intelligence studies | My Life @ Riddle

Just a couple of #ERAU pilots

The fall semester starts on Monday! I’m pretty excited except I only really got a week break from classes this summer; time to break out the last minute check-list for books and essentials!

This past week I flew back home to San Diego and I’m definitely missing beautiful Southern California already, but it’s good to be getting back into the swing of the semester. It was a perfect time to get my bearings and get some relaxation in before another semester. I will officially be starting my junior year (scary) at #ERAU and I’ll be taking lots of classes concentrated around my major. I’m super excited for my Terrorism Insurgency & Irregular Warfare class – not to mention I get to take a cool Globalization & World Politics class! This semester is definitely bound to be extremely busy, but that’s what makes the fall semester… well, fall semester.

Location: Final for 27 into SAN

Lots of exciting things are in store for this semester, especially now reaching Junior year. Junior year is an important year because internship season is really falling upon us students. It’s now time to start researching the adult world and defining which path we would like to take, and doing these things now really eases tension for senior year, so if you’re a Junior – get started!

Location: Backyard

If it’s your first week at college, welcome to ERAU! The first month is always exciting with fun activities and events going on. Here are some tips for your first week at college:

1. Use your time wisely! With everything going on around you, it can get overwhelming. I’m talking staying up until 4am getting to know everyone in your dorm, to waking up early for events, running all over campus trying to fix schedules, running last minute errands, to trying to catch your breath when you finally have some downtime.

2. Plunge into your classes! The sooner you do this, the more relaxed your semester will be. Print out all syllabi and make sure you have organized notebooks or binders for your classes. Start having the “few weeks from now” mindset.

Chair flying the Cessna 172

3. Introduce yourself to professors. This allows you to create an invaluable bond in college, and even a lifetime! It will allow you to reach out easily to them during the semester if you have questions, concerns, or even ideas you may have for the class!

4. Find your TWO quiet places. And I don’t just mean the library, but if that works for you, then great! First, try to find a place where you won’t have many distractions so you can study, and also find a place where you HAVE a good distraction to take you away from studying – like a place to watch airplanes or soak in some sun.

5. Develop a habit of studying often; this takes practice. Try not to get into the procrastination mindset (we’ve all been there), or “massed cramming” mode.

Over the Atlantic

I hope you all have a great first week at Embry-Riddle if you are coming for the first time or if you’re returning for another awesome year. If you happen to see me on campus, please come say hi or ask any questions you may have!

#GoEagles

C-130s over Normandy! Kid in a candy store moment. It was so neat seeing 5 of them or so casually flying over at extremely low altitudes. All of Normandy was filled with great patriotism; we were all a part of something bigger in remembering those who had fought for our soil and freedom.

In the streets of Normandy, France, squandering for crepes

After Normandy, we took a ferry and headed back to England. Here, we first went to Swindon to check out the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park. If you don’t know much about the machine, the British used it to decode messages that the Germans were sending to one another during WWII. The whole place used to be a huge intelligence base.

The next day, we went to the Culture in Conflict conference at the Defense Academy of the UK. It was a three day conference consisting of various speakers from all over the world- people from the military, government agencies, companies like Lockheed Martin, civilian contractors, and intelligence companies to the Israeli Air Force.

Cranfield University/Defense Academy of the UK

It’s things like this that confirm my passions. Hearing these people speak from all over the world was very eye opening. Most of them had spent time in Middle Eastern regions like Beirut or places in Afghanistan doing research. I was intimidated, but I was inspired. I couldn’t take many pictures here…sorry, guys! But the memory of this conference will remain ingrained in my mind forever.

Bath, UK

We had a free day in Swindon, so a few of us decided to visit Bath. Bath is a place that is exactly as it sounds; it’s famous for its ancient Roman Baths.

Somehow, I managed to come across this quote while I was abroad:

It definitely struck me. This trip had opened my heart up to many possibilities in terms of where I could take my career. I never knew how many petals this rose of the intelligence field could have. And wow, am I amazed. Studying abroad is such a great idea if you’re thirsting for more knowledge. I went only knowing so few things and came back so much richer than before. Let travel change you. You learn a lot about yourself, too.. which is probably the most important thing you could understand, especially when you’re trying to find out, well, what you want to “do.” Make your passion so big that you can’t fully grasp it even if you travel the world. You can never know enough about your passion.. I guess that’s what makes it what it is. That’s what makes you discover brand new petals of the flower over and over again.

We’re in London next. I’m excited to visit again.

More coming!

My Life @ Riddle

Daytona Beach Edition

Tag Archives: intelligence studies

Ending Summer.

007 Study Abroad Continued.