Student Preview was last weekend and when you actually sit down and think about it, this past year seems so unreal. I cannot believe that exactly one year ago myself along with the freshman class were in the same boat as these seniors in high school who were touring our campus. Keeping busy all year with school, flight, work, and extracurricular activities I didn’t realize how fast time was flying until these last couple weeks when everybody began planning out their summers.  Classes end in a week and one day, leaving us left with finals week. After finals week school is out for summer and everybody is going to be having the time of their life . I will be staying here working almost full time on the Embry Riddle Jet Dragster. I will also be taking summer classes and finishing up my instrument rating. I am not too worried about staying here because it seems like there will be plenty of people staying, also we will have a house by then so not living on campus will be nice. Well anyways study hard and good luck to everybody with finals, hang in there and do not let those grades drop this last week!

Last week here at Embry Riddle was one of the most srtessful weeks I have yet had. With exams, homework and a lot of studying it was not pleasant. It almost flet like finals week all over agian. Luckily Friday came by quickely and to my amazement I ended up scoring a 100% on the Physics 2 exam I was so worried about. Also I feel that I did really well on my Calculus 2 exam however will not know for sure until this coming week. It sure was a good way to start the weekend knowing I did well on my exams. Friday night our fraternity had a formal social gathering which ended up being a lot of fun and the next morning we woke up to Prescott being pounded by a snowstorm! With the snow levels down at 4,000 ft. we accumulated a couple of inches of snow just this weekend! Unfortunately most of the snow will melt soon because of the temperatures. Saturday morning after breakfast everybody was outside running around having a great time in the snow with snowball fights, building snowmen, sleding and snowboarding on the soccer feild hill, drifting in the parking lots (Off-Campus), and much more. My friends and I grabbed our snowboards and headed to the soccer feild hill where we set up a couple kickers, benches, and jibs. We had such a great time just messing around in the snow relaxing and getting our minds off of school. Sunday we ended up doing the same thing however we went to a golf course by Prescott lakes and used a fairly large hill. Afterwards we went to method coffee and hung out for a little. Since we had monday off it was a day spent studying and doing homework. This weekend was so much fun hopefully we get another snowstorm come through Prescott soon!

We are already 3 weeks deep into the spring semester! The workload is steadily increasing and classes are gradually getting harder. Last week in Digital Circuits we had our first lab where we learned how to use proto-boards and from there on we constructed a light flashing circuit. It was a great lad except for the fact that we had to figure out almost everything on our own because our professor failed to explain the basics. In EGR 200 we finished our first small project last week and started learning the basics to CATIA. It is a neat program and there is so much to learn about it. Other than school I am currently working on the Embry-Riddle Jet Dragster and have been since my appearance here at Riddle. Over winter break I was fortunate enough to obtain a generous cash and materials donation from Airtech international which will be put towards further developing and expanding the project. We have made great progress in the past couple months, especially when Chris Larsen Owner of Larsen Motorsports came out here last November. This past weekend a couple new members joined for the semester and we will be holding interviews this coming weekend if anybody is still interested. We are currently working towards making a mold that will be used to shape our fiberglass nose cone.  Also with that we will be developing a mold for the jet inlet which we will bake in order to obtain a carbon fiber Inlet. The inlet and the nose cone happen to be our 2 biggest projects as of right now. The Embry-Riddle Jet Dragster is by far one of the most exciting projects on campus and I am proud and fortunate to be part of it.

First semester has finally come to an end and second semester is just around the corner! It is still hard to believe that my first semester at ERAU is over. Everything went by so quick except for the last 2 weeks when everybody was passionately studying for finals.  First Semester at Embry Riddle was also my first semester in college. Coming straight out of high school my time management skills along with my studying habits were poor. Over the course of the semester I progressed in managing my time in a better fashion and studying skills improved. In all honesty finals week really tested the new skills and habits first semester had taught me. Putting my newly acquired time management skills together with better studying habits I ended up getting A’s or B’s in all of my classes. This made me grow as a learner and next semester will only be better because I don’t have to go through learning how to manage time and obtaining better studying habits. Being an Aerospace Engineer at Embry Riddle I have a lot to look forward to in the up coming years 🙂

