So I finally got my badge! I was really worried about that. I needed to get my employee number to be able to get my badge just so I could request a log in and also activate my flying privileges. Yes that’s right! I get flight privileges to anywhere Delta flies! We are all planning a trip this weekend maybe to Buenos Aires, Dublin, or Barcelona. We looked at Cairo but might not be able to into that one. We’ll see though. Tomorrow, Friday, is when we will see where we are going. We fly stand by so we look at the flights that we have the best chance on getting on.

Anyways, the first week is almost done and I must say, it has been a very good one. It still was a little slow just trying to get things set up but I have met all of my project managers and the people that I will be working with. There are some really cool things that I will be doing. One of those is building a business case for upper level management in eliminating paper in the cockpit and ramp operations. Pilots would be using more of an electronic flight bag that would be inter-connected to the airplane and flight operations. If this becomes possible, it would eliminate around $500,000/yr of paper cost in Atlanta alone. If all the other hubs follow suit, it could save millions for the company! And here I am, a regular undergraduate student barely 21 working on this. I feel pretty badass! J

A couple other projects is making sure that pilots are registered to go in Israeli Airspace (because you must be cleared before you take off due to security reasons), doing jumpseat authorization letters, helping the other inters with their projects. I’m excited because all of the interns in Flight Operations (which is only 3 total including me) will be working with each other helping each other out on projects, learning and making mistakes, but build experience in the process. I cannot wait until we are left alone to do our own things and be treated like employees at Delta.

I think that that is the thing that I like most about this internship. We are not the interns that run for coffee or get food for the boss. We are treated like employees working on similar projects that veteran employees have been working on. Only one week and I already feel like part of the team. I am really excited.

Today was my first day at Delta. I must say, it was like any regular first day at any company except this one had something else. It had aviation professionals who were welcoming us scared little interns to a monster of a company like Delta. Seriously, every person I met today was excited that we were there. It was interesting! Here was the Vice President of Flying Operations, and Chief Pilot (they are the same person at Delta), welcoming us “aboard” and wishing us luck during our limited time here. I was and still am really excited!

As far as work went, I didn’t really do much. I need my log in information, my employee number, and my badge to be able to do anything. So I pretty much sat and walked around meeting some cool people.

The best thing that I did was get into a Level D FTD. That’s a full motion simulator! We flew the 737-800 testing out an arrival into LAX. The old intern showing us how to fly it was pretty cool. He was programming the Flight Management Computer to fly the specific arrival but he couldn’t figure a specific waypoint or how to enter it. That’s when I stepped in. I was a little reluctant since it was my first day but I’m glad I spoke up. I remembered what I learned this past semester in my FMS class at ERAU and was able to show the other interns on how to use the FMS a little. I felt pretty good and the other intern was impressed. I did show off a bit, which felt good and a little awkward but oh well, the job got done! Lol.

Anyways, I got to go to bed. Got home kind of late since I had to do some grocery shopping and it is a 25 miles drive to work. I will write soon! Bye!

I finally made it to Atlanta. Its Sunday afternoon and I am exhausted. I left Denver Friday afternoon and spent a couple of days on the road. I really liked spending the night in Salina, KS but not so much in Nashville, TN (I’ll explain why later).

So I left my house a little nostalgic and scared because I was heading to the unknown on my own. This was the longest drive I had ever done alone. I knew that the drive was not going to be a problem. What I was more nervous for was arriving in Atlanta to my new home for the next 12 weeks and then working at Delta. Anyways, I have always hated driving through Kansas because it is such a flat land full of farms and nothing else. It’s a good thing that I left that late because I didn’t want to look at that nothingness. Instead I got to see a lot of darkness with a starry night while blasting my music and signing along like people do in the shower (you know how there is a lot noise that you don’t really hear yourself so you think that you sound really good? That sort of singing). It was like that the entire way to Salina until It was approaching 11pm and I needed to sleep. I’m glad I made it that far and that my newly made mix for the trip was keeping me entertained and awake.

Woke up the next morning early and continued my journey to Atlanta. I stayed mainly on I-70 and until St. Louis where I had to change roads but I got to drive next to the Gateway Arch! I wanted to stop but didn’t want to be that creepy, loner guy enjoying that sights alone. I didn’t feel like being a looser, lol. I did take a picture on my phone so check it out below! Sorry if it’s blurry. Kind of did it while I was driving and it wasn’t the safest thing but hey, I’m always up for a challenge and it was fun. Don’t worry Doug, I’m not encouraging our incoming or current students to drive and take pictures (I say this so I don’t get in trouble with the blogging thing), lol.

