On The Road Again: Regional Admissions Presentations

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Carly

Texas is bigger than I expected.

Last week was fall break, but on the weekend before fall break, I went to my first RAP- also known as a Regional Admissions Presentation- in Dallas, followed by my second one in Houston. They’re different than the accepted student receptions in the fall (I attended five: three in March and two in April), but they’re still engaging and fun!

To get the weekend started, I headed down to the Orlando airport (MCO) around 1:30 with one of our admissions employees. If I fly out of Daytona, or DAB, I’m usually responsible for getting a ride to and from the airport (it’s literally walking distance from campus) but Orlando is much farther away. I can definitely say that Orlando’s airport is much more chaotic than Daytona’s, considering that it has many more airlines and gates. We flew Southwest Airlines on a direct flight to Dallas Love Field, which is the smaller airport in the area. On the way, we did stop over at the New Orleans airport (MSY), which was my first airline stopover in all my years of travel.

Orlando’s security lines are no joke. I was glad that we got there with plenty of time to spare since the line took me nearly an hour to get through. After that, I took the train to our terminal and arrived at the gate. I was still an hour and a half early, so I mostly watched aircraft taxi around the ramp. We boarded the aircraft and it was a short flight to New Orleans, where most of the passengers got off. Since everyone who was stopping over could stay on the plane, we were also free to switch seats, so I picked a window seat in the exit row for extra legroom.

It was a pretty view. I got to watch the sun set over New Orleans and watch aircraft come and go at the gate next to us. I took the picture of this 737 MAX as we were pushing back from the gate. The flight from New Orleans to Dallas was also pretty short, but I still managed to do some homework. While I get to travel, I don’t get extensions on my homework, so I have to be proactive when I know I have a trip coming up.

We arrived in Dallas at a decent hour, heading from the airport to the rental car place and then to the hotel. Once we dropped our things off at the hotel, we ended up going out to Burger King for dinner, since we hadn’t had anything to eat since leaving Daytona. We took it back to our hotel room, and I finished up some homework before heading to bed.

The next morning I got to sleep in. The presentation was around 1, which meant we left at 11:15 since the guest hotel was right down the street. I also got to meet our Prescott counterparts- there were two Prescott admissions representatives and a student from Prescott. She also happened to be from Kentucky, which was pretty cool!

Since I hadn’t been to a regional presentation before, I looked through the slides and was told where I would be speaking. Since I had internship experience, I could speak to that, and I also talked about my experience on campus. It was definitely a different format since information about both residential campuses as well as the Worldwide campus were presented. The application process was also discussed since it’s still early in application season and people may not have applied yet.

After that, we stuck around to answer questions and I ended up talking to a lot of people. Talking to people is my favorite part. I love meeting new people and sharing my experiences. There were about a hundred or so people in total, and a good handful stuck around to talk to all of us.

Once the reception was over, we packed up our things and it was on to Houston! I honestly didn’t realize how big Texas was. I thought Dallas and Houston were maybe two hours apart, but they were FOUR hours apart. And of course, we stopped at a Buc-ees on the way out.

We actually ended up stopping at a second Buc-ees to get gas, and then we drove the final stretch to Houston. After arriving in Houston, we checked into our hotel and set our stuff down before going to dinner as a group. We picked a place with a lot of options. It had lots of different international food options, and I chose ramen noodles for dinner. They were amazing!

After that, we headed back to the hotel to get another night’s rest, since there was another admissions presentation the next day. I did a little more homework in the evening, got a good night’s rest, and then did more homework in the morning. I had a few assignments due that day and that week since it was right before fall break, so it was a pretty stressful time.

The presentation in Houston was hosted in a larger room, which I thought was a lot fancier. The presentation was the same as the one in Dallas, and I got the same opportunities to speak to the group and then individually to families. Once the Dallas presentation was over and everyone had left, it was time to head back to the airport.

We were flying Southwest back, and flew out of the smaller airport, Houston Hobby. I liked it a lot- it was open, used natural light, and the security lines were quick. There was an abundance of flights going in and out, so I had plenty to look at while I waited. There was also a nice food court, so I grabbed dinner before the two-hour (ish) flight to Orlando. I also spotted the Freedom One aircraft, which is painted like the US flag.

