Chinese Courses at Embry Riddle

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Cherie

This blog is a shout out to one of our readers who was wanting to know more about Chinese courses at Embry Riddle. I was able to find and interview several current students in the Global Intelligence and Security Chinese Program and this is what they had to say.

“The program is super fun and intense at the same time. Each course you take (one semester) is actually equivalent to learning one year of the language. It is high paced but, the professors are really helpful and clear with the material so it is challenging as well as interesting. There is also an opportunity for students to go to China between the Sophomore and Junior year in order to completely be immersed in the culture. The trip really helps to cement your knowledge in the language and can help you get future jobs. In addition to that you get great connections with the people you meet on the trip and gain many life long friends. As far as the schedule goes, you do have a lot of free time to do homework and group work because classes are spread out well. There are actually tutors for the Chinese program as well and being able to talk with them is really great as most of them have extensive backgrounds in the language.”

“In all despite the challenges that the program can present it is really fun and totally worth doing.” All of the Chinese Students that I interviewed said that taking Chinese at Embry-Riddle is the best decision they have made in their college career.

If you have any more questions please let me know or give the Admissions department a call 🙂 Thanks for reading.

A Weekend Exploring Zion National Park

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Chelsea

We’ve posted a lot on here about outdoor activities in Prescott but what about surrounding Prescott? I can think of seven National Parks off the top of my head that are all within ~7 hours or less from good ol’ PRC. This weekend, we planned a last minute trip to Zion. It seems like Zion Canyon is always overshadowed by The Grand Canyon, but there is no reason for it to be.

“Zion is located along the edge of a region called the Colorado Plateau. Uplift, tilting, and
erosion of rock layers formed a feature called the Grand Staircase, a series of colorful
cliffs stretching between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. The bottom layer of rock
at Bryce Canyon is the top layer at Zion, and the bottom layer at Zion is the top layer at
the Grand Canyon.”

My friends and I made the trip up to Utah (only took about 5 hours!) to see the underrated National Park. I loved every part of it.

The first day, we hiked Angels Landing which is apart of the West Rim of the Canyon. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Angels Landing is an extremely narrow ridge that comes out in the middle of the Zion Canyon sitting at about 5,790 ft. There are chains securely placed in the rock so that you can pull your self across some of the larger gaps. This hike was not to be taken lightly, there have been six deaths. It was pretty exhilarating to say the least. Here is a quick time lapse of our journey taken with a GoPro.

And then all of a sudden, we had reached the end of the ridge. Winds were fairly strong and the temperature dropped a couple degrees but we still spent some time to take it all in.

Of course, we had to do some yoga and handstands at the top just to test our luck..

The following day, we tackled the East Rim of the Canyon and trekked to Observation Point. The East Rim was much more difficult but Observation Point sits at about 7,000 ft, almost 1,200 ft higher than we were the previous day. It was also a lot less crowded. We stopped in Hidden Canyon and Echo Canyon on the way to the summit.

We spent quite sometime on the edge of the ridge. Partially because it was unbelievably beautiful and partially because we were pooped.

But hey, see that extremely narrow ridge in the middle that look crazy scary to hike? That would be Angels Landing!

What can I do when I’m not studying? – [ERAU Activities Fair 2k15 VLog]

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Colton

Alot of college is about studying to make those very important grades… but obviously you can’t study for the entire 4 years of college right? Check out this video to see a few of the numerous on-campus clubs we have to fill up your free time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeQCUdQ_WtE&index=17&list=PL793E000DD1CD6326

Do you like these new Video Blogs I’m doing? Comment below and let me know! Suggestions and questions are always encouraged!

CFI New Hire Ground School!

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Mike

Not going to lie, it felt weird beginning my last semester as an undergraduate student here at ERAU. Time went by faster than I could have ever imagined. Three plus years later, I have had experiences and made friendships that I could have scarcely imagined prior to actually attending. Nevertheless I digress, onward to bigger and better things!

