Spring Break happened awhile ago but I forgot to write about it! So much has happened lately and it seems as if every class demands some sort of group project. Ok, group projects….this blog is no such place for me to rant and rave about how group projects are the ironic failures of society because it is material deemed inappropriate. But in a nutshell, I am usually that one person who does all the work for the group while the majority of the others are stupid and do not contribute or lack any initiative to become part of the group, especially when it is too late.  I am working on two group projects right now and am frustrated to the point that I will play Chess against the computer. I used to be so good but now I lose all the time!

Anyway, Spring Break was a much needed vacation from here because I really needed to get away from all the homework and Army stuff, even there is never getting away from the Army! I went back to Tucson and immediately saw my friend Brandon that first night. I cannot remember every detail of break because I was lazy in blogging but I was able to see my friends Bobby and Therese on one of the mornings, went to dinner with Julie and Emily, lunch with Julia, caving with Michael, Brandon and Megan and a whole bunch of activities with people whose names none of you know. It was a lot of fun and a really good way to relax before coming back up here to study and work for the rest of the year. I love spending time with my family and being home just beats any vacation that I could wish for. I found out that my brother Michael is going to France to spend his Rotary Youth Exchange year abroad and I am so proud of him! I went to Germany with the same program four years ago and cannot wait for him to come back speaking fluent French. I just hope that he gets a good host family this time.

Parent’s Day was last Friday/Saturday in which Embry-Riddle invites all parents of ERAU students to come and visit here. My Mom and brother James came up on Saturday to see me although we didn’t partake in any Parents Day activities like we were supposed to. I showed them where I lived, my future roommates for next year and then took them out to lunch with my roommate Joshua. We went to Zeke’s and for those who know it, was delicious beyond their dreams and we were stuffed for the rest of the day. Afterwards they checked out the bookstore and went shopping for food and such before I had to say goodbye and they went home. My Mom loves going to outlets on the ride home so the usual 3 1/2 hour drive back to Tucson was some 6 hours because of Mom’s shopping! Poor James! I like it when she does that though because I know I’ll always remember it when I am not at ERAU anymore.

Embry-Riddle has been bustling with activity since I got back from Spring Break, which will have its own blog soon, and I have never been this busy! Analysis reports, personality profiles of spies and social psychological case studies have me running all over the place trying to complete all this work before the Army commitments take me over. On that note, The Army has been demanding a lot of the cadets lately in preparation for the Spring 2011 JTFX (Joint Field Training Exercise). For those that don’t know, every school in Arizona sends its ROTC units to work together during this JFTX which lasts a few days at some base of military operations. This year it is taking place at Ft. Hauchuca in Cochise Country near Tucson! Last years JFTX was at Ft. Navajo and we all froze the entire time! The unit here can only take a few MSII’s, sophomore cadets, due to lack of space. I fortunately was one of the ones that is assigned to go in my class although this means that a lot of work and commitment is required even of us sophomores in order to make this learning experience worth our time and worth the Army’s time.

Some more good Army news is that I was fortunate enough to get offered some Army school slots this upcoming summer. Only a fool would turn down any of these amazing opportunities and I got to pick between Airborne, Northern Warfare and an attempt at seizing a Combat Diver Scuba Slot. I picked the Northern Warfare slot but a lot of commitment and physical and mental training comes as a prerequisite in order to pass the school. It happens this summer in Alaska from July 31th – August 18th and it is going to be freezing up there even in the summer! I will probably turn into either an ice cube or lose my permanent Hispanic tan by the time I get back. I am excited but if I said I wasn’t nervous then I would be lying because I most definitely am! I know that I can do it but I have to prove myself now through physical conditioning so that I can be prepared instead of some cornfused cadet with the “deer in the headlights” approach to everything I will be presented with.

The Army’s Military Ball is happening this Friday and I am excited because I invited my friends Rachel and Lindsey to come up from ASU to be my dates to the ball! It is going to be fun and my friends Joshua and Emily had to get all dressed up today for inspections so that nothing we wear is entirely inappropriate. I mean, please, this is a professional environment. I am really looking forward to living with these two next year because they are great friends and I know that we will get along great.