I cannot even come close to explaining how cool some of the professors are here at Embry Riddle! Back in high school when I first became interested in Embry Riddle Aeronautical University I would constantly hear and read about how cool the professors are. To my astonishment what I heard back home became true. This week for UNIV 101 also known as College Success our Professor and Advisor had a BBQ at his house for our entire class! When I first found out that we were going to have a BBQ at my professor’s house it seemed almost unreal because that would never happen in high school. We ended up having a great time at the BBQ and getting to know our Advisor Dr. Ashworth not only in the classroom. We grilled hamburgers patties and beef franks and sat around a fire pit. We all agreed that Dr. Ashworth made some of the best chili and beans we have tried. Then we found out that it was Dr. Ashworth’s Birthday so we all sang Happy Birthday and hung out. I love how most of the professors teaching at Embry Riddle actually make an effort and want to get to know their students. It is not anything like state universities where you have a class of 200 people or more in a lecture hall and if you decide not to show up nobody cares. Here your professors usually know you by your first name and class sizes range depending on major and year.  For the freshman class from the perspective of an Aerospace Engineer I would have to say that the average class size for my classes is about 40 students. Another thing is in most of my classes if you do not show up your professor usually knows who was in class and who was not, so it is a better idea to show up to class. Anyways it was a great opportunity hanging out with our professor outside of class and getting to know him better.

Now that I sit down to write my blog it makes me realize how long it has been since my last post. From going to class, to studying, to being involved with the Jet Dragster Team, to pledging a Fraternity, to learning how to manage my time in an organized manor, I have been so busy these past couple weeks. When I first found out that Friday October 15th was mid-semester break I immediately decided to go back home for the weekend since I have not been back in approximately 2 months now. On Thursday October 14th after class I took a shuttle down to phoenix and from there I caught the 6 o’clock flight with Southwest into LAX. When I arrived in LA my parents were waiting for me and after seeing me for the first time in 2 months they were happy and excited. That night we all went out to eat at El Torrito and relaxed back home after a couple friends stopped by to say hi. Friday was a great day I had the opportunity to go to the Kennedy vs. Cypress football game where I hung out with my friends from high school. The Kennedy vs. Cypress football game is one of the biggest football games every single year because both schools are rivals. To add to that both teams were undefeated so it was an intense game. Having graduated from Kennedy of course I wanted Kennedy to win alongside with all of my friends. Afterwards everybody went to innout which is pretty much the hang out spot in my area. It was a great night and I was excited to see all of my friends again! Saturday morning was pretty rough getting up because I was so tired but it was worth it because we had to set up for a party that we had later that night. It was really cool being home this weekend because it was my grandmas birthday, my moms birthday, and my birthday all within a 2 week period so we had the opportunity to celebrate. Then Sunday morning I flew back to Prescott with Great Lakes on a Beechcraft 1990, it was a pretty cool flight especially since the plane sits only 19 people and you can see the pilots in the cockpit the whole time. It sure was a great time chilling back home but when I got back to campus and my friends picked me up from the airport I was so happy to see them and in all honesty I have to say I missed my friends from Riddle. It was a great weekend, I definitely needed it to relax and get my mind off of school for a change.

The last couple days here at Embry Riddle have been way fun. From Engineering Econ being cancelled for 2 weeks to EGR 101 8a.m. class being cancelled, to hiking to the top of Thumb Butte, Checking out motorcycles in the Prescott, hanging out with friends, to always meeting new people and getting to know them. So far my experience at Embry Riddle has been sooooooooooooooooooo much fun before I came here I had no idea how things were gonna be, I was afraid of being stuck with some weird roommate and suitemates, I was also afraid that nobody here would like to go out and find things to do, and go to parties and stuff like that. However a couple hours upon my arrival here a couple weeks ago I was not afraid at all!! My roommate and suitemates are all really cool and we are never bored, were always out doing something having a great time. I love how on campus everybody has the same passion and how we all connect through aviation it really is sweet just because there are not too many schools out there that are the same. The campus size is just perfect averaging somewhere around 1800 students and the best part is that by the end of our degree program we will know pretty much everybody here and will be much closer with all of our fellow classmates than say for example a school like ASU where they have well over 50,000 students.  In all honesty when I first came to Prescott, Arizona my junior year in high school, then my senior year  to visit the school I didn’t really like the city or should I say town a whole lot, but now I have to say that I love it here. The town of Prescott is beautiful there is so much to do around here and the surrounding cities, such as hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, off-roading, shooting, swimming, floating down rivers, and just so much more like discovering little towns and amazing look outs! During the week a couple of us decided to hike to the top of thumbbutte here in Prescott. It was a great feeling when we got to the very top. The only way to get to the very top is to hike right under Thumb Butte and then to on top you have so do climb up rocks and it gets a little intense but it is a blast. The view from up top is beautiful and feels pretty rewarding when you are up there. Well anyways here are some pictures from our little adventure haha.

