Tag Archives: language

April & Air Force Updates

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Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, we’re about two weeks out from finals and my life is currently hectic. I find that when I am faced with a lot of assignments and not a lot of time I rely heavily on routines and lists. Some of my favorite tried and true routines that I’ve found which work best for me include being very productive while I do laundry and drink coffee!

Something really interesting that I have been thinking about lately in my *limited* free time has been that there is a huge difference between free time and availability, although the two are often confused! A lot of times in college you will most likely be asked when you have class, meaning that the time you don’t have class is “negotiable availability”, but its very important to schedule in free time during your weeks to prevent burnout!

A super cute stress survival guide with fun tips that I find online I wanted to share!

Something very exciting that I got to do this week was submit my “dream sheet”! A dream sheet is an Air Force Form 53 where you list out six potential career fields you want once you enter active duty. You rank the six choices from your top to your least favorite choice. My top three were Intelligence, Information Operations, and Public Affairs, but there’s always a chance I get engineering too (because of my degree in Aerospace Engineering).

The reason I don’t want to be a professional engineer post college is simple, I’m not passionate about it! I am extremely grateful that on my fourth of five years working towards a degree in Aerospace Engineering I have been as successful as I have and that I only have one more year left. I am graduating May 2022 and I am so excited!!

My puppy niece Daisy with a big stick, also showing that if there is will, there is a way!

My time at Riddle has opened my eyes to things I am passionate about though, including joining the Air Force post college thanks to Air Force ROTC solidifying my already prospective goals from the time I was in high school. While in college I also realized I was very passionate about language learning!

Riddle is a heavily tech reliant school and while it does have many great programs outside of engineering and pilot training, I was already too far in when I realized I really liked languages! I made the conscious decision to follow through on earning my Aerospace Engineering degree in hopes that in my career post college in the Active Duty Air Force I will be able to use my language skills more frequently.

Riddle does offer options to minor in a variety of language studies, but if you’re in higher level classes the language programs aren’t extremely extensive. I’ve supplemented this by spending all my summers participating in language learning programs like Project Global Officer, available to all branches of ROTC students, in order to maintain and expand my Arabic fluency. If there is a will, there is a way!

I hope this inspires you to find out what you’re truly passionate about and consider if there is a way to be practical as well as have some fun along the way pursuing your goals and seeking new opportunities! More exciting updates to come, keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Finals & Nile Crocodiles

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Happy July everyone! I’m currently blogging from Washington DC. (We’re not in Kansas anymore!)

In addition to all the usual events, my summer in Kansas concluded with an Arabic Homestay Dinner, conversation tables, presentations, a Saudi Arabian movie, an Oral Proficiency Exam, lunch field trips, dinners with our professor, a final exam consisting of listening, speaking, and writing portions, a final skit performance, and of course lots of coffee.

الحمد لله

I thankfully finished with an A in both semesters, but more importantly I made irreplaceable memories with my professor, tutors, and classmates. Also, thankfully, my last two weeks included more “mesa’a’ah” which is my newly discovered favorite Egyptian food.

Arabic Homestay Dinner at our tutor’s house!

Brief recap of the last two months:

After spending hours every day in person, emailing, texting, or calling each other I can honestly say I am so proud to have had the opportunity to study amongst likeminded individuals and to learn and develop language skills in such a supportive environment with my classmates, our tutor, and our professor.

I can now hold a conversation in Arabic, converse on a variety of topics, am more culturally aware, and confidently have a strong foundation of Arabic skills consisting of standard high language vocabulary and a lot of Egyptian dialect.

Family photo of our class with our classmate’s daughter!

For me learning Arabic was a chance to truly open my eyes to the beautiful diversities in the world, especially in Arabic speaking regions such as the Middle East where non-Arabic speakers commonly have a lot of misconceptions about not only language, but culture.

I have only begun my journey in understanding how culture contributes to perception, connotation, and communication. Educating myself is the start to contributing a more globally aware society, starting by breaking language barriers and expanding to clarifying misconceptions and squashing stereotypes. Learning Arabic has allowed me to start developing an understanding of culture and ways of life very different from what I, as a native English speaker, was typically used to. Despite cultural differences between geographical regions, languages bridge the gap between different people and creates an opportunity for communication and understanding to develop.