We landed in Orlando around 11 PM, and I had school (and the counselor had work) the next day on Monday so we were in a hurry to leave. After grabbing our luggage, we headed to the car and made the hour-long drive back to Daytona. I was glad to be back home, but traveling is super fun. I don’t have any more regional admissions presentations to attend, but Open House is coming up. Hopefully, I’ll see you there, and if not, in the next post!

Two Engines Are Better Than One: The Multi-Engine Experience

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Carly

Shine bright like a diamond.

So the last time I was in a small aircraft, I went flying with a few Riddle friends. The time before that, I went along with another friend, who was preparing for his commercial checkride. However, those were both small single-engine aircraft. The Colorado aircraft was a Piper Cherokee, and the other a Cessna 172. This semester, I got to experience the Diamond DA-42, Embry-Riddle’s twin-engine training aircraft for multi-engine students.

Chris has since passed his checkride, so I convinced him to take me along for a ride. All Embry-Riddle students are eligible to ride in the back seat of the aircraft (commonly referred to as “backseating”). The only condition is that the flight instructor and student must agree. The flight I got to backseat was his cross-country, flying from Daytona Beach (KDAB) to St. Simons Island Airport (KSSI). It was pretty cool- the Diamond moves a lot faster than the Cessnas.

To backseat a flight, first you stop at the dispatch desk with the student you’re accompanying. They’ll sometimes send you up to the flight supervisor’s desk, or sometimes they’ll give you the badge at the dispatch desk. Once you have the badge, you fill out some paperwork while the flight student begins their preflight activities inside. When the student is ready to go to the aircraft, someone from the dispatch desk will escort you to the plane (or you can wait for the flight instructor to escort you).

While Chris preflighted the aircraft, I mostly stayed out of the way and looked around. I hadn’t been out on the ramp since last year when a GoJet aircraft visited and students were allowed to tour it. It took about half an hour to preflight the plane, and then we waited for the instructor to come. And that’s when the real activity began.

As one would before any sort of flight, you have to get from point A (the ramp) to point B (the runway) on the ground. To do that, pilots need to gain clearance and instructions from air traffic control. After we got to the runway, the run-up checklist was performed to make sure the aircraft was still doing okay. Since it was, we waited for our takeoff clearance, and then we were off!

The flight was pretty cool. Chris had filed an IFR (instrument flight rules) flight plan, which meant he could fly through low visibility and clouds. We ended up flying through several clouds, and I can see why instrument ratings are important. Sometimes it was hard to see the wingtip of the aircraft, which was only several feet away.

The flight was around an hour each way, so within the hour we were coming up on St. Simon’s Island. I noticed that there were some heavy crosswinds on the landing, but Chris did just fine. We didn’t come to a full stop- we ended up doing a touch and go before turning around and heading back to Daytona Beach.

The flight on the way back was the opposite on the way to Daytona. We passed through the clouds again, flying back down the coastline. It was pretty cool to see Riddle from the sky- it’s always an amazing sight to see. When standing next to the buildings, they look huge, but from the sky, they look tiny.

After we landed, we headed back to the Riddle ramp. Since people are constantly walking on the ramp, pilots must taxi slowly and be conscious of their surroundings. Once we parked, Chris filled out some paperwork telling the school how long the flight was and where the aircraft was parked, and we walked back into the building.

I was free to go, but flight students do a debrief after each activity (ground instruction, flight simulator, or flight). It’s a way for flight students to discuss how the activity went- what the student did well and what they can improve on. Flight training at ERAU is rigorous, but I can tell that the university wants its students to succeed.

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

I Survived Hurricane Ian

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Carly

I’m lucky to be okay.

Hurricane preparation started on Friday when I first learned of Ian’s existence, then as a tropical storm. I didn’t think too much of it until the storm kept gathering strength and it was clearly going to hit parts of Florida. I started checking the National Hurricane Center’s tracker, which is updated every three hours to keep an eye on the storm (the graphic archive can be found here).

On Monday, the university sent out a few emails stating that there were no hurricane plans in place (such as canceling classes or closing down campus). The latest Monday email did state that the Emergency Operations Team would meet at 10:30 AM on Tuesday to discuss and make decisions. The next email came around noon on Tuesday, stating that classes on Wednesday through Friday would be canceled, and the university itself would close at 5 PM on Wednesday.