Joshua, Emily, Steven

Instead of heading down to Tucson on an Admissions trip like I had hoped, my friends and I decided to experience a taste of spring break by heading up to Flagstaff for a daytrip. These past few weeks have been rather stressful and loaded with unnecessary amounts of busywork of which I attribute to laziness and procrastination on my part. We concluded some experiments and some other projects that needed finishing. For instance, we conducted a Social Psychology experiment during which we tested the students of ERAU when they went to eat. We put four signs, two “WOMEN ENTER HERE” and “MEN ENTER HERE” on the four doors of Chartwells to see if people would comply when they entered. For the most part, men only entered through doors marked with MEN and women entered through doors that said WOMEN on them but there were a few cases of people who accidentally or deliberately disobeyed with our experiment. To the few that entered through doors of the opposite gender we marked them as being Undetermined. It was humorous but now we have to write up a report about it and its due Friday along with a Psych test. SO instead of studying for that this weekend my Psych group, Shawn Emily, Joshua and I went to Flagstaff.

The night before on Friday we attended Casino Night in the Activity Fair where some 500 people or so (I actually don’t know but exaggerating the number will help someone make an image of people packed into the Activity Center) gathered to gamble fake money for charity and in an effort to win raffle prizes. I proved that I am the King of Blackjack despite the fact that when Bobby, Aaron and I went to a casino in San Diego I merely stood there and watched everyone lose. I won up to $5252 in fake money and bought a bunch of raffle tickets although I didn’t win anything. Whatever, its not like I could’ve used a free iPad or semester of housing or even that girl bike that some freshman won. Anyway, we stayed the night at Shawn’s house and then went to Flagstaff early the next morning. We rented our boards and boots from some cheaper place and then went up to the Snowbowl to start snowboarding. I have never gone before and was nervous for it because I fully expected to fall on my butt the entire time. Well, I can say with 100% guarantee that that happened pretty much most of the time. I caught on with snowboarding pretty quickly and learned to carve and head down the mountain pretty fast with an unorthodox method of mine. I would sit down on my butt and pretty much sled down the entire way at superspeed. It ended up hurting my wrists and butt pretty bad but it was worth it. We ran quite a few of the mountain courses and then when we reached a lodge I found that a cut on my wrist was bleeding pretty badly. It turns out that during one of my spills my wrist came in front of my to protect myself and my abnormally sharp incisor tooth cut my arm. Strange yeah but not unheard of.

After that happened I resigned to staying at the lodge eating chicken strips and keeping an eye out for snowbunnies while the other three tacked the Black Diamond trail. I fell asleep waiting for them to come back (hence there were no snowbunnies around and I was disappointed in Flagstaff) and when they did they were all dead and exhausted. I had regained some energy after my little nap and therefore was ready to call it a day. It was so much fun even though I did get frustrated after falling all the time. So that was our taste of mini-vacation and it sure was great to get away from this place for a while. But now we’re back and have PT tomorrow, just one more week left!!!

Jan. 21st was my birthday and lets just say that it was way different from last year’s experience. Last year it snowed and we actually had a snow day off from school so we made a nature/adventure video and then went to dinner. It is interesting to think that a whole year has gone by because I distinctly remember losing my pair of cheap gloves at the restaurant. Now this year it wasn’t as extravagant but was still nice, I had a boring day of school but then got to hang out with some of my friends at one of their houses and just celebrated quietly. It was a lot of fun and I hope that next years is even better because it will be my 21st on Jan. 21st!

So lately Prescott has been experiencing some MAJOR cold weather although there is no snow yet so nobody could tell that we are freezing to death up here!  The wind chill itself has to be in the negatives, and this morning for PT I thought we were going to freeze solid while running. We’ve dealt with colder PT days before but this was just ridiculous! The wind is so bitter and just numbs out faces and our fingers, you know that feeling when your hands are so cold you can’t fasten a button or text on your phone, it was 10x times worse than that!  While carrying the heavy water jugs during our squad runs today we discovered that the jugs were leaking. The water got all over those holding the jugs and froze on them within seconds! There was ice coming off our uniforms and we’ve never seen that before. It makes me wonder if the other ROTC companies all over the States are having to do PT same as us. I can tell that the whole country is facing this cold crisis because of how Facebook is blowing up with statuses reflecting the cold weather. At least our cars aren’t stranded and our pipes frozen, I guess those folks in the Midwest have it far worse, but the wind itself is too much for Arizona!