Anyways, I continued on and asked myself, “Is this gonna last forever?” like the kid on the video of him after his visit to the dentist. “Is this real life?” Sorry had to throw that one in there, haha. The trip was beginning to get redundant and I was about to drive myself off a cliff or bridge until Superman saved me. I kid you not Superman did save me!

I was driving a little after sundown during civil twilight (for all you pilots that are or need to get familiar with the term) and I saw a giant billboard saying, “GIANT SUPERMAN STATUE, Take exit (whatever number it was) towards Metropolis.” I was in shock! I had seen on the History Channel (yes I watch it, don’t judge) something about a town called Metropolis who had a bunch of Superman stuff like a museum, souvenir shops, and yes a giant Superman statue, but I never thought about it again let alone if I was going to see it during my drive. It was getting dark and I wanted to make it to Nashville fast but I didn’t care, I took a 10-mile detour just to see this with my own eyes. I finally got there and there it was, standing tall next to Town Hall looking over its proud citizens of this fine Town of Metropolis. I took a picture and sent it to my little brother and then called him and talked about it. I was pretty excited and silly, little brother just laughed at me but was a little jealous (you are probably laughing at how dumb I seem to be but hey, at least I brightened up your day). In the end Superman did save me from death by boredom.

Superman Statue

So when I got over my Superman diversion (another pilot term), I resumed own navigation (that’s two in one sentence) towards Nashville. I got a coupon book from a rest stop and found a hotel for $30 a night, so I made it into Nashville and began to look for this hotel. It was in one of the shadiest places that I have ever been. I got to get a room but it was sold out, which was ok because it was a weird place anyways. I drive around and went to two other hotels but those were sold out also. The only hotel open in the area was one a couple of doors down form the shady hotel. This was not much different. I get a room, which cost me like $65, which is insane, and quickly closed the curtains and locked myself in. I seriously thought that I would hear a gunshot or something. Gladly nothing happened and the next day, I woke up and hightailed it out of there toward Atlanta.

I finally made it to my ATL home and already figured out where Delta Headquarters is at so I know how to get to work tomorrow. But I wanna share how awesome this place is! I drove into the neighbor and dropped my jaw. It is 30 minutes south of the airport in this area surrounded by trees, little lakes/ponds and nice houses with huge yards! I could not believe that this will be the place that I was going to be living at for then next 12 weeks. I pulled into the driveway and was amazed by the house. It’s a nice humble house but it has trees all over and a nice porch. I walked inside and went to my future (now current) room and dropped my jaw even lower. It is a huge room with a full size bed and everything. I love it! (It’s better than the room that I have back home in Denver but don’t tell my parents that).

Anyways, I’m all settled in and now its time to sleep. Big day tomorrow, really nervous and all but I’m sure I’ll do fine. Wish me luck! Until then Kawabonga my friends! (If you don’t get the phrase Kawabonga, go jump out of an open window. It comes from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who where the badasses of cartoons! I liked Michaelangelo best by the way, lol. Later!)

As of two weeks ago, (more or less), I have officially survived my freshman year of college.  Now I’m a sophomore!  WOO HOO!!  Since I have so much experience under my belt now, (as I roll my eyes sarcastically), I would like to throw out a few things that I have learned in this past year.  Here are ten easy tips that can help all of you upcoming students survive YOUR first year at Embry-Riddle.

Tip #1:  If you are living in the dorms, make sure that you or one of your future suitemates brings a vacuum, broom, dustpan, etc.  You WILL need them sooner or later (it’s your choice if it’s sooner, or later.  My advice?  Sooner.)  Listen to your mom about this stuff.  She’s right.  (And don’t think that if you’re a girl, your room won’t get dirty.  Girls’ dorms were typically just as bad or worse than the boys’ dorms.)  If you decide to ignore these essentials, bring Plan B: a gas mask and rubber gloves.  You’ll need them.  Trust me.

Tip #2:  DO YOUR HOMEWORK.  End of story.

Tip #3:  Chartwell’s is delicious the first week.  Don’t be fooled.  As soon as all the parents leave, you’ll be going to Fry’s to get Ramen and Easy Mac because you’ll get sick of the same thing every day.

Tip #4:  Go do something fun every once in a while.  Hike the Dell’s, go check out downtown Prescott, see a movie, go out to eat with your suitemates; do something fun to help you get adjusted better.  The more you get to know the town and your suitemates, the more comfortable you’ll be.

