Helping the community

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One reason why I joined Greek Life, specifically Sigma Chi, was beacuse of the service to the community they serve. Just today we got to work with the Prescott Creek Society to help clean up a wildlife refuge that used to be an illegal dumping site. I thought that we were just going to pick up trash like wrappers and trash bags and things like that but man were we in for a shock. As soon as we get there I see a bunch of shovels out there for us. As the President of the Prescott Creek Societyexplained to us what we had to do, our enthusiasm grew. We were told that we could find anything under the soil. Doors, water heaters, tires, and big junk was some of the things that they had previously found.

We started walking and in the first 2 minutes, we spotted what looked like a bumper sticking out of the sand. We thought it was just a bumper so three of us began to dig. As we dig an dig, turns out half of a car was burried under there. Took us a good hours to dig and move the entire thing into the trailer (I’m working on getting pictures so once I get them, I will post them). In the end, we found (other than the car), a couple of water heaters, a stove, sheet metal, barrels, tires, and a really big piece of metal. I swear I think that we moved a ton, and I mean a ton of stuff. I’m really happy for what we did, and thanks to Sigma Chi and ERAU, I can also give back to the community.

Its that time of year again!

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It’s crazy to think, but it’s time to register for classes again! Now, for flight students, there are two parts to registering for fall classes. The first part is registering for your flight block. Depending on the flight course you are in, you are allowed to register for specific flight blocks. For private pilot, I had flight block 82, which is from 0840 – 1255 Monday through Saturday. For next semester, they changed the flight blocks a bit to reduce the number of different ones they offer. I will be taking the private multi course to start training in the Seminoles! For the fall semester, I will be in the 81 flight block which is from 0600 – 1005 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and 0600 – 1100 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

That is all for flight! In terms of academics, I am taking 5 classes; which is a full schedule. I have Aerodynamics, Technical Physics II (with a physics lab), Aircraft Systems & Components, Aviation Weather, and Instrument Ground School. The first four classes that I listed are all on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Instrument Ground School is on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I think next fall will be tough, but I am definitely up for the challenge! It’s going to be a great year and I can not wait to get into the multi engine aircraft! I will tell you how its going next year.

LA for the weekend!

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So I decided to go to LA as a last minute trip for the weekend. My friend had an interview over there and asked me to go with her so I was like, it’s only 6 hours awy from ERAU, why not? One of the best impulse thing I’ve ever done. Got the see the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, the Disney Concert Hall, eat at a Colombian restaurant, all while spending some quality time with a great friend. It was a really fast trip making it back at 2:00am on Sunday morning however, it was great. On the drive back I got to see some really cool wind turbines. Had no idea CA had so many of them. Overall, it was a fun trip.

That’s one the that I like a lot about ERAU Prescott. Location, Location, Location. Prescott and Embry-Riddle are only 1.5 hours away from Phoenix and Flagstaff, 3 hours from the Grand Canyon, 4 from Las Vegas, and 8 from L.A. We are in a spot that we can reach many fun cities within a day. That’s one reason why I chose ERAU Prescott. Sure I can also do that in FL, but I can’t go from a desert, to mountains, to a beach in one day like I can in Prescott. As a senior, I recommend to look at those sorts of things when picking the right school for you. That’s how I chose ERAU Prescott, because it was the best places to suit me.

Chinese New Year’s Field Trip!

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Any of you potential GSIS majors thinking about taking the Chinese language, my recommendation is… DO IT!  It is SOO much fun!  Yang Laoshi is teaching me so much.  Even though it can be pretty tough sometimes, it is so worth it.  I found out how much fun it really is knowing Chinese when Yang Laoshi and Chen Laoshi took us students on a field trip… to the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix for the Chinese New Year!  (Just so you know, it’s the year of the rabbit!)  All of us students packed onto a fancy bus (that was really more like a plane, because the teachers handed out drinks for everyone!!) and headed to the valley.  We watched a movie on the way down (because there were TVs on the bus!), but the real fun started when we got off the bus.  The festival was AMAZING.  Tons of Chinese vendors were packed into the square selling everything from Buddha figurines to traditional Chinese fans to stuffed panda bears.  Just the atmosphere was amazing!  A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let you decide for yourself!

Yang Laoshi and Chen Laoshi are so sweet!

Dragon… RAWR!  Haha.  Don’t worry guys… he didn’t eat me.

Tai Chi!  And thanks to volleyball, I know some of it!  WOOT!

These fish were on sale.  The cheapest was $20, and the most expensive was $40!

There were probably hundreds of these little vendors.

I bought a little dragon to “keep my apartment safe.”  It’s worked so far!

These guys just ran by with a huge dragon in celebration of the new year!

The food market was pretty intense, if you know what I mean.

Teri and I!  We got to catch up while wandering around the square.

Notice that the black and white rocks are formed into a Yin-Yang.  Cool huh!

So overall the whole thing was just a fantastic experience.  I found out just how awesome it is to know Chinese when I asked the vendors how much the item was… in Chinese!… and they got so excited and, well, to be honest, spoke too fast for me to understand them… but still.  It was just a really great experience to be able to see how Chinese is going to help me later in my life and in my future profession.  I am so glad that I chose to take Chinese!  There is even a Chinese track in the GSIS program for any and all interested!  But for now, 新年快乐!  Happy (Chinese) New Year!

“The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.”

-Confucius

AZ can be snow much fun.