I only had one class on Tuesday, which was from 11:15 AM to 12:30 PM. During that class, the hurricane closure notice hit, and I watched the class split between freaking out and being excited that class was canceled. I’m from Kentucky, so I’ve never lived through a hurricane- I’ve only received the ending thunderstorms of hurricanes, and by then, they’re not bad.

*Me and my friend David after learning about the hurricane moving towards us…*

After class, I started my official hurricane preparations. While the Daytona Beach area remained in the cone of uncertainty, we were usually on the edge of the cone so I didn’t do a lot of preparing beforehand. I first had to figure out if I wanted to evacuate or shelter in place. I talked to a few people- one meteorology major, a pilot with a meteorology minor, and a pilot who interned with the National Weather Service. All three predicted that it wouldn’t hit our area detrimentally and that it would be okay to stay if I prepared.

I didn’t really want to leave since my dorm room is set up nicely and I could easily stay in there. Once I had made the decision to stay, I immediately went to the local Walmart to try and buy hurricane supplies- water, nonperishable food that did not need refrigeration, and anything else I thought I might need. I also tried looking for flashlights, but the store was out of a lot of outdoorsy stuff.

The first rain associated with the very outer bands was only an hour long, and it hit while I was inside Walmart. The eye of the hurricane had just passed over Cuba, but one small detached section of the rain extended to the Daytona area. I ended up running to my car and throwing everything in the back during the rain.

Tuesday night was kind of chaotic. All of my meetings for the week were canceled, and the ERAU shuttle service was stopping at 5 PM instead of 8 PM. By then I was safely back in my dorm, continuing my hurricane preparations. I charged all of my devices and began working on homework that I had due during the week in case the power went out and I couldn’t do it otherwise.

I heard from a few friends that they evacuated the Diamond DA-42s (the multi-engine aircraft) to Dothan, AL while most of the Cessnas (single-engine) were stored in a local hangar. Unfortunately, even with them packed like sardines, there was not enough space to put all of them in the hangar, so a few remained chained down to the ramp.

I ended up staying up until the 11 PM update from the National Hurricane Center, just to see what was happening with the hurricane. It had not hit the Tampa area yet, but they had already begun seeing rain.

Wednesday came, and when I woke up, there was a strong downpour. I definitely didn’t dare venture outside, but I still had power and running water. My professors with assignments due on weeknights had all moved the due dates to next week when school was back in session, which I was thankful for. Around 11:30 AM, I did get the hurricane warning emergency alert from my phone.

I didn’t do a whole lot on Wednesday and didn’t venture outside. It was a pretty boring day, but I did keep my devices charging in case we lost power. I did keep my phone charging and emergency alerts on- hurricanes can produce tornadoes, and I wanted to make sure I was safe. Obviously, hurricanes can flood the area, but I wasn’t as worried since I live on the third floor of my building.

At around 6 AM on Thursday, my phone awoke me with a flash flood warning alert until 10 AM. I ended up going back to sleep and let the storm rage on outside. The center of the then-tropical storm didn’t pass over Daytona Beach directly, but it went over the Cape Canaveral area around 8 AM on Thursday.

Thursday was… interesting. Ian was still raging, but only at the force of a tropical storm. Volusia County was under a curfew and people weren’t supposed to leave their houses for any reason. Thursday was another slow day- I did end up doing some homework since the power was still on, but that was really it.

Friday was more laid back. I got to see the sun for the first time in a few days, and everything for me was semi-regular. I never lost power or water throughout the storm, but I know several people in the Daytona area did. I checked up on my friends, and then it was kind of back to normal for me- do homework due in the week, study for upcoming quizzes and tests, and wait for Monday.

All of my professors have been very understanding during the hurricane. Some of them lost power themselves, so they understand the struggles that we face (especially off-campus students). The professors with assignments and tests in the week have all been postponed until the second half of the week (Wednesday and on) with room for negotiation if students are severely affected. The university also sent out an email that stated students will not be penalized for traveling due to the hurricane since flights into Daytona are still sparse.

Daytona Beach is still cleaning up the hurricane’s damage, and it probably will be for a few weeks or so. I know people who lost a lot in the hurricane, and ERAU is setting up an emergency fund for those affected. I’m looking towards the future- what’s damaged is damaged, and I plan on helping those affected as much as I can. I hope that the ERAU community will be doing well by the time Open House rolls around, which is in about a month. Maybe I’ll see you there- and if not, I’ll see you in the next post!

