Happy November everyone! I’m currently blogging from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and it’s Thanksgiving! I am so happy to be on a short break before the last couple weeks of class and finals. The semester truly is coming to a close! I met my family in Myrtle Beach for the break to run a Turkey Trot 5K and hang out together for a few days. Activities included lots of card games like Spades and Uno, as well as Blokus tournaments – both Blokus duo and the 4 player options. The break also included watching three different versions of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, including the 1966 cartoon, the 2000 Jim Carrey film, and The Grinch – 2018 version.
At the 5K we saw people dressed up as turkeys, mac ‘n cheese, and my personal favorite for creativity’s sake – green bean casserole!
The Thanksgiving break was much needed. The “short” week beforehand included an Air Force ROTC PT test, a Flight Dynamics and Control exam, and an approximately 7 hour hour drive up north to see some of the people I love.
While I do wish the break was longer, some of my favorite “break-prep” activities to help me feel refreshed and relaxed before I left FL for the weekend included catching up on laundry and organizing my room, cleaning/wiping down surfaces and sweeping the floor, watering my plants and overall tidying my living space so that when the break is over I am able to jump into the last few weeks of classes and finals giving 100%.
Over the break my favorite relaxing activities other than spending time with family include watching Christmas movies, listening to new music (including Adele’s new album!), catching up on podcasts I haven’t had time to listen to lately including IN HINDZSIGHT, Short Wave (NPR’s short science podcast), and a recently discovered listen – Financial Feminist! Additionally I’ve been catching up on my favorite Youtube channels by doing yoga videos from Yoga With Adriene, targeted workout videos with Chloe Ting, and leveled and targeted workout videos with a variety of guest hosts from different workout programs with POPSUGAR Fitness, a channel I discovered about a year ago.
I hope everyone is getting the opportunity to relax and recharge a bit before the final stretch of school, only about a month left before Winter Break! Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

























It’s the last week of the semester, and you know what that means…FINAL EXAMS! Thanksgiving break was not so much a break; it was a huge homework and study session. While most of my friends went back home for Thanksgiving dinner, I stayed here on campus. It wasn’t too bad, just a little quieter than I needed it to be. I really missed family and friends from back home, and it made completing my assignments harder than they were. I also got a chance to take advantage of flying here while everyone else is gone. That way I get to fly with fewer restrictions on time, and also have more airplanes available so I could pretty much fly whenever I wanted to. But today we all came back from the break and had to wake up early for classes…YAY. Including today, we’ve only got 4 more days of classes, Study day, then finals start on Saturday. And as we all know, the end of the semester means term papers are also due and the last assignments of the year are due. This is the make or break period of the semester, and if you slip up, that’s it. So far it’s going pretty smooth.
I am also happy to say that I may be done with my private by Christmas! I am so excited. It took a lot of work and dedication to get to where I am now. It wasn’t easy balancing flight with my academic courses, especially seeing that I doubled flight activities almost every day this semester. However, I was able to through it all and still do well. I completed my dual cross countries and am going to take my solo check ride this week so I can do all my solos all at one time. My instructor is so proud of the progress I have made so far, and I am too. It feels good to go up and fly and each day I learn new things. It’s an awesome experience.
Clubs right now are basically done. This is the last week of the semester and most clubs had their last meetings last week. There may be a few clubs that meetings this week but I doubt it. For First Gen, two weeks ago we got the chance to go to the President of the University’s house for dinner. It was an awesome experience. We got to meet a few of the board members of our school along with the president and his wife and a few of the faculty and staff at ERAU. It was a chilly night but it was worth going. TFO had a BBQ that same week and I wasn’t able to attend because I had my night cross country. From what I heard it was a huge success.
Everything here is pretty much wrapping up now and coming to a close for the semester. The biggest thing right now is getting ready for finals and FAA written and practical exams to take place in the upcoming week. Basically… campus is dead! I can’t wait to go home for Christmas so I can see my family and friends.