Tip #5:  If you’re going to burn your food, PLEASE, for the sake of everyone living in your hall, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL TWO THIRTY IN THE MORNING TO TRY TO MAKE IT!!  If you don’t know how to make Ramen or Mac and Cheese, practice now.  The rest of us, er, your hall, would really appreciate not waking up and having to go out in the snow in the wee hours of the morning due to a fire alarm set off by stupidity.

Tip #6:  Get to know the people around you.  Your neighbors down the hall, the kids in your Psychology class, your professors, everyone you possibly can.  The more people you know, the better off you’ll be in the end.  (Especially when you need help in your Psych class… you’ll always have someone to call!)

Tip #7:  Cheap toilet paper is no where as good as expensive toilet paper, but they’re much better than paper towels.  However, if you’re going to use paper towels, DO NOT FLUSH.  Bad things happen.  True story.  Don’t ask.

Tip #8:  Make sure to have a planner.  Even if you don’t write anything down, it’s fun to doodle on it when you’re bored in class!  In high school, I never ever used a planner, because my teachers always told me when the assignments were due.  Professors at ERAU expect you to be an adult and be prepared, so you’re on your own.  Having a planner makes it easy to stay on top of things and turn in assignments when they’re due.

Tip #9:  Flexi dollars disappear at the end of the semester, and don’t carry over to the next one.  Use it all!  And if you haven’t used it all and there’s a week left, splurge.  It’s finals week: you deserve it.  I didn’t know they didn’t carry over until it was finals week, so I got loads of ice cream, chips, and sandwiches just in time for my finals.  It worked!

Tip #10:  And last, but not least: this first year goes by so fast.  Some of it you’ll be miserable, some of it you’ll want to never end, but none of it will last forever.  So enjoy it while you got it!  You’ll be glad you did. 🙂

Now there is no school, what does a college student do?! Even on applications and forums “student” is listed as a career! Why?! Because we dedicate and spend all our time studying, in classes, doing homework- so it really is our “career” in this part of our life. Now when you are on “leave” in a career it gets boring unless you find places to go, things to do, people to see! So, that is exactly what I am doing.

If any of you ever follow on my blogs, you will know that I work for an elderly lady (87 years of age) in the Phoenix area; but she had 3 strokes recently and left to Texas to reside withher daughter for a while. Her daughter set up many therapy appointments for her mother, but she is a lawyer who is busy almost 24/7. It is hard for her to drop her work to pick up her mother and take her to these appointments, but they are necessary for her mother to recover, so that is where I come in. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there last month due to school, but this month westarted talking about my summer vacation and what my plans were. Initially I was headed to Cali this month for friends, family, and a baptismal on May 29th, but after talking to Annette (the daughter) I realized she really needed help with all the errands and incidentals. I had already told her I was going to California, so instead of having her mom come back to Phoenix and get appointments here, she booked all the appointments in Texas for the month of May. I called her back and told her if she needed me this month more, that I could be free and just take my trip in June. We decided that someone recovering from strokes would need someone that they are familiar with to be around her and it was more vital for me to be there with her now instead of later. Annette then told me to pack up and she was going to fly me out to Texas. It took a few stressful and confusing days, but I am now here since last night. It is pretty amazing here. She resides in Plano, Texas. There are A LOT of police officers around, and since there in minimal crime, they are instead very strict with all driving laws. (One must resist any temptation to go even one mile over the speed limit!) It is also quite muggy outside since a huge storm is supposed to be coming this way. (A thunder storm that we got to flew through to get here- that was pretty neat) I am staying with Annette, her mother Mavis, and her daughter Sade. I have my own room and pretty much own restroom here. They treat me like family and enjoy taking care of Mavis and helping make Annette’s life a bit smoother. Sade is my age, she also had her first year in college this year. She is majoring in Psychology. We have many things in common and it is nice to have someone to talk to, especially during appointments and such. (otherwise I would be waiting alone for Mavis to be done).

Today there was only one appointment which was physical therapy from 11am-noon. Mavis had to do the bicycle for a while, do leg exercises, and walk around a lot. Afterwards we (Sade and I) took her home, made lunch, and then went back out to get the car washed. We came home at about 3pm and we crashed! I didn’t get to sleep until about 4-5 and woke up around 6-6:30. I have been so tired because I have been restless for about a week now. And the night before the plane trip, I had not one minute of sleep. I was up ALL night and my body would not let me sleep, it was frustrating. Although I realize now hoe much you can get done without sleep 😉  I cleaned, packed, organized, planned, and went through all my bills and papers lying around. It was very relieving to get so much done even though all the lack of sleep is catching up to me now!

