Favorite Classes!

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Maddie

This week, I get to tell you all about one of my favorite classes I’ve taken in all my time at ERAU! It was difficult to pick just one of the incredibly interesting classes that I’ve taken, but I decided to blog about COMM219: Speech. This class is required for a lot of our majors on campus as a way to help you improve your public speaking skills. I had this class with Sally Blomstrom as a professor, who was an absolute joy to learn from. I highly recommend taking any course that she teaches. Over the course of the semester, we completely broke down the speech writing process and studied lots of different ways to effectively or ineffectively deliver a message. We wrote different types of speeches, from informative to persuasive. We also studied ways to add or detract from the message using varying types of media. Overall, the course made me much more comfortable speaking in front of my peers.

My favorite of the projects we took on in this course involved local elementary students. Their teachers submitted ideas relating to the science, technology, and engineering fields, and groups of students from our class got to choose a topic and put together a presentation about it. My group got “Electricity” as a topic. It was a really great exercise in tailoring your presentation to a very specific audience. Not only did I actually learn about electricity and alternative forms of energy, but it was so fun to be able to hang out with elementary school kids! They all had such interesting questions and we all felt like we were helping the future generation get interested in science.

After every major assignment, Professor Blomstrom would ask us to submit a self-review of how effective we thought we were and areas that we thought could have used improvement. Most of the time in classes, you move on past assignments without having much time to reflect on what helped or didn’t help you earn that grade. If you earn a bad grade, you simply tell yourself that you need to work harder next time. But having a purpose to sit down and really evaluate where you went wrong and where you went right in an assignment can keep you from “working harder” at making the same mistakes next time. I felt that I improved more throughout the semester because of these self-review assignments. My takeaway piece of advice for this week is not to count out your general education classes! They can be some of the most enjoyable and informative classes that you will take, if you have the right attitude.

Fire Season??!!

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Cherie

I am sure many people across the nation have heard about the 7,000 acre fire burning in Prescott right now, I am writing to assure you that there is no imminent threat to the Prescott Campus of Embry Riddle. The faculty and staff are in constant contact with the Prescott Fire department and the other entities that are battling the blaze. Again there is no threat to the campus as the fire is heading away from Embry Riddle.

There is quite an extraordinary view of the wildfire from campus however, some of the pictures students have taken are featured here, but do not fear the campus is by no means in danger. Please see the Prescott news website for further updates on the current situation. At this point the fire has no threat to the campus, and faculty members are maintaining contact with the fire department to gather further information. There is no threat to the campus or of evacuation at this time. Other updates are available at the following news sources: AZ Central Daily Courier ABC 15

Stick Around in the Summer!

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Maddie

Summer is the best time of year for activities in Prescott. Not only is the weather gorgeous, but normally you have more free time to get out and do stuff outside! Some of my favorite summer memories are from camping trips or hiking trips. It’s so much fun to get away from town for a little while and explore nature. For this reason, I think it’s a good idea to stay on campus over the summer instead of going back to your home town for the summer break. It’s also a really good time to get a couple of classes out of the way so that you can take a lighter load during the semester.

The underground lava tube!

There is a cool spot to camp and hike near Flagstaff called the Lava Tubes. It’s a big underground cave/tunnel that you can hike into, and there are dispersed camp sites around the area. A couple of summers ago, a group of admissions employees went camping there together and it was a ton of fun!

One of the most well known spots for swimming in the area is called fossil creek. It’s over an hour drive away and a bit of a hike on top of that, but there are awesome cliffs to jump off of into the water. All of my local friends also love to go tubing down the salt river. It’s in the phoenix area, and it takes you about three hours to float from the beginning to the end of the river. You rent tubes for all the people in your group and one extra to put a cooler in for drinks, and you tie them all together and float down together.

The Top of the Waterfall!

Another fun place to hike and camp is called wolf creek. It’s only about a 20 minute drive from our campus, so it’s a lot easier to just go on a spur of the moment decision! Wolf Creek is this big stone waterfall, but you have to catch it at the right time of year for there to actually be any water in it. Unfortunately, we did not do this. But it’s still a really short, fun hike to do. Someday I’ll make it out there when there is running water and report back.

Water Volleyball at Our Pool–Sweet!

You’re also definitely going to want to visit our on campus swimming pool! It’s heated now (yay!!!) and it’s open every day from 11am-6pm. And it’s free and right on campus, so what’s better than that?