Summer @ SNC, Part 3: Concluding Thoughts and Advice

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Carly

Make the most of your internship.

My internship ended almost a month ago, which means now is the time to look back on it and think about what I’ve learned. Of course, I learned a lot of technical skills and gained industry experience, but non-technical things are also important. Just because a skill isn’t technical doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable- for example, communication is a great “soft” skill that is essential to every workplace. So, here’s a list of some of the major non-technical things I learned from my internship!

1. You are not going to know everything and that’s okay. What you do know will still help!
That was certainly true for me. I had my ERAU education which was a good foundation. However, internships and jobs are not like the world of academia. Problems in academia are designed under certain simplifying assumptions. However, in real life, these assumptions are not always valid. Yes, you’ll likely be using in-class concepts to work on aircraft or rockets instead of, say, a baseball being thrown in a projectile motion problem. However, the aircraft or rocket problem takes more things into account than the baseball problem.

A lot of jobs have specific software that they like to use, and you might not be familiar with it. For example, ERAU uses CATIA for computer modeling, but several companies use different computer modeling software like AutoCAD or Solidworks. That doesn’t make your CATIA skills useless, it just means that you’ll have to adapt to a new software.

2. You might not use everything you’ve learned in class. That’s pretty normal- they’re not useless and unrelated, but your specific job might not use those concepts.
For example, I took statics and solid mechanics at ERAU and never once used them in my internship. To be fair, I was a systems engineer and not a structural/stress engineer. I had no real reason to use those concepts when there were full-time structural and stress engineers whose entire jobs were to analyze the structure of different aircraft. My roommate was a structural engineer, and she ended up using the concepts she learned in solid mechanics and structures classes during her internship. It really depends on what type of internship you have. It’s also good to know what type of internships to look for. If you don’t like your structures classes, then don’t look for structures internships and jobs.

3. Get to know your coworkers, both full-time and your fellow interns. They’ll make a good job even better.
I’m serious! If you’re having a slow day, your coworkers will make it go a lot faster. I also feel more comfortable asking questions of people I know rather than people who feel like strangers. Knowing your coworkers may also help you in your downtime- if you share similar interests, they may be able to provide recommendations. For example, some of my fellow interns were Colorado natives and suggested some hiking trails.

*One of the Red Rocks trails, which was suggested by a Colorado native!* *Yes, we did hike a lot, and I did buy hiking boots.*

4. The work week is 40 hours; there are 168 hours in a week. Do fun things when you’re not at work!!
In my time at SNC, on average, I worked 40-hour weeks. Sure, we got holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July off, but on a regular week, I worked 40-hour weeks. This allowed me to do fun things on the weekend and on the weeknights. I went hiking, went to the Denver cat cafe, Colorado Rockies games, Pike’s Peak, Elitch Gardens (an amusement park), the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and over to friends’ apartments. During the course of my internship, I stayed in an Airbnb, and my Airbnb host had a dog. She was more than happy to let me take him for walks, which was a good exercise for both of us!

5. If you don’t like your job, that’s okay- but try and find a job you do like!
Not everyone will like their first internship- and that’s okay. I loved mine, but I have a few friends who didn’t like theirs. Instead of choosing to be miserable, I noticed that they would ask other people about their jobs and see what they were like. As I mentioned before, you likely won’t use every single class from your degree in real life. I liked my internship, but I also liked a few of my other classes and never got to see the course content used. So, I ended up asking around to see what other jobs did, and I found interest in a few other jobs. I want to keep exploring my options, so I’ll probably apply for internships like the other jobs to see if I like those, too!

That’s the last tip I have! Hopefully, you enjoyed my three-part series about obtaining an internship, what to do when you’re not working, and my concluding thoughts. I enjoyed writing the posts and definitely enjoyed the internship! I currently don’t have an internship for next summer, but the cycle is just starting and I’m excited to see what I do next. I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

New Year, New Adventures!

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Carly

SLS Scrub?

I am back on the Embry-Riddle campus and it’s definitely good to be back! The drive back from the Denver area was about 27 hours, which wasn’t super fun. I was on the Orientation Team again this year (last year was super fun too!), which meant I had to be in town on the Monday after my internship ended for training.

This year, a few of the events, unfortunately, got cancelled early or entirely cancelled because of the weather. Even so, I had a lot of fun. Over orientation week, I did a lot of walking and running around campus welcoming new students. At the end of orientation, it was still kind of rainy, so the Movie in the Hangar event got moved inside the Student Union, and we took the team picture in front of balloons spelling out ERAU.