Well, I got a busy day tomorrow, (today~ it’s almost 1 am here in Texas) so I’ll go ahead and stop talking. I’ll probably write more in a few days to update and add anything I left out. I hope everyone is having a great summer! Take care! 🙂

So this last month has been pretty hectic, but a lot of fun! When I came back from Spring Break it really took me a while to get back into the swing of things, but that break was exactly what I needed! Because when I got back to business, my head was, for the first time this year, completely into school! I worked and studied pretty hard and really enjoyed and appreciated my days off in between.

I would have to say my favorite class from this semester was Psychology! I know many students do not enjoy the course, whether it’s the professor, or perhaps just the subject; I absolutely love the course! I have always been interested in Psychology and Anatomy. Human mind and body are fascinating things to study. My favorite part of this course was the dream/sleep segment. I knew that if I ever got into psychology, I would be studying dreams and the sleep cycle! Professor Lohn was an amazing teacher, in my opinion. I think she is very brilliant and I could tell how much she really loved psychology by the way she described and taught every lesson. Taking her course, (and reminiscing from my high school class of psychology) I have been thinking about double majoring now. Although Psychology is not offered as a major here, it is a minor. I may decide to minor instead, but I already had 3 other minors I wanted (Economics, Environmental Studies, and Astronomy). I guess I’ll just have to think this through.

Anyways, this semester was great! I ended up with a higher GPA this time~ 3.75. Which means I will make Dean’s List again!!! YAY! I am pretty happy! All my hard work (at least at the last half of the courses) paid off! I got A’s in Psychology, Computers, and Humanities. I got a B++++ (so close to an A!) in Public Administration. 300-level class, not too bad for a Freshie, huh? 😉

Oh and I also wanted to mention Preview Day. I know others already did, but I took a picture and wanted to share it!

So I have two weeks to waste before my internship in Atlanta starts. I already found housing and have everything in place. I am staying with a current Delta employee in one of the rooms that he rents for the seasonal interns. I only ay $350 for everything so it’s a great deal! And I get my own room!

Anyways, the drive home was a long one. I had stayed up all night the night before so I decided to postpone the drive by 12 hours. I ended up leaving at 11pm, which was not that smart but whatever right? Lol. I drove all through the night, slept at a couple of rest stops and finally made it home. But what was interesting about the drive was when I was approaching Denver.

I drove through Durango, Fairplay, and Morrison to finally end up in Denver. Between Fairplay and Morrison, it was snowing. Yes snowing! It was the first week of May and it was still snowing. I seriously thought I was driving back for Winter Break. It was like blizzard type blowing snow so it was a little sketchy but nevertheless, awesome! My Subaru really liked it! Anyways, made it home just fine and only a week and a half left for my internship to start.

This is how bad the drive looked. Not the worst but it was awesome!

As my caption says, I have an internship with Delta Air Lines this summer. I was a lot of work trying to get it but ERAU really helped me out. Career Services was always behind me, and pushing for me to get it and I got it!

You should have seen me when I first got the phone call for a phone interview. I was driving back to campus from a flight and I went crazy. Good thing no one was in the car or around me, or it would have been embarrassing! Lol. I did my interview and the next day was invited for a personal interview. Delta flew me all the way out to Atlanta for this and then put me on a plane back the same day. It was a long day and felt good about my interview but still unsure.

About a week later, I was having lunch with a friend when I got a call from an unknown number. I thought it was strange since I never get calls from unknown numbers so I picked up. It was Delta. I almost choked on my lunch when I heard the news. My friend described me as a kid during Christmas. Here I was, a 21 year old in the middle of the Student Union wanting to scream and jump around like a little girl in a Jonas Brothers concert. Sounds ridiculous I know but I had worked so hard for this and finally got it! Now all that was left to do is get all of the hiring paperwork done.

Background check, drug test, fingerprinting, all that had to be done. I had to drive to Phoenix for my fingerprints. It was a little bit of a hassle but it had to get done so one day after my final, I hopped in my car and drove to Phoenix, not before stopping to a nutritious meal for energy; a Chipotle Burrito! J. Anyways, got to the airport and met the lady for the fingerprints.