One of the biggest reasons that I like to take summer classes is that you take fewer classes at a time, so it’s much easier to get really into the classes you take and learn more. Instead of having class only two or three times a week, normally you will have class everyday for at least an hour and a half. This really allows you to get to know your professor better. Taking summer classes also gives you some freedom to take fewer classes during the semester. If you only take two classes in the summer, that allows you to reduce your course load by three credits each semester. One class can actually make a big difference, especially during midterms or finals week, when you’re studying for all your classes at the same time. If you are a flight student, you have even more incentive to stay over the summer because your tuition is usually discounted in some way. It also gives you the freedom to focus on flying and flight courses without having to worry about your other academic courses.

Night Running

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Cherie

Recently as a result of the heat (about 90+ but no more than 98 F) I’ve taken to running on the school’s track at night and boy is it gorgeous!!! As I run I get to watch the sun go down and the breeze on the track, which is a rubberized running surface with a field at its center, is really cool and pleasant.Which brings me to the reason for my blog!! 😀

A portion of the track behind our the Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach Chris Bray

The track can be used by all members of the campus community, for whatever your purpose is, recently a new athletic sport on campus has began using the track as they are starting up Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams in the Fall of 2013. If you are interested in perhaps being recruited by one of our athletic teams I encourage you to check out our Athletics website where you will find a list of teams and information on how you can get started as an athlete at Embry Riddle. A visitor’s guide to Embry Riddle is also available for you to view if you are interested in coming to the University for a tour of our campus and meeting with a coach.

So whether you are extremely athletic or fi you just like to run for fun, feel free to join us and check out our athletic teams, we would love to have you here as an Embry Riddle Prescott Eagle!!

Military Influence at Embry Riddle

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Cherie

Embry Riddle’s Flight line in Prescott AZ

So today, when I was out giving tours one of our potential students expressed a concern that they were not entirely comfortable with living on a campus that had a large military affiliation. When I looked more into the topic after our discussion of the campus’s military affiliation, I discovered that some people who are interested in attending Embry Riddle think that is a Military Academy.

I would like to dispel that thought as much as possible, Embry Riddle does have military ties as a result of the two ROTC detachments on campus and also because many veterans choose to attend school here. However, we are very very very far from being any sort of a military academy, even though we do have a military affiliation we do not try to force students to join any ROTC or other type of military service. Our ROTC cadets and veterans live among the other students, we are college students as well and we are happy to get to know you, no matter what your chosen pursuit is.

You will not feel any pressure or discrimination from anyone on campus, we are a diverse campus and we are always ready to accept new students and get to know them, their dreams, pursuits, and their personalities. 😀 Some of our students come from places all over the world, such as China, the Middle East, and Europe. We know that everyone has a different background and different goals for their lives because of their previous experiences. It is our goal as a campus to promote a feeling of community among our students so that no one will ever feel like they do not belong at Embry Riddle.

When considering colleges to attend please think of Embry Riddle firstly as another college, look into the various majors we offer and if one interests you please apply, we would love to welcome you to the Embry Riddle family. And again, it is true there is a military presence on this campus but, the cadets and veterans are only your fellow students, we do not want to pressure you or make you feel uncomfortable should you consider attending Embry Riddle. We will welcome you just like any other student and we look forward to potentially meeting you in the future!!

Temple Run….Don’t play it!!!!!!

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Cherie

So I’m sure you have noticed the unusual title of this blog, it is because I must warn you not to play temple run!!! It is sooo addicting and soon you will find yourself playing it in class, at work, in your dorm room, etc etc etc. Then the game will sometimes delete your progress so that you have to start all over again… 🙁 NOT FUN!!

My lesson with Temple Run is actually one that applies to all college students….DO NOT get addicted to a game. Sure, games are fun and relaxing at times however, if you come to enjoy them to much they can damage your ability to pay attention in class and to succeed in school.

There are so many studies out there about game addictions, I encourage you to look some up on Google and most of all don’t be that kid (we have all see one, ewwww) who comes to class with terrible personal hygiene because they spent all their time in the last few days playing some video or computer game.

Phone games, thankfully don’t have repercussions as bad as the one I mentioned above but, they can still hurt you by being a distraction in class, so again take my advice and DON’T DO IT!!!

Summer Courses

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Cherie

Hey there, so as I may have mentioned before, I am taking Calculus 3 over the summer here at Embry Riddle Prescott. So far the course has been really fun and rewarding. I definitely encourage taking summer courses in order to accelerate your learning in college. This can also help you save some time and a lot of money as most summer courses are offered at a discount rate because they are taught over the course of 6 weeks rather than 12 like during the normal semester.

An example of the work that I have been doing in Calc 3 is integration in 3 dimensions, taking line integrals, calculating work in line integrals, and density in line integrals. A little sample of what you can expect to see toward the conclusion of your semester in Calculus 3 is below 😀

Also, a quick note, whether or not you need to take Calculus 3 all depends on your major. Majors that are considered technical are required to take Calculus 3 while others that are non technical majors, wont need to take a Calculus course.For this reason it is best to speak with the records department, your admissions counselor, and your academic adviser to figure out what courses you will need to take for your major when you arrive on campus.