After orientation week, just like last year, the annual Honors Mentor/Mentee social was hosted on the Sunday before classes started. I was a mentor again this year, and everyone got ice cream and got to meet their mentors and mentees. It unfortunately rained on that afternoon, so it was moved inside to the first floor of the aviation maintenance science building.

Just like last year, the orientation team wore their PFG shirts on the first day. However, this year, we also played a spotting game, taking pictures of each other as we walk around campus. It was easiest to identify us in our PFGs, but the game still continues to this day (although not as much). Someone took this photo of me heading into the union on the first day.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. My five classes kicked into gear, and I’m liking them so far. Yes, I already have homework, but I worked on it over the long weekend. The first week of school is also the Week of Welcome, geared towards new students but open for everyone to participate. The week usually has a lot of free food and giveaways- this year, there was a lemonade stand and free ice cream!

I am living off-campus this year, so I’ve started using the shuttles that the Student Government Association provides free of charge to students. It’s pretty convenient. There’s a shuttle from my off-campus apartment to the student union about every 20 minutes, from early in the morning to the beginning of the evening. The shuttle runs every scheduled school day, which meant that it didn’t run over the Labor Day weekend, but I have a car so I can easily get to campus if needed.

As many people know, Artemis I was scheduled to initially launch on the first day of school, and then postponed to Saturday. Since I had class, I couldn’t attend the Monday launch time, but it was also scrubbed and rescheduled. Saturday was also a scrub, but my friend group hadn’t gotten down to the Cape yet- we were only on the road for about 10 minutes. It was unfortunate, but I’m hoping I get to see it launch before we go home for winter break.

The only upside was that I did get to see it on the launchpad. On Sunday, I took a few of my friends down to Kennedy Space Center. I’d won free tickets from ERAU Athletics and reserved my four tickets, which meant I got to spend the whole day at KSC for free! Last semester’s trip was super fun, but it was nice to go again and see the new exhibit. It had spacefaring vehicles from a bunch of different companies, including Sierra Space’s DreamChaser and Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule (which is actually on top of the SLS).

Overall, it was a good long weekend. I think a few of my friends went home super quickly, which is much easier if you live on the East Coast. I was happy staying in Daytona Beach, starting the homework that’s already been assigned and going out with my friends. I’ll see you in the next post… and maybe at Riddle (or KSC)!

*Me and Artemis 1, right above my photobombing friend’s head.*

Summer @ SNC, Part 2: Never Forgetting the Good Times!

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Carly

I hope I don’t see snow again soon.

I don’t know about you, but my summer went pretty well! I spent most of it in the Denver, Colorado area, working as a Systems Engineering Intern for Sierra Nevada Corporation. The internship was super cool and it’s an excellent way for me to make my first step into the aerospace industry, and I am grateful to everyone who helped me along the way. (If you’re interested in how I got to SNC- it’s here!)

I liked the flexibility I had on the job. I worked 40 hours per week, but the hours were flexible within a reasonable time period- some people liked to start their day at 7 AM while others preferred to start around 8 or 8:30. Some people took lunch breaks; others worked while they ate lunch. In addition, it was completely different from the retail jobs I’ve had no one was walking around the intern room making sure that we were on task. We were treated like responsible adults.

I learned a lot over the three months I was there, and I made some new friends! However, Denver is no Daytona Beach- it snowed on the second Friday in a freak snowstorm. I mostly stayed inside that weekend, since my roommate had just moved in. But the week after was Memorial Day weekend, so I had a three-day weekend.

A few of the other interns and I decided that we’d want to go hiking. It sounded fun to me- the trail was about four miles round-trip, and it was only an hour and a half away from my Airbnb.

Unfortunately, we ran into some snow and I had not yet bought proper hiking boots, so I ended up sliding down a small snowbank in my leggings and horrible hiking shoes. I didn’t end up making it to the top because of the snow- the hike was at a pretty high elevation, and my flats were not doing very well. I still found the hike worthwhile, I got to get to know my fellow interns and enjoy a walk through nature.

Over the summer I only ended up doing one other hike, this time at Red Rocks trail. By then I had adequate hiking shoes, and that hike was also during the heat of the summer. The view was breathtaking, but we had to leave after a few minutes since we heard thunder. Throughout the summer, the other interns did a lot of hikes, including a 14,000-foot mountain. That, to me, is dedication.