I am taking my first night class here at ERAU and it actually is not that bad despite the long hours and cold outside coupled with the deserted dark campus. It is SIS320, or Topics in Global Politics, History and Culture with my favorite Dr. Stephanie Trombley. The topic this semester is: GENOCIDE, so although the class might be depressing because it is both a night class and 2 and a half hours long and about genocide, I like it. Today we talked about the Armenian Genocide that occurred in the 1910’s and discussed the fates of the government and collapse of the Ottoman Empire. To me the class went by really quickly and during the break that we had in between the class my friend Lauren and I ran and got some coffee from Outtakes. I don’t know what coffee I got because I’m not really into caffeine, but now I’m wired and my roommate Josh is tired, plus we have PT tomorrow so this isn’t a good mix. Anyway, tomorrow is my birthday and at least I don’t have to take the pt test, or APFT, tomorrow morning because that would be a bad start to the day. I took it on Wednesday with the rest of my platoon and got a score of 292 or something. Considering the unholy amounts of goldfish and Oreos that I consumed over break and the fact that I did not run once during my free time, it is pretty good. My run time was awful for me but at least it was in the maxing category. For the rest of the day today I ran around doing errands and talking to professors and then went to my MSL class. Joe and I fooled around and make a duck with the bills of our hats and later I was talking to one of my friends back home via text. We still have a good work ethic even though it sounds like we were goofing off, even if it was only for a little bit. I’ll put a picture of them up here again just for kicks because it is a good photo too.

sorry its sideways, our duck

I came back on our road trip on Saturday the 8th a few hours before the shooting happened. We drove through the same intersection that Gabrielle Giffords would later be meeting with people but crashed into three separate comas once we got home. When we finally woke up, I checked my phone and saw that I had gotten a text from my friend Becca saying “CNN reports: Giffords confirmed dead.” Right away, I went into the family room and saw my parents watching the news breaking story. Sure enough, the media distorted and tainted the news with false facts and infuriated the whole city. As developments finally came through the biased and inaccurate reports of the media, we learned the identity of the killer and it shamed the whole city that one of our own would do something so horrible. To aggregate the matter, an NBC reporter claimed that “Tucson doesn’t really have a sense of community, so the mourning shouldn’t be that difficult on the city”. I won’t even get into what the Tucson residents did after this was announced, but rest assured, city limits are still in use and yes, some people are not allowed inside them.

It was hard coming back here to Embry-Riddle because I know how my city is suffering and I wish I could have gone to the memorial services and prayer sessions that were going on when I was gone. I talked to some of the others from Tucson who have to be here and we all agreed that we’d rather be in Tucson to hear the President’s memorial speech and with our families during these tough times. I looked through some of the back pictures that my friends took during break and realized that we have to move on with these people in our hearts and minds so that we can prevent another tragedy. I had some fun times during break and that happened on that Saturday was not the best way to finish off the break. Despite this, I had some great times with my friends, including going to Winterhaven, the hilarious road trip, and New Years! I’ll put some pictures up so that we can look at something besides that creepy mug shot of the killer that’s been posted all over the news.

This creepy skull that Kara and I found

Our group!

Classes started today. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  is what most of us are thinking, and I’ve already shared my rather hectic schedule. Just to reiterate, I’ll mention again that I am taking seventeen credits again and I have no choice but to pull off all A’s again so that my GPA remains as good as it currently is. This might be difficult because along with the busy academic schedule, I have to maintain my position in the Army ROTC and a social life in addition to being a student employee and justice on the Student Affairs Student Conduct Board (we should change the name). Today I went to my first class, Personality and Profiling with Dr. Bloom who is a favorite from my World Philosophy class last semester. That class is going to be an adventure for me because I already love everything about it! My second class was U.S. Foreign Policy with my favorite Dr. Trombley, and I can tell that this class is going to be a reboot of World History but from the American perspective. My last class of the day was Social Psychology, which sounds a lot like the Deceptions class that Dr. Lohn also teaches. I am looking forward to these classes even if it means a hectic schedule and even more work to deal with.