So this weekend was definitely the first Labor Day weekend that I didn’t spend with my family and friends back home. Typically on labor day back in California my family and I would go camping, mountain biking, hiking and do such outdoor sports. However this year was slightly different, instead of being with family I was with my buddies here at Embry Riddle and we went to fossil creek to go cliff diving!! Labor day up here at Riddle could not have been spent in a better way, everybody had a great time. Just driving up to fossil creek was fun blasting some Dos Gringos and singing along to songs like Colt 45 and Don’t Stop Believing hahaha some fun times. It was quite a journey getting there because approximately 15 miles is spent just offroading but that made it even better. When we arrived we had to hike about a mile and half to this beautiful waterfall where you could see through the water almost all the way to the bottom in places that were not extremely deep. Once there, most of us ran to the top of the waterfall and were ready to jump off. The tallest point where we were jumping from was somewhere around 30 t0 35 feet. It was a great experience and everybody loved it. It was a great day even though convincing some people to jump took well over half an hour hahahahahahaha but it was worth it! 😀

I cannot even come close to explaining how good it feels to finally be out of high school and being one step closer to achieving my ultimate goal in life and dream job. Upon my arrival at Embry-Riddle five days ago I was welcomed by the staff and faculty and had the opportunity to meet many of my classmates that I will be seeing around campus for at least the next 4 years. My roommate and my sweetmates are all a great group of guys from all over the place and it is so sweet hanging out with them and getting to know them. The people on campus really are different than most people I have met in high school just because the fact that everybody here is so goal oriented and are pointed in a certain direction knowing what they want in life. It is pretty amazing walking around campus and getting to know people who have the same interest as you.  So far I love the college life!!! Over the weekend my buddies and I met a really cool guy and he introduced us to his friends from Riddle. On Sunday they took us Off Roading and shooting all day. It was by far one of the greatest adventures any of us have had at Riddle yet 🙂 Today was the first day of school and it was just a little hectic because I had 4 classes ranging from 10:20 all the way to 5:40, however tomorrow I only have 1 class and it is at 1:35  so I am pretty excited for Tuesdays all semester. Anyways all I really have to say is that I love the college life and everything about it! 🙂

It is a half past  4 o’clock on a Friday afternoon. I did not have an opportunity to write my blog until now. I have been busy all week and now I have been stuck in a car for more than 2 hours with at 2 more to go. We are headed from the northeastern part of Czech Republic to the very northwestern part of the Czech Republic. There are delays everywhere and it seems that there is not one street here that is not being repaired or repaved, which is why this car ride is taking forever. My 5 week journey here is going by really quick, I cannot believe that I have been here for a week already. We have done so much, visited so many places, seen so many friends and family it seems impossible to do so much in one week. Anyways this week did go by quick, Saturday in the afternoon my uncle and his buddy took me to go watch the Bohemian Rally. It was so different than any race we have back home, for the rally they literally block off roads that lead throughout towns and the cars race based off of time. It is so crazy because you have cars screaming through little neighborhoods and everybody is in their backyards drinking their beer, yelling, and cheering all the cars on. Most people always stand by sharp turns because every now and then you always get a couple cars that drift and sometimes we see cars lapping each other when someone burns out or drifts too much. Another great experience was hiking to the top of the tallest point in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic cannot compare to the mountains which we have here back home, the tallest peak in the whole country is 1603 meters and it is called Snezka. It sure is one of the most beautiful places in all of Europe. It is also a beautiful hike dragging you through parts of Poland and right along the Polish border for most of the 26 Kilometer hike. At the end the hike is worth every Kilometer.  Right now I am waiting for my mom, dad, aunt and grandma because they went to the grocery store to buy some food for tomorrow. Tonight at 6 o’clock we are going to this pub/restaurant with about 15 family members so I am excited to see all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas, and everybody else. Tomorrow morning I am leaving and am going to a camp for 2 weeks with all of my friends from the Czech Republic. It is the last time I will see my parents until I arrive at LAX on August 5^th. My parents are here only for 2 weeks and then have to return back home because of work. Well anyways this will be the last time I write my blog until I return from camp I am not taking my laptop with me because there is no source of electricity at the camp, it is in the middle of nowhere approximately 15 kilometers from the German border. Tomorrow’s train ride will last about 3 hours but I couldn’t be more excited, every year we go to this camp we always have experiences and memories we will remember for the rest of our lives. When I get back in two weeks I will write all about my experiences.

Sunset at the lake in Czech Republic

I love my homeland 🙂

Cesky Raj also known as Czech Paradise

Mommy and Daddy 🙂

Messing around with my mom haha

Trosky in the background

🙂

Krkonese are the tallest mountains in the Czech Republic

My mom and I

Polish Teritory

Always nice to chill on top of the tallest point in the Czech Republic 🙂

Half way to the top

Uncle, Dad, Me, Aunt, and Mom

My Great Grandma's happiness when she sees us is the most valuable thing to me.

My grandma's balcony view beats everyone's view 🙂

Me and my illegal Knife (Well according to California's standards haha)

Trying to figure out what was flying above us with my grandpa 🙂

Airplanes!!! 😀