The End of Summer

Once I completed my internship at Aéroports de Montréal at the end of July, I had about two weeks of vacation left before heading to Daytona Beach. My brother and I welcomed some of our friends from Texas that came to visit us for the weekend.

During their visit, we went to the Osheaga Art and Music Festival in Montreal. The festival takes place over a period of three days where more than 100 artists performed. We were there on the last day of the show and saw The Black Keys, ALT-J, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Charli XCX, and Tove Lo. It is not possible to see all of the artists because they perform on six different scenes simultaneously. It is fun because you don’t have to stay at one scene and watch the whole show; you can walk around and see different things.

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Group picture in front of the Osheaga splatter paint wall!

After a great weekend filled with music, we all headed to the airport at 4:30AM  to catch early morning flights. Some of the friends were heading back home in the Lone Star State while another was flying back to school in Boston. My family and I were flying to Jacksonville (JAX) with a connection in Atlanta (I don’t think I can count how many times I have been through ATL!).

When we landed in JAX, I almost felt like it was home since Daytona was only 100 miles south. We drove for about an hour north following the East Coast of Florida and Georgia. Our final destination was Sea Island, GA. We decided to make this trip because the area was reputed for its golf courses. There are also many other activities to do there since the ocean is a few steps away. Other than playing a few rounds of golf, we went paddle boarding, and skeet shooting.

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Sea Island, GA

The few days spent in Sea Island went by so fast, as we were already seated in the plane on our way back to Canada. My brother and I spent the last the week home so we could prepare and pack all the baggage we had to bring for our upcoming Sophomore year of college.

View from the Delta SkyClub Sky Deck in Concourse F. Hartsfield-Jackson has the largest control tower in North America, and 4th in the world.

View from the Delta SkyClub Sky Deck in Concourse F. Hartsfield-Jackson has the largest control tower in North America, and 4th in the world.

Next week, I will go over my arrival in the Daytona Beach area before classes started! Enjoy the extra pictures of Osheaga below.

Nicolas

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And We’re Back!

Hello, hello! After a much needed 4-5 month hiatus, we’re back! And I’m not just talking about me being back on the blogging scene, but rather everyone coming back to Embry-Riddle. So on that note, welcome back returning students and faculty, and hello to the new students and faculty getting their start at Embry-Riddle this semester!

This summer has been a jam-packed one for sure. With things ranging from collegiate visits and parades to work and traveling, Summer 2015 may have been my most productive summer to date.

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Summer 2015 also marked the time where I started taking “artsy” pictures.

With victory and triumph in my veins after conquering the spring semester, I boarded my flight bound from Orlando, Florida (MCO) to Newark, New Jersey (EWR) and rode the train home once I got to New Jersey. It was probably 1AM when I finally got to my house on May 1st. Unfortunately for me, most of my friends were still in school/college. Needless to say, I did not spend May wisely and spent most of my time at home. (Whoops.) I did however, visit my high school to catch up with some teachers and friends. I even spoke to a few freshmen classes about college and how to prepare for the next 4-5 years of their lives.

Suddenly June came barreling in, and I suddenly found myself in a chaotic ballet of commitments and unexpected events. My sister’s orientation for Penn State University was during the first week of June so I had to put off working in New York City until the week after. Despite the logistics, 4-hour drive, and uncomfortable hotel beds, it was a fun time. Most importantly, my sister enjoyed the school which is what really mattered.

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I guess Penn State ran out of rock climbing walls.

With Penn State’s orientation over and my sister finishing high school in 2 weeks, I went back to work in New York City. Not much has changed since I left last summer, but it was still nice to go back to work in place that was familiar to me. The atmosphere and pacing is so different from life here in Daytona Beach, and that’s the lifestyle I was accustomed to.

Sometime in the middle of July, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team defeated Japan during the Women’s FIFA Cup and to celebrate, there was a ticker tape parade in New York City. Conveniently, my office was on Broadway and I managed to get some really nice pictures. It was my first ever ticker tape parade and it was really special considering the last one was in 2012 after the Giants won the Superbowl.

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ERMERGERD. ERMERGERD.

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I saw people just dump entire packets of paper outside their windows. It was crazy.

Annoyingly, August rolled around signalling the end of my summer vacation a few weeks later. By that time, I finished my internship and spent my time at home preparing for the fall semester. I managed to go out and photograph a few sunrises, the Perseid Meteor Shower, and sunsets. It was nice and a fitting salute to my home state before leaving for Riddle.

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I saw the Milky Way in person for the first time ever!

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The last sunrise I saw in New Jersey. *sheds tear*

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Oooo.

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On my flight back to Orlando, I ran into William Stirna who was a graduate of Embry-Riddle’s class of 1994!

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With things at Embry-Riddle in full swing now, nothing’s really changed since I left last spring. My classes are very interesting with SIM 200 being the most “technical” class I’ve taken to date. My professors are wonderful and they make class enjoyable, and I’m honestly glad things worked out the way they did. So, on that bombshell, thank you for reading, and I’ll talk to you all soon!

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This isn’t Daytona Beach, but this was taken in Florida…that counts right?

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“Oh so artsy.”