We had our first PT session this morning with a company run and some simple situps and pushups. It was interesting getting back into the physical loop of pt because I most definitely did not exercise for pt standards over break. The last time  I did pushups and situps at the same time was about a week ago when I went on a road trip to California with my two friends. Usually I am organized, uptight, stingy and don’t really know how to relax but this trip was all about spontaneity. We had no plan and just a cooler full of unhealthy food and Bobby’s miracle of a phone that got us to our destinations. We took turns driving, and I would reveal everything that we did on the trip, but then that would make it less special of a memory. In a nutshell, we went to San Diego and entered a pizza eating contest (actually, I chose to watch Bobby and Aaron stuff themselves silly with nasty pizza and was left with an ordinary behaving bowel for the rest of the trip) and then went to a casino to make ourselves feel better. We all lost money there, and I admit to fabricating the tale of how much I actually lost in an attempt to make the others feel better but this was counterproductive. The next day we managed to get to Coronado Beach and ate a ripe pineapple for breakfast before exploring the Del Coronado Hotel, which was pretty cool. We spent a lot of time on the beach and that’s where I got to do some situps and pushups, which was a bit uncomfortable in the sand. We drove all the way to LA, which is far more sketchy than New York apparently, and we met up with Bobby’s sister Therese and my cousin Beth near Disneyland! They were there for our high school choir’s annual trip to Disneyland and it was really great to finally see my cousin.

We drove through LA and saw downtown Hollywood and eventually made it to Knott’s Berry Farm. I haven’t been there in years so it was a whole new experience and I’m glad I got to experience it with my friends instead of having to wait in long lines with people who didn’t want to be there. We must have gone on eighteen rides apiece and made good money out of our discounted entrance fee of a mere $24.99. We went on every ride and managed to get a few videos of us riding and almost throwing upside down. We then spent the next day recuperating from a severe lack of sleep and then headed home on Saturday, the same day as the Tucson shootings. That was a summarized explanation of our trip but there is a LOT more to it that I choose not to mention here. It was a blast and a great way to start off the new year, with two Way’s. Eh nobody will get that, but it was fun and I hope to do it again sometime.

30 in pizza

Hotel Del Coronado

On the Silver Bullet at Knott's Berry Farm

I am not ready for the 2011 Spring semester. Plain and Simple. I know my classes and how I am going to prepare for them, but there is no motivation to start the work.  Winter Break has been too much fun and going back is going to  be so hard! In Tucson it finally snowed and the mountain is covered with it, blocking access up there and trapping dozens. There might not be a chance for me to see the snow on Mt. Lemmon but according to the reports, Prescott has a low of 4 degrees for tomorrow so I’m sure there will be plenty of snow up there waiting for us. Oh now and now I just remembered that we have to take a PT test in that horrid weather. Ah, better enjoy my time here while I can.

So yesterday was New Years Eve and the end of 2010. I think that 2010 was a really good year for me, I kept my awesome GPA, got my blue belt in Army, did Ranger Challenge, had a great summer with friends, went on some great trips and got to have some fun times with my family. It was a blast, and now I’m ready to start 2011 off with a bang although that does not involve school in any way. I went to my friend Kara’s house for a New Years Party and then went to hang out with some friends down by the University of Arizona where we saw the countdown on TV. One of these days I am going to go to Times Square and celebrate the New Years, that is if we survive the fabled apocalypse of 2012. Nonsense, I am excited for this year, and consider this the first inspirational post of 2011!