The beginning of January did not only mark the beginning of classes, but the beginning of CFI New Hire class as well. This month the Embry-Riddle Flight Line hired a total of five new instructors, myself included. Having gone through a new hire ground school with Cape Air in the fall of 2013, I felt myself feeling prepared for what lay ahead. The key to any ground school, whether it is with a new company or even classes here at school, is to always get ahead. The instructors usually send out the material they will be referencing in class in an email prior to the school’s actual start date. In this case, with Embry-Riddle, we had about 3 weeks to study up.

Having used some of Christmas Break to brush up on details I may have forgotten, I walked into the new hire with excitement. Overall, the ground school was broken up into two pieces. The first piece was more administrative stuff, policies and procedures for example. As a student pilot over the last three years, I have become familiar with the policies concerning the students. As I transition to a flight instructor, now I have to learn the policies influencing instructors on a daily basis. The big ones include how to schedule your students on ETA (our scheduling software), and of course duty time restrictions. If you reference 14 C.F.R. Part 61.195, you will see we instructors have laws restricting us on how long we can actually work. Furthermore, the flight line has more rules.

The second part of the ground school was all about the FUNDAMENTALS! If there is one topic that was most certainly drilled into our heads it is the fundamentals. When I reference the fundamentals I mean straight and level flight, climbs, descents, and turns. These four aspects, or a combination thereof, make up all of the flight maneuvers you will learn throughout your training. We as pilots cannot continue to make progress if we do not have the fundamental foundation to move forward. Therefore, the fundamentals played a huge part in our ground school and will continue to do so for the actual flight training we conduct.

With the successful completion of CFI New Hire Ground School as of last Friday, here’s to the successful completion of new hire flight training. Hopefully, within the next few weeks I will begin to receive students. If you remember my earlier blog, I talked about time management. Being enrolled in classes, traveling for admissions, and now teaching actual flight students will be the culmination of time management as my time here at ERAU, as a student, begins to come to a close.

More to come, talk to you all soon!

3-Day Weekend Fun

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Cherie

For our curious potential freshman I will be answering a question today: what do you do on a three day weekend in Prescott? Well, you are in luck as I happen to know the answer.

Unfortunately, part of that answer is homework but, there are fun things that you can do with your free time in Prescott, AZ. For example, take a walk downtown, there are so many amazing little shops and places to eat should you get hungry while you wander. One of my personal favorite places to stop in and get a quick bite is Shannon’s wraps and cheesecakes. The restaurant is a small family place and located just off the square; they have the most amazing cheese cake I have ever eaten!!

If you’re not the downtown type then take a stroll through the dells which are located just across from campus. That’s actually what I did this weekend, take a look at some of the amazing views from the top of the dells!

And, if you are not the hiking type then the movies may be a good place to go. At the Picture Show movie theater a few minutes outside of downtown you can get discounted tickets and relax in comfy adjustable leather seats. Additionally, not so far from the theater is the mall with numerous stores to walk around and neat little places to eat.

About 20 minutes away from the mall is Prescott Valley, there is another theater there and tons of other interesting stores to visit. So whatever you like to do for fun, you can find it here in Prescott AZ. Don’t fear there is plenty to do other than homework when you attend Embry-Riddle.

Spring Semester Update

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Cherie

We are now officially two weeks into the Spring Semester and so far it seems to be going well (fingers crossed!). So here’s an update on what I’ve been up to so far: homework, meetings, phone calls, work, ROTC, grocery shopping, hanging out with friends, and cooking. Obviously, its been a busy two weeks but it hasn’t been all that bad.

Oddly enough, living and working where you go to school is actually pretty fun. You get to meet all kinds of interesting people who have similar hobbies. For instance, I was not very much of a cook when I was in high school but now that I am living on my own I have come to actually enjoy cooking. Because I live on campus I have been able to meet tons of other people who enjoy cooking too.

The same is true for classes and ROTC. In all the different courses/activities that I am involved in I have met tons of interesting people that make learning/leading fun even when under stress. My favorite course is Structures partly because I love the topic and also because the people I work with in study groups are awesome to hang out with.