Well, no matter what your doing with your summer just keep in mind that classes are coming up and you need to be preparing for college!!!

Hello!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Zach

Hello everyone!

My name is Zach Sargent, the newest blogger to the site. I figured I would make my first post an introduction about myself. I am going into my junior year at ERAU Prescott as an aeronautical science major with a minor in business. I am currently finishing up the last check ride for my multi-engine commercial certificate, and will be transitioning straight into my flight instructor training when I finish. Before coming to Prescott I lived in Santa Rosa, California, where I received my private pilot’s license in high school, and decided ERAU was the best possible place to begin working towards a career in aviation. When I came to ERAU in the fall of 2011, I joined the school’s Golden Eagles Flight Team, a nationally ranked flight team that competes against hundreds of other flight schools around the country in events such as power off landings, navigation flying, aircraft recognition, and other aviation related events. The team takes up most of my time at school outside of flight training and classes, but is well worth the hard work for the rewards that the team has brought me. This year, we won our second consecutive national title in Columbus, Ohio. Beginning this fall, I will be acting as the team’s Chief Pilot, and responsible for the team’s aircraft and flight operations. Outside of busy student life I enjoy activities such as cycling, hiking, shooting, and traveling. Choosing to attend Embry-Riddle was one of the best decisions I have made and I have enjoyed every bit of my time since I arrived here.

Student Life

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Cherie

When you are choosing colleges or Universities that you might want to attend how much do you think about the student life? Well, most students say that it is one of the most important aspects of their decision and because it is so important wouldn’t it be nice if a current student told you what it was like? Well your wish has been granted!!!

I’m Cherie Gambino, an Engineering student at Embry-Riddle Prescott campus 🙂 In my year or so on campus I have greatly enjoyed my experiences here, from watching movies in the amphitheater to laughing at comedians we have it all. Embry Riddle really tries to focus on the student and what is important to them so we have several campus organizations that operate to enhance your experiences at Riddle. These are Student government, the Board of Campus Activities, Greek Life, the Residence Halls Association, Horizons Newspaper, Riddle Vision, and Riddle Radio. In the fall there are also special programs for incoming freshman such as the Passport Program which hosts all kinds of fun barbecues, competitions, and movie nights.

Orientation Day 1

The campus organizations that organize these activities are active year round so there is at least 2 or 3 events occurring during the week. For example, last week there was a pizza party at the pool, a memorial day barbecue, and a movie night where myself and a few other students got to go see the new Star Trek movie at the Harkins theater.

Some of our other cool events and organizations are listed below, feel free to check them out and get to know the fun side of Embry-Riddle 🙂

October West

Passport to ERAU

Passport Program Events

Organizations

Local Events in Prescott

Campus Tours

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Cherie

For prospective students many colleges or Universities will offer a Campus tour so that the student may get a feel for the place that they may be living in for the next four years. Here on Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus the Admissions office staff and student employees (like me!!) work really hard to be sure that if you choose to tour our beautiful campus, that you have an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Prescott Aerial View of Campus

When you first arrive on campus you will meet up with your tour guide in the Welcome center, which is building 41. It is pretty simple to find, just enter campus through the entrance with the electronic signboard and take the second right leaving the roundabout. You will immediately see the Welcome Center.

Once you are inside there may be a small wait and then you will be off on your tour to see the Freshman dorms, Dining hall, Wellness Center, King Engineering, Academic Complex, Laboratories in the AXFAB (Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building), Wind Tunnel Labs, Jet Dragster Lab, Central Campus, Student Facilities, and the Hazy Library. If you are interested in doing Air Force or Army ROTC at Embry-Riddle then you will also be offered the opportunity to meet with representatives of one or both of the detachments on campus.for Aeronautical Science majors a tour of the Prescott campus’s flight line is also offered and can be taken in addition to the campus tour.

Campus Map

After your tour is complete you then have the opportunity to meet with your admissions counselor in order to cover any admissions questions you have about attending the University. Admissions counselors are located inside the Welcome Center as well as the offices of Financial Aid and Student employment so if you would like you may also look into discussing options for aid or employment with these offices after you have met with your counselor.

It may be a long and eventful day but, I can guarantee that this campus with fascinate you and that your visitor’s experience here at Embry Riddle Prescott has the potential to turn into a really fun and rewarding four years in pursuit of one of our unique majors.

Cockpit in Flight

If you would like to join us here for a day please visit our website and sign up for a campus tour. If you are unable to be here in person then I encourage you to take a virtual tour. Additional information on the campus can be found here. However way you visit we look forward to showing you our campus!!