I can FINALLY relax now that our grades have been put up. We, the student body, have suffered through finals and the Fall semester and deserve to know our grades the second that our finals are graded! According to my mother, I was all uptight and intense even when I got back until all of my grades were posted. I got all A’s again although I truthfully did not expect this to happen in two of my classes. Whatever, I’m not going to ask questions, but it was so scary refreshing my transcript page every few minutes to see if my professors had updated the grades yet. Since having learned of my grades, I can relax and enjoy my break which I feel was well-deserved. I went back home to Tucson and got to see all of my friends and family. We made tamales on the Sunday after I got back and my friend Bobby came over to help but came too late because we all are such efficient workers and finished in record time. All the did was eat the fruits of our labor and spontaneously force me to play basketball, which I despise. We then went to church with him where I met up with one of my other good friends, Kara, and I chaperoned with her at my brother’s youth group celebration afterwards.

Eating Tamales with our friends Bobby and Samantha

In the days leading up to Christmas, I tried my very best to get into the Christmas spirit even though it is in the 70’s here and cactus surrounds me, so it was a bit hard. I am still wearing sandals. Anyway, I went Christmas shopping for my family and friends and had to maneuver through traffic, which is a lot easier said than done. I went back to LA Fitness but now those clowns are charging my full price again because I used it one time. I went to an Annual Cookie Party hosted by my friend Lindsey and it was a blast getting to see all my old friends and reconnecting by making cookies. Afterwards we went to Winterhaven, a Christmas attraction here in Tucson which is actually just a neighborhood where everyone decorates their houses and others can drive or walk through and admire their hard work at decoration. It is a lot of fun to go there and I went twice, once with two groups of friends and then again with my family. Going to Winterhaven and getting the Eegee’s flavor of the month, Hollyberry, has put me into the Christmas mood and we got to celebrate it today – CHRISTMAS! Always an amazing time, I got most of things I really wanted and although I put “real estate” on my list every year, I once again did not get it. But they’ll see…they’ll all see! It was so fun and I just got back from visiting my Grandma Rachel and Uncle Gerry at their home and now I need to lie down to recuperate from all the food I’ve eaten. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Me and the girls in Winterhaven! And Michael

I have survived Finals week, officially. This week, dreaded by all throughout the year, has finally come to an end, at least for me. There are still tons of others who have to take physics and all sorts of other horrid finals tomorrow but tonight I am free! I only had to take two actual in-class finals because the others were intense take home ones, but now they are done. There is one strange thing about my final taking procedure however. For the entire semester, I have survived without getting sick, needing a Kleenex box or anything to help me, but during my first final, I suddenly got a runny nose, started sneezing everywhere and then coughing like never before. And, guess what, right after the final was over, I was fine. I have NO IDEA what the problem was, but this is not the first time that it’s happened to me. The second final was better although it sure is strange to listen to 30 students writing away on sheets of paper while the room is silent and you can hear every shoe squeak, person clear their throat or sniffle and the teacher sits at the front, judging us no doubt. Ok no I’m sure he wasn’t, but I wonder what the teacher does while the students finish their finals. I know that I would probably be on facebook wasting time and watching The Simpsons on my computer, or the Middle.

The week leading up to finals was dreadful even though I am thankful everyday for not having to take physics, Calculus 3 and other science/math and business related finals. I despise business. Anyway, I was in the library a lot studying and making study guides with groups. My History of Modern Europe class (sounds contradictory) required a take home final with at least twelve answers with about a page chock full of information each followed by two essays. I write a lot so the final result of my Final was 20 pages of history on the development of Modern Europe. It sure is a good thing that I like history and writing, otherwise I might’ve died. I also am glad that I came into college knowing what I wanted to do with a plan and didn’t have to change majors mid-way through my sophomore year because that could seriously have messed me and my GPA up. Ahh, its just good to relax now that finals are over and that another semester in the grand plan has been dealt with. Now its just time for the nervous waiting to see what grades we got which will be posted on Blackboard by Sunday.  I saw an A that one of my teachers already put up and I was so happy because despite it being a simple Humanities course, World Philosophy was hard! Never have I cared less about Plato and Aristotle but I am glad that I did for the final or else I would not have scraped that A. Celebration in the form of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish and Oreos is in order.

Brownie Celebration at Zeke's with Lindsey and Rachel!