided to try new drinks that my friends suggested.

I’ve only ever done one ranking post, and that was when I ranked study spots. The Starbucks menu, however, is so vast with infinite combinations of syrups, milk choices, and toppings. So I decided to ask a few of my friends about their favorite Starbucks drinks and give my opinion on them!

Drink 1: My Personal Favorite, the Iced Caramel Macchiato!

The iced caramel macchiato has made several appearances on the blog already, from being my post-booster drink of choice to my “going home for break” drink of choice. In my opinion, the iced caramel macchiato (once stirred) is the perfect combination of bitter coffee and sweet caramel. It also comes in a hot variety (which I’ve never tried) so it’s the perfect year-round drink for the caramel lover. (Also, side note: stir the drink. Do not drink straight espresso.)

Overall Score: 10/10!
Would I order it again? 100%.

Drink 2: Megan’s Peppermint Mocha Creme Frappuccino

On a Thursday before class, Megan suggested that we grab Starbucks, and of course, I said yes. So I decided to try her favorite drink- the peppermint mocha frappuccino. It usually has a special topping, but it just so happened that the campus Starbucks was out of it. I got the creme version (it also comes in a coffee-based version) and I have to say, it was pretty good. It wasn’t super sweet, but it wasn’t bitter, and there was only a hint of peppermint in it. In the end, it was kind of tasteless since the ice had melted down to create a milk-frappuccino-water slush. It’s also very rich- I was barely able to finish the grande.

Overall Score: 8/10
Would I order it again? Yes, if I wanted a sweet drink to drink in 15 minutes or less.

Drink 3: Merrick’s Iced Oat Milk Cappuccino

Next up on the list is fellow blogger Merrick’s iced oat milk cappuccino. I first had this drink during Orientation Week and enjoyed it for the same reason that I enjoyed it this time- it was a nice caffeine boost. The iced oat milk cappuccino isn’t super sweet, and you can taste the bitterness of the coffee. It was a great power-up for a Friday since I finished a lot of my homework. However, it would not be my top choice since I prefer sweet drinks. I can’t drink straight black coffee- it’s far too bitter to me.

Overall Score: 7/10
Would I order it again? Yes, if I wanted a wake-me-up boost of caffeine.

Drink 4: Barista Bianca’s Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte

In the beginning of the month I’d ended up in the Starbucks line and I had no idea what I wanted. I ended up talking to one of my barista friends, Bianca, who said that the sugar cookie almondmilk latte wasn’t bad. So I decided to try that, and she was right- it wasn’t bad, it was actually pretty good. It wasn’t super sweet, but it wasn’t super bitter either- kind of in between the caramel macchiato and the oatmilk cappuccino. The one thing that I don’t like about it was the sugar cookie sprinkles that you can see on the top of the lid. In my opinion, they tasted kind of weird.

Overall Score: 7/10
Would I order it again? Yes, if I wanted a wake-me-up boost of caffeine.

Drink 5: The Skinny Vanilla Latte

I’ll be honest- all of the drinks on here have some sort of sweetness because I simply cannot tolerate the bitterness of a straight-up iced coffee. I’ve got a sweet tooth. This drink hadn’t been specifically requested, but I’d heard that the hot version was good from a friend. However, it’s been hot here, and I was not in the mood for a hot drink. So I decided to try the cold version and I was not disappointed. You can taste the coffee, but it’s diluted with milk and sweet vanilla syrup, so it’s not bitter at all, but not overly sweet. It’s definitely a drink I’m going to get again!

Overall Score: 8.5/10
Would I order it again? Yes, any time I wanted an iced coffee.

So there we have it! Five drinks tried over the last bit of finals week, and I don’t regret trying any of them. If you’re about to enter your final exams, you might need a coffee to power your way through. I haven’t gotten my final grades in yet since Wednesday the 15th marked the end of finals, but I’m excited to see what I get, knowing that I did the best I could. I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

I Went Flying With My Two Best Friends

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Carly

And they never forget to remind me, “You could’ve been an AS major!”

On Sunday, December 12, I went flying in a Cessna for the first time since I switched out of aeronautical science.