Because of the culture student of Embry-Riddle even the stressful times can be a lot of fun. That is why the past two weeks of the semester haven’t been bad, even though they have been loaded with work and trying to handle an new schedule. So, for our potential freshman class of 2015, please take the student culture into consideration when it comes time to accept your college offers this semester. Thanks for reading everyone!

It’s a White Tuesday!

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Cherie

So today we were all pleasantly surprised to see some snow! It wasn’t snowing when I went to PT this morning but, it sure was when I headed off to class this morning! Take a look at our gorgeous campus in the snow!!

Snow Falling in front of the AXFAB in central campus

Central Campus

My view from the upperclassman dorms this morning.

It usually snows anywhere from one to six times during the winter here in Prescott and its the first time that quite a few of our students get to see some snow! With that said, when you are thinking of attending our University take the climate into consideration as well. We have relatively mild winters and fantastic summers with the average temperature in the high 80’s. If that is something you would like then Embry Riddle Prescott is the place for you! Sign up to take a tour today!!

Things I Wish I Knew Going Into College

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Chelsea

As a graduating senior, I am looking back on some of the most transformative lessons I’ve learned during the greatest four years of my life. I probably was told these things prior to stepping foot on the ERAU Prescott campus, but it’s kind of one of those learn for yourself type deals. Here’s what I came up with:

Be a yes man (or woman)

In high school I would’ve considered myself judgmental and a cynic. It wasn’t long after I moved into my first room in our Mingus dorm complex that I realized my cynicism was embedded in fear. I became a much better person with a more convincing idea of who I am once I committedly opened up to new experiences and new people. College is the easiest time to make new friends because suddenly you are introduced to hundreds of new faces and most of them probably have similar interests to you. So say yes to joining clubs at the activity fair, going campus events put on by BCA, and eating lunch in the Union because before you know it, your college friends are your family. They will be there for you. They will take that lower-level general ed class with you. They will be there for the late nights and early mornings. They will agree to last minute coffee dates and even last minute road trips. So say yes because at worst, you’ll have a new story to tell.

Don’t forget where you came from

The friendships that you develop in college are wavelengths different than the ones you made growing up. You and your friends from high school share a bond that you won’t find with anyone else because you survived a nightmare together. They are the ones that knew you when you had braces and coordinated rubber band color to the upcoming holiday. They knew you when you dated that jerk but he just looked so cute playing that blue guitar. They knew you when you had a terrible sense of fashion and bleached your hair. They knew all these things about you and they still liked you, so they are worth keeping around. And trust me, when you go home for the holidays, you aren’t going to want to hang out with your family the whole time. In today’s modern world, there is no excuse not to stay in touch with someone. The friends you meet in college are going to be amazing and radical and filled with innovation ideas but your past made you who you are, don’t lose sight of the important people from it.

Your undergraduate love life is not a romantic comedy

Bradley Cooper is not going to spend hours a day practicing a dance routine with you and Anna Kendrick probably won’t make out with you after her stunning a Capella performance, and that is just the reality of it. Here me out, you do not need a counterpart in college. We can sit and agonize over the fact that our latest crush hasn’t texted us back and our best friends will sit there and say things like, “I’m sure his phone is dead” or “He’s probably swamped in homework” and all of these are better than realizing that he is not texting you because he doesn’t want to. But your reliable friend will keep feeding you these excuses because most likely, it has happened to her at some point as well. And by the way, sending him a text at midnight of a kissing emoji won’t suddenly remind him of how much he is in to you. The only thing that will do that is his own desire to do so.

There are no exceptions to this. And that goes for you too gentlemen. Stop bombarding that cute, outspoken girl in your English class with texts and Facebook messages. More often times than not, she’s not reciprocating because she doesn’t want to, not because she’s a “bad texter.” Don’t get hung up on one person if you can help it because there are thousands more dying to meet you! (Cliché, but it’s the truth I swear). College is the time to find the simple joys in being alone. It is when you stop searching and become comfortable with the idea of independence that the right person will come along.