What else did I do? Whatever else I wanted.

For a lot of the summer, I mostly hung out around my Airbnb. I had a roommate, who I met online, and the Airbnb was fully furnished and came with dishes and utensils. It was perfect for a summer internship- it even came with a dog! We lived in a family’s basement, and it was great since they had anything we needed (such as a rice cooker), so I didn’t need to buy plastic utensils for the summer or worry about finding a three-month apartment lease.

Like a full-time employee, I was free to do whatever I wanted on my days off. For example. over the Fourth of July weekend, I ended up visiting one of my friends in Santa Barbara on a direct flight from Denver. I flew out on a Friday evening and came back on Monday, which we had off since it was the Fourth of July.

While on that visit, we ended up driving to Solvang and Buellton, which are both in the valley. Buellton is known for Ostrichland, USA, where tourists can feed a bunch of ostriches and emus. I’d never really seen an ostrich up close, but once I did, I realized just how huge they are. I know they’re flightless birds, but I hope I never see an ostrich run after me.

I also attended two Rockies games with my friends! I’m not a huge sports fan, but in my opinion, baseball games are a good place to hang out. Yes, people can actually watch the game, but people who aren’t as into the spot can walk around the stadium and explore. The Rockies stadium had three levels, and the view from the top one was breathtaking. I even spotted a few flights.

Near the end of the summer, I ended up visiting the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, which is an hour south of the Denver area. The zoo is quite literally built on a mountain, but I think it was a better choice than the Denver zoo since you get to interact with the animals a little more. I fed giraffes, watched wallabies freely run around the Australia exhibit, and saw plenty of big cats lying in the sun. It was a great experience, and I was glad I got the chance to experience it.

I loved my time in Denver with Sierra Nevada Corporation and am extremely thankful to everyone who helped me along the way. I highly recommend getting an internship. Not only does it give you the chance to experience the real engineering world, but it also gives you a chance to see what you’re doing with your degree. I’ll be honest, in some of my classes, I felt like some of the example problems weren’t directly related to my future career. However, I see how the concepts are applied to the real engineering world, even if not in my area of interning. For example, my roommate was a structural engineering intern, and the concepts I learned in solid mechanics applied to her internship. Talking to other interns was a good way to get to know everyone and learn about what disciplines would be for me.

While I miss SNC, it feels good to be home at Embry-Riddle. Classes have just started, and I’m excited to see what I’ll learn this semester. I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

Riddle Rewind, Take 2: Highlights of Sophomore Year

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Carly

Embry-Riddle Year 2 (Carly’s Version)

Last year I decided to start my yearly Riddle Rewind tradition of the year’s highlights, starting in August and moving forward. So here it is for this year- and it’s been another amazing year.

Seeing my friends again!

It had been a long summer without seeing any of my friends, and on my first night back, I saw two of my friends from freshman year. Karen was a Resident Advisor and had therefore arrived early, while Krysti stayed for flight training.

Being part of the Orientation Team!

I had so much fun during Orientation Week! It was super cool to see orientation from the perspective of someone on the team. There was actually a picture of me from O-Week posted on the Embry-Riddle Instagram (here) during one of our events, too.

Hosting Trivia!

I got to host (and write!) Star Trek trivia with one of my favorite professors! Last year (and every year), Dr. Lear hosts Star Wars trivia during Blue and Gold Week, which is like our spirit week, so we hosted Star Trek trivia in September instead. Hopefully, it will become a tradition!

Carpool Karaoke Nights!

Carpool karaoke continued this year, and it was super fun. We expanded our tastes from purely Broadway into various music styles- including Taylor Swift music.

Being on the Homecoming Court!

*2021 Homecoming Court! Photo by Christian Muller, @christian.m.polariod*

I was lucky to be voted onto the Homecoming Court by my peers for Fall 2021 Homecoming. It was super exciting, and even though I didn’t win, it was super awesome to be nominated!

Halloween Party on Halloween Night!

I didn’t see any big Halloween costume contests like last year, but Halloween also fell on a Sunday instead of a Saturday, which probably had an impact. Either way, I still got to hang out with my friends- we dressed up and hung out outside of New Res 3, where another student had set up his telescope.