It’s a common occurrence here at Embry-Riddle. We have a lot of Aeronautical Science, or AS, majors, and a lot of non-AS students also have at least a private pilot’s license. ERAU’s aircraft are reserved for AS students, so students resort to external aircraft. There are several flight schools that operate out of Daytona’s airport, so it’s common for people to rent aircraft or get their private pilot’s license at one of those schools.

And two of my best friends just happen to be pilots! Chris is a junior in AS, and he’s currently finishing up his commercial certificate. Jack is a freshman in Aviation Business Administration, and he has a private pilot’s license. I, on the other hand, haven’t done any flight training except the eight modules I completed through Embry-Riddle as an AS major.

Jack had reserved a plane through Air America from 12 to 3 PM since it is finals week and we didn’t want to be away from our studies for too long. The three of us decided that we wanted to go to DeLand and get lunch at the little restaurant for our little outing.

It was a really short ride, but fun nonetheless. Since there wasn’t too much for me to do besides take pictures in the backseat, I ended up reading and reviewing for the final exam I had tomorrow. DeLand’s restaurant was nice, and it was quite busy on a Sunday afternoon. I also noticed that there was a surprising amount of aircraft there, including complex aircraft.

DeLand’s airport is also home to Skydive DeLand, and as we were heading back to Daytona Beach, we saw one of their aircraft take off. It wasn’t the only large aircraft I’d seen that day, though. When we left, we saw the 12:45 PM Delta Air Lines waiting on the taxiway. I ended up looking behind us a few minutes later and watched it take off over the beach, soaring into the clouds.

I was also able to get the classic bird’s-eye-view picture over Embry-Riddle, which reminded me just how beautiful our campus is. Going flying is definitely something unique to ERAU- not every school has plenty of pilots. Not every university has flight schools and an airport nearby. It’s definitely something that sets ERAU apart from every other university, and it’s something I wouldn’t trade for the world. I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

Launch Week and Alligator Sighting

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Carly

I have determined that I never want to see an alligator ever again unless it’s in a zoo.

This past week had two launches! On Thursday, December 2, there was a Starlink launch at 6:12 PM, while there was a STP (Space Test Program) launch at 5:19 AM on Tuesday, December 7.

The Thursday launch was beautiful. It happened around sunset, so the reddish-orange tail of the exhaust plume had a dark blue/purple background. One of my friends was going down to Port Orange, so I hitched a ride with him after my physics class. We ended up finding a beach access spot about twenty minutes earlier than launch time:

The two of us ended up talking and hanging out until the actual launch happened. It was on a SpaceX Falcon 9, and it went off right at the scheduled launch time. I’d never watched a launch from anywhere that wasn’t close before, so it was definitely a new experience.

I couldn’t hear the noise over the sound of waves crashing on the beach, but it was still a pretty view. Even up close, the rocket isn’t huge, but from here it looked more like a timelapse of a sunrise. It’s definitely a good way to watch if you don’t want to drive all the way down to Titusville.

The Tuesday launch had several delays. It was scheduled for Sunday at 4:04 AM, then moved to Monday, and finally moved to Tuesday. On Tuesday, at T-4 (four minutes before it was scheduled to launch), it was delayed again to 5:03 AM and eventually launched at 5:19 AM. I’m just glad it wasn’t a total scrub- it’s about an hour’s drive to the launch site each way. Luckily, my earliest class was 3:45 in the afternoon, so I was fine to drive down.

Well, our group had arrived at around 3:45. One of my friends had brought his camera, which he set up, and the other two and I ended up looking over at the water. Someone spotted a gator under the dark water, which scared me a bit- I’m not from Florida and have no experience with wild alligators. It ended up making a splash, but then it became silent again.

Once the launch was delayed, all four of us ended up getting back in the car. We sat around and talked about our classes and experiences at Riddle. That’s one thing that I love about the people in this school- everyone has a shared interest in aviation, aerospace, or both. And everyone who goes to a rocket launch at crazy hours of the morning loves aerospace.

Fog had started to roll in around 5:19, but we were still able to get a good view:

The fog wasn’t too thick, so it didn’t really obstruct our view. This launch was pretty loud, and the alligators around us apparently did not appreciate the disturbance. So a few moments after the rumble had started, we heard a different sort of noise- an alligator growl.