My classmate and I with our professor!

I would absolutely recommend Project GO to ROTC students, and I would highly encourage anyone up for a challenge to learn a new language as they have numerous benefits beyond the classroom. Learning languages truly helps to form more globally aware citizens. They broaden perspectives, open up doors for communication, educate people on culture, and can lead to amazing opportunities whether it be connecting people within your community, or meeting new people traveling abroad.

I am very thankful for this experience and excited to continue my quest learning Arabic inside and outside of the classroom in the years to come.

Visual representation of the word “ممكن” by my classmate and I, which doesn’t directly translate into English, but is ممكن a verb for maybe/sort of.

Side note: My professor is from Egypt, which houses the Nile River. In the Nile there are many crocodiles. Nile crocodiles can range from 15-20 feet long. Below is a visual representation of the size of a small (15-foot) crocodile, measured out by myself, my classmate, and our other classmate’s daughter.

One 15-foot Nile crocodile!

Will report back soon!

Life @ Riddle & A Word or Two of Advice

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Between family members, friends, and even some people looking into Ridde, they all ask me how I have been. Well here is the truth. I love ERAU. I love the classes, environment, and involvement. I’ve been a student here for 5 months now and I feel like I have been here for years! Being a dual major with a minor is a lot of work. I have had people doubt me and question why. Dual majoring is not for everyone. It takes a lot of work and there are a few late nights, but it is worth it!

ERAU has a lot of events and activities to get involved in. Recently, there was a farmers market here on campus. They come once a semester and there truly is something for everyone! Purses, honey, kettle corn, flowers, the list goes on. A few other activities include Rush Week, Touch-N-Go Thursday Night Movies, and Operation Bootstrap 2.0. Every Thursday, Touch N Go Productions hosts a movie night. It is free for students and a lot of fun. Some of the most recent films they showed was “Ted 2,” “Jurassic World,” “Tomorrowland,” and “Minions.” Whether you like all the movies or just a few, they usually have a great variety throughout the semester. One time, they even showed “Top Gun” in an aircraft hangar! That is the ultimate “Top Gun” movie experience right there! Operation Bootstrap 2.0 is happening this Friday. Our school embarked on the journey from Miami to Daytona Beach 50 years ago calling it Operation Bootstrap. Packing up 31 trucks, volunteers helped with the move back in April 1965. This Friday at 4:00 pm, students will be able to compete in challenges, take the largest ERAU group photo, and enjoy fireworks later on in the night! It is sure to be a fun event! ERAU makes sure you work hard but also play hard when necessary. Yesterday, we had our career expo. Nearly 100 companies came to the ICI Center (ERAU Fieldhouse) to talk to students about their companies. Some even offered interviews! Some companies that came included NASA, Boeing, The Spaceship Company, Delta, and a whole lot more! Everyone dressed up and it was a truly fun and engaging event.

When it is time for business, ERAU has all the resources you could ever ask for; and they are free! A^2 is a free tutoring center with tutoring labs. The subjects covered include Math, Physical Sciences, and Writing. However, that is not the only place you can get tutoring. You can ask your professors, peer mentors, or classmates! ERAU even has Supplemental Instruction for certain classes as well. There are a bunch of resources you can use! Don’t be afraid to use them!

Want to learn a language? No problem, clubs and classes are offered so you can learn Russian, Japanese, and even Spanish! There are a lot of activities and organizations available to you on campus. You can even check out ERAU Connection for all the 130+ clubs and organizations on campus. You will find something that interests you. Myself, I found 5.

There are a lot of things that you can get involved with and learn at Riddle. So much so you might not even want to leave. Personally, I love learning. When I first came to Riddle, I could not decide what minor I wanted to do. There were so many available. I settled on Space Studies because I want to be an astronaut. But there are so many others to choose from; and I am indecisive! Going to college is a journey. One that you will remember for the rest of your life. Take your time and enjoy it. No, you will not enjoy every moment and you will not like every single class you take, but that is college. Work hard but have fun. Find the balance. #GoERAU