First Day of Classes!!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Cherie

First Day Selfie!!

Welcome back everyone! Hope break was great for our returning students and for our prospective students. 🙂 We are all very excited to be coming back to classes for the Spring semester (although another week of break would’ve been awesome). I will give you the low down on the Spring Semester in college, so if you are interested in Embry Riddle you can get an idea of how it all works.

Spring is usually better. I’m not really sure why but, most people have better schedules and have a lot more fun during the semester than in Fall. It may just be because of Spring Break but, there are also more off days during the Spring Semester due to other random holidays. This semester is actually going to be an interesting one for me due to my ROTC jobs, courses, and work. I have a pretty good school schedule but I will be spending 8+ hours a week preparing the Honor Corps for our competition at SCIDM (Southern California Invitational Drill Meet). If you would like to know more about the drill meet please keep following my blog, I will post some cool pics when the time comes! You can also comment below and I will be happy to answer any questions 🙂

Honor Guard, one of the three teams in Honor Corps

So one last thing, I am curious to know what everyone did over break? I just went home and hung out with my family, nothing too fun.

LOL. Comment below to share your break with us, we would love to know what you got to do!

Being a Summer Programs Coordinator

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Chelsea

Embry-Riddle offers a large variety of summer camps during the months of June and July. Overnight, day, athletic, you name it, we got it. These camps are designed for high school students who are just beginning to explore their college options or making a final decision. I had the pleasure of working with about a dozen other ERAU students and our wonderful Summer Program’s Department in making sure the summer of 2013 was the most enjoyable for all attendees. Being a Summer Program Coordinator is an ideal job for students who are taking summer courses, flying, or just want a steady pace job during the summer months. Before our first group of campers even got to campus, we had spent months preparing. This meant tons of paperwork, organization of supplies, coordination with our professors, moving into the dorms where the campers would be staying, and of course, becoming CPR and First Aid Certified.

The first couple weeks were hectic but my team of coordinators and the campers made it all a little bit easier. I was shocked at how eager and bright the high school students were. I mean, when I was 15, I definitely would not have been able to tell you every detail of a UAV. I learned very quickly that this was not the type of summer camp where parents drop off their kids like a day care. These students wanted to be here and they were ready to learn as much as they could in the week. I think that living in the dorms with the counselors made the campers comfortable and made their experience more enjoyable. However, when living in the dorms, as incoming students will learn their first year, stuff gets mixed up easily. Like, say if your name is Adam White and you work an entire shift as Jeffrey Boudoin.

This kind of thing happened often but there’s nothing wrong with a good long laugh. We honestly might have been having more fun than the campers at times. Our team was made up of pilots, CFI, GSIS majors, engineers, and me (the lone physicist) which made for a creative environment. The different mind processes brought innovative ideas to the table every week during our meetings. This diversity also helped with our wide range of camps that we offer which can be found here, http://summercamps.erau.edu/camps/index.html.

For many, an Embry-Riddle Summer Program was a camper’s first experience away from home. That being said, it was part of our job to make it as much fun as possible outside of the classroom lectures. This included trips to Sedona, Ghost Tours in downtown Prescott, dinners, movies, camper vs. counselor kickball games under the lights, hikes though the Dells, and anything else we thought they would enjoy. Activities varied from camp to camp because of the different types of students.

The end of the summer came much too quickly as most summers do. I was sad to see it was over but I also felt a sense of happiness. I had just spent the prior months encouraging younger students to become inspired, to follow their dreams, and to keep exploring things that they don’t understand. I had created a entirely new group of friends on campus through working with Summer Programs and the campers even stayed in touch with me via Facebook, Instagram, and yes even Snapchat. I received many messages like this one,

and the coolest part of it all? Now that I am a senior, I see so many underclassmen on campus that attended the camps and they look happy here at Embry-Riddle, which means I did my job.