What happened next was a blur. I was closest to the car, about ten feet away, and I jumped in it with everyone else following quickly behind. Unfortunately for us, the camera that we’d set up was still outside, so we ended up backing the car to the camera and pulling it in through the back window. We all watched the rocket curve across the sky from the car, and once it disappeared, we left before running into any more agitated alligators.

Overall, it’s been a pretty good week in terms of launches. There’s one scheduled for Thursday at 1 AM, but I’ll likely not be going since it’s the end of the semester and I need to study for finals. I actually only have three this year- physics, thermodynamics, and statics. It was nice to have a break in between this crazy pre-finals week and watch some launches, knowing that it’s what I’ll work on once I graduate. I’ll see you in the next post, and hopefully at Riddle!

Thanksgiving Break in Daytona Beach

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Carly

…We stay hungry, we devour our Thanksgiving dinner!

After my pre-Thanksgiving weekend and the two days of class, Thanksgiving break has finally arrived. Last year, due to COVID-19, finals were virtual and Thanksgiving and Christmas break were merged into one long two-month break. I went home then, so I’ve never experienced Embry-Riddle during break time.

I did miss my family. To me, Thanksgiving break was a little too short and a little too late for me to want to go home- I’d be seeing my family in two weeks, and I saw them when they came to see me at the SWE conference earlier this year. The only family members I hadn’t seen were my cats, but I got plenty of pictures of them over the break, including this one, where my cat is curled up in my windowsill.

It was also really quiet here, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I did a lot of homework on Wednesday and Thursday, and also made a trip to Walmart on Wednesday. It was, as I predicted, pretty packed. I ended up getting my groceries (hopefully through winter break?), including my favorite holiday treat: eggnog. I know that “Is Eggnog Good?” is a hefty debate topic, but I’m on the side of eggnog being good.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. One of my other friends had also stayed for the break, so we decided to go to dinner at IHOP. For those on campus without access to a car, the Boundless All-You-Can-Eat dining location also does a Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day, and from what I’ve heard, this year’s was really good. At IHOP, I ended up trying the new Winter Wonderland pancakes with blue marble-looking frosting, and they were delicious.

After IHOP, we checked FlightRadar24 and found out that a Delta flight was on final approach. So the two of us jumped in the car and tried to get to the airport’s cell phone lot to watch it come in, but we got held up by several red lights. We did end up seeing it come in as we were waiting, and it wasn’t the worst spot ever, but we couldn’t hear it well, unfortunately.

*Delta flight (last flight of the day) on Thanksgiving on final approach.*

Friday was pretty uneventful too. I ended up going to Steak n Shake for a very late 9 PM dinner with the same friend, getting a chocolate milkshake. We ended up driving around Daytona for a little bit, and then around campus. It was like a ghost town- everyone was gone, and even though it was 10 PM, there were NO cars in the student union parking lot. Usually, on a weeknight, people are still doing their late-night studying, so you’d see at least a few.

We parked facing the runway, and the most unusual thing about the break was the lack of flight training going on. We were there for a decent amount of time and barely saw anyone going in and out. The flight department was officially shut down on Thanksgiving, but flight training continued on Friday. It was unusual to see maybe one ERAU plane in the entire amount of time we were sitting there.

Saturday and Sunday were also quiet. On Saturday, people started coming back from break, but the bulk of people arrived on Sunday night. By then, the halls were lively again, and I’d see people as I passed by instead of standing in a seemingly-abandoned ERAU.

Did I miss my family? Yes. Was I glad that I stayed for break? Also yes. I got caught up on a lot of my homework, and I had plenty of time to do it so I wasn’t stressed about doing it all during one short time period. I had two thermodynamics homework assignments, an essay draft, physics, and math homework to do which I all successfully did over the break.

It was also very nice to sleep in until 11 or 12 each morning and not have to worry about attending or missing classes. The break was definitely needed before the push to final exams, which are in about two weeks. The last day of finals is December 15, and I, unfortunately, have one during the last time period of the day. It’s fine, though- I’ll be studying hard over the next few weeks.

I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle! (We’re having a preview day and family weekend in the spring semester, so I might see you there!)

My Life @ Riddle

Daytona Beach Edition

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