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Apparently it snowed last weekend. I didn’t see it happen.  When I left for a Students for Liberty conference in Washington DC last Friday, the weather was warm and the only snow on the ground was the hunks of ice that lurk in the shady areas of my condo neighborhood. When I returned, there was cold air and heaps upon heaps of snow. That just goes to show you what weather can be like here. And yet, as I write this, the weather has turned warm again and the sun is shining. This is good news for me. This, however, is good news for the snowmen whose spherical remains now litter the quad like the elephant graveyard from the Lion King.

In a few weeks, the weather in Arizona won’t matter however, for I shall be headed to California for Spring Break. My friends and I will be travelling the PCH looking for the perfect wave to ride. Plans of my other friends include trips to Lake Havasu in AZ, trips to Las Vegas, Various vacation locales in Mexico and day trips to Phoenix. The location of Embry-Riddle affords this all with its great location. Many of my friends back in Kansas will be making a two hour drive back home to hang out in the small town from which I hail. No sun, sand or fun. One may get homesick their freshman year, but they’ll learn to love the opportunities AZ has for them.

Snow In Prescott and weekend fun

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So I had my sim on Friday and man it was ugly. Fun but ugly. It felt like I had never flown a plane in my life. My muscle memory is off, my references, and viewing picture is all messed up, it was as if I were on a totally different planet. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. Very challenging flying from the right seat but it was a great first time in getting ready to tackle this next step. Can’t wait for the real flight now, I have a feeling that one might be a little easier.

The biggest occurrence this weekend is the fact that it snowed in Prescott….a lot. Now I’m from Denver so I have seen my fair share of snow but to snow this much in Prescott is almost unreal. It was nice having to shovel the snow, reminded me of home, but it was tiring. It was heavy, wet snow compared to the light and fluffy kind but it was great. Got a picture of my house below if you want to look at it. This was taken after I had shoveled once already. When I went to school on Monday evening, I saw a bunch on snowmen and a snow cave next to the dorms and around campus. It’s always nice to know that college students can still be kids and have a great time with each other. More snow is predicted for this weekend so we might be seeing this again soon.

Snow in Prescott

My house and car covered in snow! isn't it awesome!

3 Day weekend!!!

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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!

CFI finally underway!

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Just got out of my CFI first oral at ERAU! CFI is the Certified Flight Instructor rating that will allow me to teach students and get paid to fly…finally. I really like the instructor I got, he seems to know a lot of his stuff and based on what we talked about today, I kinda wish I was taught his ways when I was learning to be a private pilot. Not going to lie, he definitely fueled my passion for flying even more. That’s one great thing here at Embry-Riddle, people have similar goals and we will push each other, and support each other in achieving these. I’m really excited to get going on all my other things. What is going to be interesting is flying from the right seat. I have a feeling it’s going to be really messy. Can’t wait for my sim tomorrow.

Happy Year of the Rabbit!

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大家好！

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It’s the year of the Rabbit! Last Saturday my Chinese class traveled to my hometown of Phoenix to visit the Chinese Cultural Center in celebration of the New Year. I had a really great time! There was dragon dancing, authentic Chinese food, and lots of vendors selling cool knickknacks. I wish Phoenix had an actual China town instead of a Cultural Center, but it was still a great time. A bunch of my friends bought really beautiful umbrellas while we were there and I have to admit I’m a little regretful that I didn’t get one, I’ll have to be sure to next year. Also in my law class we attended a Jewish Film Festival this week. I am enjoying all of the field trips this semester, too bad I didn’t get to miss any school for them!  

This semester has been crazy busy but so fun at the same time. Spring break is only about a month away! I am so excited to visit my boyfriend’s family and watch Arizona’s awesome Spring Training baseball games. I’m hoping next year to go on the Global Security and Intelligence trip to Washington D.C. during spring break. I’ve heard it’s really great, you get to visit places like the CIA Headquarters, the U.S. Department of State, NCIS, and NSA.  One of my friends is going this year I’ll make sure he tells me all about it.

Look how beautiful the Cultural Center is!

 

2011: Already one of my best years!

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This semester has been a blast, so far! Not only do I enjoy my classes, professors, and fellow classmates, I am spending quality time with friends and loved ones during my free time. Even though, I am given homework and books to read, I am learning to prioritize my time and I am also learning to appreciate the reading material and assignments. You are probably wondering how one can actually try to “enjoy” homework, but once you look at it in a different perspective, it is quite simple.

For example, in social psychology we had to conduct an experiment which would analyze human behaviors and beliefs on certain topics. I chose happiness. I researched other experiments and found out that happiness could easily be created within one’s attitude and thoughts. A new, favorite quote of mine is from Shakespeare, “Nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. As I pondered on this statement, I realized the truth behind it. Once an event happens, we can either see the good side or the bad side of it. And if we cannot change what is happening, why not look at the good side? That is what I am trying to do with my classes and homework assignments.

These classes are necessary to enhance my education, the assignments are there to aide me in the class; why not embrace what I am given and learn all that I can? I am paying good money for a desired education, instead of complaining and/or stressing about the work load, I should appreciate the opportunity I am given. Not everyone has the ability to further their education, so I should take full advantage of it and enjoy all the experiences and knowledge I gain along the way.

In other news, I was introduced to an awesome group on campus. They are called Eagle Eye Intel. The students in this club research current events and post them into our campus newspaper. Eagle Eye Intel also has its own website and posts the same articles up there as well. It consists of a group of highly-intellectual students, who are not only well-educated on daily news, but also a lot of fun to hang around and to discuss politics with. I feel that this club will be an advantage to anyone if they enjoy reading, learning, and writing about the daily news. It will also be a huge asset to have on your resume once you are finished at Embry Riddle. I encourage any GSIS student who enjoys writing to look into this fun club. 

Now get out there with a positive attitude, and take full advantage of your educational opportunities which Embry Riddle supplies to you!