Soaring Into Finals Week!

I actually ended up going twice- once with both of my best friends, and once shadowing a friend on his own mock commercial checkride. But both times I went, the flights were super fun, and it’s one activity that I suggest you participate in at Riddle! (There are pilots all over campus. You might have to pay your share of the flight cost, but it’s an unforgettable experience.)

The Thunderbirds’ Annual Daytona 500 Flyover

In February, the annual Daytona 500 happens and everyone at ERAU steers clear of the crowded International Speedway Boulevard. Everyone at ERAU also heads up to the roof of the AMS balcony to watch aircraft come in, including that C-17 in the picture and the Thunderbirds!

Day Trip to KSC!

In March, the Honors Program sponsored a day trip to Kennedy Space Center! It was super fun, and tickets were offered at a discounted rate for 100 students. I’d never been, but since it’s only an hour away, I can say that it is a must-see for any space enthusiast!

Preview Day as an ERAU Rep!

*Some of the Women’s Ambassadors on Preview Day! We’re holding one of our coordinators*.

Preview Day was amazing, even though it rained in the afternoon. I had a lot of fun meeting some of the incoming class and working with the other Women’s Ambassadors and students from the aerospace engineering department. It was sooooo fun!

Sun n’ Fun (n’ Friends)!

I ended up going to the Lakeland Sun n’ Fun Aerospace Expo, which was awesome to look at. I got to tour (and walk around) large aircraft, which I’d never done before. It’s definitely a “go with friends” activity- although I’ll never make it into the cockpit of an aircraft like the ones in the back, they were still fun to look at!

And finally… the Women’s Ambassadors Travel!

*Me… and an ERAU Women’s Ambassador Alumna!*

I had a lot of fun during the two Women’s Ambassadors-sponsored travel activities. It was awesome to meet accepted students across the country and talk about Embry-Riddle from a student’s perspective. I also got to meet an alumna of the program named Claudia, who now works for United Airlines!

Overall, sophomore year has been another amazing year in the books. I’m super excited to begin junior year next year- my classes have been great so far, and I’m expecting another great semester. In the meantime, I’m headed to Colorado for the summer for my internship with Sierra Nevada Corporation!

Finals & Graduation Season

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Merrick

Happy almost Finals week everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, Florida, the Spring 2022 semester is coming to a close, and we’re so close to finishing up! My life lately has mostly consisted of homework, projects, class, studying, working out, and ROTC. With only one week of school left, two weeks until my commissioning PT test, and three weeks until graduation and commissioning… life is moving so fast! Towards the end of the semester I’ve found I am usually the busiest, most stressed, and running on the most caffeine (with less and less sleep). However, I am looking forward to graduation and catching up on rest and relaxation so soon!

Final push until the end of the semester! Post-workout at the ERAU Fitness Center!

I’ve been reminiscing on the past years a lot lately. Will I miss college life? What does the real world look like? Am I prepared for what comes next? My time at ERAU has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I’ve taken part in thus far. Looking back at myself from freshman year to now, I’m a completely different person! I’ve grown so much, become so much more confident, and have learned so much not only academically, but about myself as a person too.

College gives you the freedom to make your own schedule, study, eat, and sleep whenever you want! College also gives you the opportunity to learn the importance of balance, time management, and self care – especially during particularly stressful or busy portions of the semester (shoutout Finals Week). Nonetheless, I am so grateful for everything I’ve had the chance to experience in my time as a Resident Advisor, Orientation Team Ambassador, on SGA Student Court, as a University 101 Peer Mentor, working on campus as a Undergraduate Student Researcher at the Eagle Flight Research Center, and in Air Force ROTC.

One of the (many) early mornings before sunrise on the way to ROTC training!

Advice I was given as a freshman was – try everything! Then cut back as you figure out what you like the most and prioritize what you can make time for. Going into my final semester, I’ve cut back the most on almost all extracurricular involvement to focus primarily on academics and ROTC – aka graduation and commissioning. I’ve learned there will never be enough time in the day to accomplish everything, but it’s extremely important to learn yourself well enough to know when you need sleep over staying up to finish a homework assignment. My ERAU experience has been academically rigorous, stressful, busy, and at the same time fun, I’ve made some life long friends and memories I will never forget, and I am a stronger and better person than I was when I started. I look forward to concluding finals in the beginning of May and will be signing out with one more blog post to follow! Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Gators & Great Location

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Merrick

Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, FL and it is officially my LAST month of undergraduate classes before Final Exams in May, Graduation, and Commissioning! I am so excited for the semester to be over and my 5-year college journey coming to a close. When I graduate I will have a B.S. Aerospace Engineering with an Aeronautics Area of Concentration, in addition to Minors in Arabic Studies and Military Science. It’s been a challenging, yet rewarding journey and I’m in the final push to the finish line!

