ERAU Family Weekend!

This past weekend was Family Weekend here in Daytona Beach. My mom and brother came to visit, but Chris also came to surprise me! When I pulled up at the airport to pick up my mom and brother, Chris was there!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Ormond Beach (we got a great deal) and first began the morning by grabbing breakfast. I sent Logan (my brother) off with a friend to an engineering class since that is his interest. Chris and my mom came to meet my Professor, but instead of sitting in on the class, they went to go “officially” check-in for the weekend.

Of course my mom went to the bookstore and got all the goodies. She also met up with a friend from Castle Rock (our hometown) since her son also is a student! This is a picture of Logan and I. Can you believe he is as tall as me? I can’t!

When my family came to Family Weekend my freshman year, they were sad Logan couldn’t come too. Now that he was able to come, we were all very happy. It is huge for him to be able to see the school he hopes to attend, but also hopefully makes his first couple days at college a lot less scary, especially since he was able to sit in on a class.

After my first class, I took my family to meet some friends and faculty that I love. The folks I work with in Admissions even gave him a t-shirt!

Coolest 13 year-old I know!
Logan really wanted an energy drink and I really wanted to show him our cool deck… So here we are!

We also toured the school and then went to lunch. My mom went to my dorm and napped while Chris and Logan came to my last class of the day with me. My Professor was very sweet to them and they both really enjoyed the class. Logan now loves Aviation Business since my class was very fun and his morning Engineering class was more serious. I feel bad for tarnishing his view but… I’m also not too mad about it, haha!

There were many options for us on Friday and Saturday (like trivia night), but I just really wanted my family to see the campus and for Logan to sit in on a class with me. We decided to go to Disney since most of Saturday’s activities would not be super fun for Logan and because my mom had already been to most of the activities my freshman year. Plus… I mean it’s Disney!

After spending an arm and a leg, we went to Epcot. We decided to go to this park since we have not been in a long time. Logan is 13 (almost 14) now, so he has grown to like it a lot more than he did when he was way younger. The weather was great and the longest line we waited in was only 30 minutes!

Please enjoy some pictures from the weekend!

My adorable mom and I!
Just hanging out with my boys!
I was so happy Chris came to surprise me!
Epcot’s yummy and surprisingly affordable food!
Left: chocolate tasting Right: beef wellington

Sunday was the day scheduled by the school as “free time”, but my family left Sunday afternoon. So, instead we went to Orlando (since they were leaving out of MCO) and went to the outlet mall there!

I was sad to see everyone go, but I was also glad they came. It was honestly one of the greatest weekends of my life! When I am at school I greatly miss my family. Seeing them gives me the motivation and strength to continue to work hard on my studies!

Some restaurants we ate at (and that I highly recommend):

  • Tia Cori’s Tacos
  • Oklahoma Joe’s
  • Giuseppe’s Steel Pizza City
  • Neighbors Ice Cream Parlor
  • Blaze Pizza
  • Chicken Salad Chick

You go through life wondering what is all about but at the end of the day it’s all about family.

Rod Stewart

Until next time! ~ Maddie

Got Anymore of Them “Time Management” Tips?

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I have been back. It definitely feels like I’ve been back a lot longer than that.

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A few weeks ago, Embry-Riddle had its 2nd annual Activities Fair which was cool.

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A lot of campus organizations had tables and stands on display for the day-long event.

I hope everyone’s been doing alright, I wish I could say that for myself. School is definitely starting to pick up and the 4 jobs I have currently are starting to take a toll on me. I think that the key is time management which I need to get severely better at.

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In my career as a photographer, this was the first time I have ever shot baseball. Definitely need more practice.

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“Another one bites the dust.”

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Not a lot has happened since my last update, sadly. The Avion Newspaper is still going strong as we just published our 3rd issue for the semester, I had my first appointment of the semester at the Digital Studio on Monday, and there’s definitely a lot of work to be done for IT.

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Embry-Riddle also had their Family Weekend recently.

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Students were encouraged to invite their family and friends to visit them at the Daytona Beach campus.

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Class wise, things are definitely picking up. I find myself seeking more and more help for homework and assignments, which isn’t really a bad thing. If anything, it benefits you since you’re getting one-on-one instruction by your professor, and it shows your professor that you’re serious about learning.

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The Amateur Astronomy Club also had their Astronomy Open House around the same time.

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Attendees were treated to a presentation by a visiting professor from the University of Kansas regarding dark matter, dark energy, and the expansion of the universe.

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The event was highly received.

My Sci-Fi humanities class is really interesting. We just finished reading H.G. Well’s The Time Machine, and instead of writing a traditional essay, we have to make a webpage from scratch in HTML. Personally I think this a really neat and interesting approach because we are learning interdisciplinary along with coding; definitely a unique combination.

I am sorry if this month’s update was not as exciting as my earlier ones. Hopefully with the semester entering its 5th week, things will start to pick up.

As always, thank you for reading and I will see you next time.