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!

So it is that time of year where I have to return to Embry-Riddle for school. This will be my last semester and I am so glad that the classes I have are going to be for the most part easy but very interesting and enjoyable. These include my last 2 Air Traffic Control labs, Airline Crew Operations, and Personality and profiling. I am also going to be doing my Certified Flight Instructor license with the hope of being hired at ERAU as an instructor pilot.

As you know, I had to drive back from Denver, CO. It’s not a bad drive, only 12-14 hours. I got back to Prescott and found out that 3 pipes had burst in my house flooding half of it. The leasing company had been working on it but it is not done in time for school. So for now, I have to shack up with a friend of mine.

That’s one thing I want to emphasize about ERAU. There are so many great people here that you will meet and be friends for life. As soon as I told my friends about my house, at least 3 people offered their place to me. Everyone is so willing to get out of the way to help you that it still makes me feel welcomed here at ERAU even after 4 years of being here. I am really glad that this school attracts such great characters from all traits that will be life long relationships.

Anyways, I really hope my house gets fixed soon. As for now, it’s time to prepare for the first week of school.

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!

The funny thing about being an Alpha, get-things-done personality type is that during the school year, I am constantly forward to some leisure time. However, it always seems that when that leisure time arrives, I am desperately wishing to be swamped with work again. The entertainment situation here in KS is bleak. Almost as bleak as the scenery. The trees are dead and so is the nightlife. I’m really quite excited get back to Embry-Riddle.

That’s not to say that I have no plans to get out and have fun while here in Kansas. This New Year’s, I will be going to participate in the nights festivities with some friends at Kansas State University. That’s usually quite a bit of fun. Also, it allows me an interesting opportunity to compare contrast ERAU with a different, larger school.

First of all, the students at KSU are mostly Kansas students. This often seems to lead to a lack of cultural diversity. And I’m not talking ethnic or international diversity, I’m talking American diversity. Surrounded by cowboy hats and country music, I begin to miss the California attitudes of many of my friends from ERAU. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a social event at ERAU where country music was played non-stop, if at all. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist. My fraternity brother, Alan is like a poster boy for John Deere. However, the name of the game at ERAU is diversity of thought, and I definitely miss it. So, as I wander the streets of Aggieville in Manhattan, KS this New Year’s Eve, I will definitely be thinking about all my ERAU friends spread around the country. Happy New Year’s students of ERAU. I will see you soon.

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 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

After a long, hard semester at Embry-Riddle, I was finally able to complete it with a 3.575 GPA. I was hoping for a 4.0 but the classes I took were very challenging but really interesting. This time, I took Flight Safety with one of the best professor here, Sean Jeralds, Airline Dispatch operations, Flight Instructor Ground School (CFI), and Air Traffic Management 3.  Dispatch and CFI ground school were the hardest classes. They demanded a lot of work and time but the knowledge gained from them were incredible. Now I am able to go and get certified as a Flight Dispatcher, a great back up if I am not able to fly for some reason or another, and all I have left to do is do my CFI flight training to be able to instruct. Only got one more semester left and my plan is to finish my CFI and get hired at Embry-Riddle to build my flight hours and eventually move onto the airlines.

Being back home in Denver is nice. Only a 12 -hour drive from Prescott means that I could drive home which is nice because then I am able to have my own means of transportation. Can’t wait until I go up into the mountains and snowboard. It’s nice to have this 3-week break before I start on my last semester at ERAU. It’s going to be a great one.