I’ve been preparing for the semester to end by focusing on my studies, while trying to combat burnout. Thus, I’ve been exploring! I recently took a short weekend trip to Gainesville, Florida, about two hours from Daytona Beach to go to Trader Joe’s, see some old friends, and look at alligators! While I was visiting Gainesville, only a day trip away from ERAU, I stopped at Sweetwater Wetlands Park – a nature preserve with walking trails and thriving wildlife. While getting some sunshine and walking around the park I saw a total of 17 alligators! Yes, SEVENTEEN! Other than when I visited the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, it was the most alligators I had seen in one place, and wild alligators at that! Although I have heard that all waterways in Florida have the potential to contain alligators, I have never actually seen any alligators in the wild or in captivity in Daytona Beach. Florida’s State Reptile is the American Alligator so I sought out the wildlife park in Gainesville to fulfill my ‘before graduation’ bucket list of seeing wild alligators, and it did not disappoint!

Gator in Gainesville – only a short distance away from ERAU!

The alligators I saw ranged from baby gators around 1-2 feet long, to medium sized teenage gators, to adult alligators. I also saw a plethora of various birds, fish, and even rabbits!

Another alligator spotted from the hiking path at Sweetwater!

One of the best aspects of Daytona Beach is that it is close to many major cities. I highly recommend day-trips to St. Augustine, Orlando, Gainesville, and the Space Coast. Kennedy Space Center is only about an hour south of the university! While most launches from Kennedy Space Center can be viewed even from campus, taking the journey to watch them up close is a truly special and remarkable experience I recommend partaking in – at least once while studying at Riddle! Additional fun activities to check out throughout your time in FL include Universal Studios, Walt Disney Disney, or SeaWorld! My personal favorite is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but I’ve also heard great things about Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival at the EPCOT theme park at Walt Disney World! There is so much to do so close to ERAU, the possibilities are endless. Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Beach Days & Service Dress

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Merrick

Happy almost April everyone! I’m currently blogging post Spring Break and ready for the end of the semester! We’re approximately a month away!

One of the main reasons the culture at ERAU is so unique is because of the fairly small student population (relative to larger state schools) and the work ethic culture! For example, it’s the Monday post Spring Break and classes were back in full swing today! On my way to my early morning classes the atriums of the the college buildings were full of students studying, doing homework, and last minute preparing (aka cramming) for various tests, quizzes, and presentations.

If I hadn’t taken a break for a week I almost wouldn’t have thought no classes had occurred the past week! Even the gym was back in full swing! It was almost as if campus had literally pressed Pause, then Play like a movie, everything completely picked back up where it left off, even teachers and classes! I was surprised to say the least that there was not more of an easing back into the grind and business of everyday life. I suppose rigor is expected in senior level Aerospace Engineering classes, but mentally I was still on weekend mode this Monday morning.

Nevertheless, my staycation Spring Break was exactly what I needed. I spent most days catching up on homework, lab reports, papers, and studying, and even had the opportunity to get in a few beach days!

Thankfully the fitness center was also fairly empty, so I leisurely enjoyed waking up without an alarm and taking my time during workouts! It was truly a restful and well needed break and I am excited for the final push towards finals!

Post-StairMaster workout at the fitness center over the break!

Additionally, I had another exciting life event happen over Spring Break! I got the chance to zoom up to Patrick Space Force Base to buy my Service Dress uniforms for my commissioning ceremony. Commissioning occurs after graduation and officially marks the transition from Cadet life in Air Force ROTC to life as an Active Duty Officer in the U.S. Air Force. While I can definitely say after 5 years of working towards my undergraduate degree I am ready to graduate, I am 1000x more excited to commission and start my career serving my country. My post-graduation plans include a masters degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio. I’m ready to spring into the next chapter of my education career, and my adult life. Keep on keeping on folks! Will report back soon with life updates and more!

My Life @ Riddle

Daytona Beach Edition

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