Tag Archives: Dorms

Online Class Tips & Tricks

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Happy June everyone! I’m currently blogging from Norfolk, Virginia and my evening was pretty great. I finished my online classes by (yet again) doing some YouTube workout videos, taking a short walk around the neighborhood with my sister and her dog, going to a spin class, going to the grocery store, coming home to water plants, have dinner, and relax.

Today I figured out a quick life-hack for online classes and wanted to share. To start, I am typically a semi-on the-go person, so sitting down for 4-6 hours of Zoom class everyday (not including other digital meetings) makes me very tired and towards the end of the days I usually get uncomfortable staying still and sitting. Today, I figured out by placing my laptop on a tall table, then on top of a wooden box (books, magazines, anything you have), I am able to elevate my laptop to approximately eye-level so that I can do my classes while standing. If you have a stand up desk arrangement, a tall counter, or a raised bed this arrangement also works. 

From experience living in the dorms on ERAU’s DB campus, you have the option to submit a Maintenance Request form to get your bed height raised or lowered. Throughout the past year I did most of my online classes by placing my laptop on my bed and standing up beside the bed. My go-to school supply is also a clipboard, so that I can do my homework practically anywhere (typically I will lay on the floor, but can also move to a desk, chair, or bed depending on what is most comfortable at the moment).

Being home I tried out a few different online class spaces and am still in the process of experimenting, but I would like to officially announce that a DIY stand up desk (aka box on table) is working for me and standing instead of sitting helped me feel so much better today.

Current standing work station set up!

My other top online class hack is simple: drink water! I try to refill my water during breaks, but will definitely ask politely to my professors during class to take a quick water break. (I am in a class of one, so if you are in a larger class where cameras are not required you typically will already have this liberty.) Also, I like having coffee with me in the mornings, sometimes some quick snacks throughout the day like trail mix, carrots and hummus, or fruit and yogurt, as well as hot tea for my afternoon sessions. I’ve found that snacking throughout the day and drinking plenty of water keeps me focused and happy!

My favorite classmate!

If you don’t have a ton of control of the environment you are taking classes in, if you’re home, in the dorms, or at a friend or family’s house, focus on the little details that are in your control. For example, I like to open the blinds to use natural lighting while I’m in online class if possible, set oil diffusers, have little plants in the room with me, and clean my space at the end of every day so the next morning I have the opportunity to reset my workspace and start fresh. The little details make all the difference, so even if you are in a shared space you can still carve out a piece for you to feel comfortable to learn in. Hope this helps encourage or inspire you to recharge and reset with online classes even if you’re in the same space everyday. Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Daytona & Decorations

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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!
Zok
Boff!
Zoom!
Blam
and of course, Pow!

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!

Already Half of the Semester

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I can’t believe we have already been through half of the fall semester. First, let’s go back to the beginning of the semester back in August.

About a week before the beginning of classes, I left Montreal, Canada and drove all the way south to Florida. The 1,400 miles drive takes 20 hours without traffic (I wish it took us 20 hours). Trust me, there is a lot of traffic between the New York area and Baltimore.

This year, I am living in an apartment with one of my friends. I spent a good amount of the week getting settled in the apartment which is 10 minute away from campus. I also spent many hours building IKEA furnitures. I built my bed, my dresser, the kitchen table, four chairs, and the sofa. Thanks to my mom for packing a small drill in my luggages.

I like living in an apartment off campus because I can have my own room and I am able to cook whenever I want. One thing I miss living on campus is the proximity. If I had a question on an assignment, I could just walk a few steps and knock on my friend’s door. The College of Business computer lab and the library were also a close reach.

For the fall semester, I have decided to take 18 credit hours. I am taking Speech, Western Humanities II (Renaissance to Postmodern), Airline Management, Business Law, Transportation Principles, and International Business.

Speech is definitely not my favorite class even though I know it will help me to develop skills to become a better public speaker. As of today, we have done four speeches.

The humanities class is also not in my top classes. Some of the material we are going over in class is the same than my history class from my sophomore year of high school. This class should be easy, but I already forgot the material from high school.

Airline Management is certainly my favorite class because it is an area I want to work for after I graduate from Embry-Riddle. So far, we learned about network structures (point-to-point and hub-and-spoke system), time banks, and important measures such as available seat-miles (ASMs) and revenue passenger-miles (RPMs). Now, we have just started talking about revenue management.

My longest class is Business Law with a duration of 3 hours, and we only have a break of five minute during the class. The good thing about this class is that we only meet once a week on every Monday.

In Transportation Principles, we have learned about the railroads and ports. I hope the aviation part comes soon because this is what I like the most.

My last class on my schedule is International Business. We are doing a project where we act as a U.S. based company selling a video game system trying to sell our product in foreign countries. I decided to pick Mexico since it borders the United States.

Well, this is all about my classes. I am enjoying my semester so far but I look forward to Fall Break so I can rest  for a few days.

Until next time!

Nicolas