She took me a way that I got to see the behind the scenes of baggage handling and onto the Tarmac. I could literally could have walked up to an A320 nose and touch it! I didn’t because I didn’t want to get in trouble but really wanted to!

Fingerprints were done and now for the drive back to Prescott, but not before getting dinner and the lunch for the next day again at Chipotle! I have lived in Denver for 11 years and love Chipotle. I saw it grow from when it was just a locally owned store until it became a giant public company. Anyways back to my internship. So all was done and now all I had to do is wait for the day to travel to Atlanta.

This was the snow that was left on my car about a day before I left for my vacation<3

I'm not sure why, but I absolutely love snow~ so this was an exciting time for me!

To me, this is beauty. I have never been raised around snow, so it is so beautiful to me.

Look at the fields of snow! *Giddy dance*

I was then off to Cali~ about a 4.5 hour drive. I actually went really late Thursday night and ended up getting to my grandma’s at about 11pm. It was a lot of fun though since I LOVE night driving. The first night I went to my grandma’s in Fontana and stayed there for about week. I was in and out of her place though because my sister and brother-in-law live about 15 minutes away!! The first Saturday out there I went to Disneyland with my sis and bro-in-law. They also set me up with a blind date~ believe it or not, he was actually pretty fun! We had a great time and I ended up getting a free ticket, so it was a lot of fun! I then decided to drive to San Diego to get away from family and go to the beach and see a friend of mine, Cody. 🙂 It was a lot of fun being there, I have only been to San Diego about twice, so MORE pictures!

Home Sweet Home! This is my drive in Cali, headed to San Diego.

This is my friend Cody and I in San Diego! He lives right off the shore.

I love Cody's face here, and funny enough~ we ran into the man in the background on our way back from the beach!

What a beautiful ocean and what an awesome friend

After that week I then went and resided with a close friend of mine in Sky Valley- Palm Springs area. I got to  meet up with a lot of my childhood friends, some I have not seen in more than a year! It was great. I also got to meet up with my mentor~ a retired pilot that I got in contact with through one of the scholarships I received. He and his wife were amazing and so very helpful and encouraging. They gave me wise words of advice and are trying to help me get more money/scholarships so I can start my flight lessons!<3

This is my mentor, Marty. He is a great mentor and we took this in front of Mimi's Cafe for lunch

I must say, it was such a relief to get away from reality for a while. Get away from studying, books, homework, work, drama, exes, and boys in general. I loved being with my friends and family. It was an amazing trip and I absolutely enjoyed it and needed it!

This past week has been extremely hectic, what with finals, studying, cramming like I’ve never done before, and of course… BLACKLIGHT VOLLEYBALL!  One of the fraternities on campus, Pi Kappa Phi, held their first annual Blacklight Volleyball Tournament to help raise funds for the Push America foundation, a charitable organization that was founded by a Pi Kappa Phi alumni.  Some girls on my school volleyball team and I decided to have a go at it, so we created a team called “Neon Phenomenon.”  We decorated our white shirts with puffy paint and glow-in-the-dark business and went to the activity to have a great time and meet new people.  There were probably seven or eight teams that showed up to play.  Pi Kappa Phi had transformed the Activity Center into a blacklight and glow-in-the-dark party zone!  All the lights that were on were glowing purple, and there was nothing visible save the net (decorated with glow-in-the-dark streamers and stars), white t-shirts, and the highlighting graffiti that were all over everyone’s arms and faces.

Here’s a glimpse of what it looked like!

Anna, Kelsey, and I in our killer uniforms (in which we won the costume contest!!).

You can’t tell, but we wrote “Neon Phenomenon” on the front with our “numbers” on the back.  Since all the rest of my team are engineers and meteorologists, they thought it’d be cool to make our numbers math signs.  Anna was pi, Kelsey was infinity, Sylvia was i (imaginary), Shaw was some binary number, Mahlet was a whole freaking equation that equalled seven, and I was mu.  Hahaha.  Only at Riddle….

D kept score on a fancy lit up board.

And of course, people just came to watch and dance.  Teri and Gianna came, and it was nice of them to cheer for our team! 🙂

That was a great way to start off finals week.  The day after that, Friday, I spent twelve hours in the library to get ready for Saturday.  It was an insanely long day, obviously!  But I think I did well on my finals, both on Saturday and yesterday, so I’m ready to get my last two out of the way today so I can pack up my room and clean out our dorm!  Summer’s almost here, baby!

“Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.”

-William James