The Weekend Before Spring Break Weekend

I’m counting down the days until spring break!

March is upon us and that means it’s almost time for spring break! While I have a test this week, I’m really excited for spring break. It’ll be great to have a week for rest and relaxation that I can spend ignoring any homework I do have.

As for what I’m up to here at ERAU? Last Friday, comedian Ryan Kelly came to ERAU for a stand-up comedy show. He’s well known on Instagram and TikTok, and I was excited to go see his show. Apparently he started out as an engineering major, and he had a few jokes about that we could all relate to.

The show was part of the Skyline Social series, which are events on Friday evenings that usually have a different theme. I’ve seen them have trivia, game night, bracelets, and now a comedy show. There’s food and drink available for purchase, but the event itself is free. This event partnered with our entertainment division, Touch-N-Go, to bring Ryan here.

Ryan Kelly at ERAU!

I enjoyed a very restful Saturday doing absolutely nothing productive. I got pizza for lunch and it was super tasty, but other than that, I spent the day relaxing. Even during the school year while not on break I highly suggest taking breaks when you can.

Sunday was my study day. I have a test on Wednesday and started studying for it on Sunday. The test is all memorization since it’s multiple choice, so I’ve started solidifying the content in my mind. I spent most of the afternoon in the Hunt Library before heading over to JCPenney for the Suit Up event.

Once per semester, ERAU’s Career Services partners with JCPenney and allows students to buy professional attire at a discounted price. All student attendees must check in and then they’ll receive their coupons to be presented at the register. I ended up getting two items- a business dress and pair of slacks- for a total under $100, which was a great deal.

I’m sitting back in my apartment writing this blog post while keeping an eye on my cat. I adopted him several months ago and he’s still as adorable as when I got him! He’s also gotten a lot bigger, but he’s still very mischievous. I’m very excited to take him with me when I start my job, but until then, I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

Inspiration 4 and Star Trek Trivia!

Oh, nothing much, just watching the product of my future career, right? Heck yeah!

It’s been an exciting week here in Daytona!

If you’re following space news, you’d see that the Inspiration 4 launch was a success. If you’re following Embry-Riddle news, you’d see that there are two Embry-Riddle alumni involved with the Inspiration 4 launch.

Being a space enthusiast myself, I decided that I’d like to see the launch up close. While you can see launches from the Embry-Riddle campus (and even hear the slight roar of the rocket!), there’s no reason why I shouldn’t go down since it’s only an hour’s drive or so. My roommate from last year and I ended up hitching a ride with one of our other friends who was going anyway with a few other people.

Five of us piled into one car, and we ended up doing a bit of carpool karaoke on the way down to the launch. We found a spot pretty close to the launch site in a boat launching area. The launch window opened at 8:02 PM, and we made sure to get there early.

There were a lot of bugs outside, but thankfully, we’d brought some bug spray. A few other people had found the same spot we had and many had professional-looking cameras. I’m not super good at photography, but I love looking at other people’s pictures.

When the rocket ignited, the whole sky lit up. (Side note: if you ever get a chance to watch a rocket launch live, do it. If you’re not busy, watch a live stream- a few of my friends and I watched the Firefly Alpha launch a little while back.) Here’s what my phone got:

Pretty rocket!

It took a few moments for the rumble to reach us, and by that time, the rocket was shooting across the sky and through the clouds. A few minutes later, we saw this:

Pretty rocket 2!

We were lucky enough to be in a spot so that the rocket appeared to curve across the sky. After the rocket disappeared, the five of us got back into the car and went back to Daytona and to our dorms. And that was my Wednesday night: no homework, just rocket science.

Thursday through Sunday was Panhellenic (sorority) recruitment, which was super fun, and I’m excited to see the Panhellenic community grow! Another one of my other favorite events this week was Star Trek trivia, which I’d hosted with one of my favorite professors, Dr. Lear.

I’d made a deal with her that if I showed up in a Star Trek uniform, that she’d get me a pink drink from Starbucks. As I have a slight addiction to Starbucks, I showed up in this:

Star Trek: Enterprise era uniform!

True to her word, Dr. Lear did end up buying me a Starbucks before trivia started. There were plenty of people there, including several of my friends. The trivia event was during another event called the Skyline Social, which had food and drink for purchase along with activities to do.

Trivia had three rounds, and Dr. Lear and I took turns reading the questions. We did an intermission poster giveaway in between the first and second rounds, and in between the second and third, we had a drawing contest. One of my friends wasn’t playing, so we ended up roping him into judging the drawing contest.

He had up to 20 points that he could distribute as he pleased. He decided to be nice and ended up giving everyone points. The final question was probably a little too hard since nobody got the correct answer, but trivia was really fun.

Riddle hosts Star Wars trivia in the spring, and Dr. Lear thinks that the next trivia event is going to be Harry Potter. I enjoyed co-hosting, so maybe I’ll be able to do it again! Last year, Dr. Lear hosted Star Wars trivia and over 200 people came out to play. (Even though I’m not a Star Wars fan, I was there too since I got extra credit for coming.)

If you’re at Embry-Riddle, I highly suggest going to Skyline Social trivia nights. I’ll see you in the next post, and hopefully at Riddle (and trivia night)!

From both me and Dr. Lear… Live long and prosper!