Advice to Freshmen

A popular hangout spot on campus: The Hazy Library.

Welcome new students to the fall semester! As you have likely noticed, the ERAU college experience is much different than its high school counterpart. Traversing this new university can be challenging, but I have comprised a few pieces of advice I would have liked to know prior to being immersed in the university’s community and hopefully it can help you:

The Prescott campus has over 200 clubs and organizations.

Of course, meet new people! It is more difficult to make friends in the later years of college. First-years tend to be more enthusiastic and open to new, friendly faces. You can do this by getting involved in clubs / organizations / Greek Life to find friends of shared interests. It is also a good way to form relationships with your professors out of the classroom, as each organization has a faculty advisor. Although we are not the most athletically-driven university, if you enjoy sports, I encourage you to join intramurals, with games starting 9/20 this semester.

On-campus jobs outweigh off-campus jobs in most aspects, as I have personally encountered. While your hours will vary depending on the school job, all positions prioritize your status as a student and will work around your class schedule. I have cycled through a few positions, including writing for Horizons, being a Temperature Taker, and a Student Media Assistant. Other common jobs on campus are tutors, TAs, graders, tour guides, Mailroom workers, Sodexo employees, and various assistant positions (located on ERNIE > Workday > Search ‘Find Student Jobs’).

One of our on-campus housing complexes, the Thumb Butte Suites (T2).

Try things out and take advantage of the opportunities presented. For example, if you enjoy helping students transition into college and desire free housing, consider applying to be an RA for the Housing Department. If you have leadership qualities, like to be involved, and can talk to students of all walks of life, look at joining the SGA. Try new opportunities out, and if you don’t enjoy it, move on. It is better to try it now then to regret not being involved by the time graduation rolls around. 

Me (Center) together with my Student Government Association (SGA) colleagues.

Meet with your Academic Advisors. While often overlooked, our Academic Advisors are great resources to ensure you stay on track to graduate over the years, the main goal of college. For an accurate assessment of your progress and how many credits the Registrar has you recorded for, go to ERNIE > Campus Solutions > Academic Advising > Academic Progress > View ERAU Report. The Registrar is the office that either approves or disapproves your credits for graduation, so ensuring your files are in alignment with theirs can be worthwhile in forecasting your schedules.

Overall, enjoy the ERAU campus and community because time does fly by quickly, as is a common phrase our parents like to enlighten us with as students. Good luck this semester!

Applying for Scholarships

Receiving scholarships is no easy task. Neither is applying for them. Yet, we, as students, do because the chance we could receive one is enough to motivate us to apply. I remember when I first toured Riddle, back in the days of 2018, and met a girl who applied to numerous scholarships and received so many that she didn’t have any student debt when she graduated. I aspired to be that girl, to have that perseverance. 

Proud logo of the College of Security and Intelligence (CSI).

Of course, the ERAU Financial Aid Office offers many good options, but they are only the starting source. I’d say, about 80% of applying to scholarships is dependent on your self-determination. Some students receive competitive scholarships through their ROTC programs, if that is what you like to do. I am not one of those students. Initially, I looked for programs through the clubs I was active in. Sometimes, clubs and national organizations may be funding scholarships for their members. I found that there were quite a few in aviation clubs, although despite going to an aeronautical university, I knew little about. In Cyber Defense Club, a group closely related to my interests, I learned about a few opportunities supported by WiCYS and applied to those. Sadly, no luck.

Entrance to the CSI Building

Then, I moved online. Gauging my status as a college student from my metadata, advertisements were popping up with sources of scholarship search engines, like FastWeb and Scholarships.com. Having had applied to many scholarships prior, I was tired of asking my professors for glowing recommendation letters, answering essay questions, and writing slightly tweaked cover letters for each scholarship. The minimal requirements for the generic scholarships online were greatly appealing, so I applied to many. Yet again, I had no luck.

This is the famous Cyber Lab, located in Room 127 of CSI Building.

At this point, I had an Excel spreadsheet of over 50 scholarships I had applied to. Fatigued but still determined to not have student debt, I traversed on. This was around year two of college, so I had already started accumulating debt. I decided that I needed to look outside my previous methods. I turned within my College of Security and Intelligence and Department of Cyber Intelligence and Security specifically. Perfect timing! Dr. Sampigethaya, the Department Chair of Cyber Security, was just promoting applications to the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program. In 2019, our Cyber Lab was designated a National Center of Academic Excellence for Cyber Defense Education, Cyber Defense Research, and Cyber Operations by the DHS and NSA, making ERAU students applicable for this program. Recognizing the magnitude of this opportunity, I jumped right into the application process. Five months later, I received a phone call, a scholarship, and a post-graduation job! In retrospect, the process of scholarship applying doesn’t seem that rigorous; however, when I was in it, it was horrible. The longer it takes to receive scholarships, the more debt you accumulate. If you have many disappointments like I did, don’t give up! Working hard now can only benefit your future self, and honestly your bank account.

The scholarship application process is challenging; if you need assistance on any step, a smart move would be contacting the Office of Prestigious Awards and Fellowships. This ERAU Office can support you in just about all aspects of the application process, from formatting your resume to requesting recommendation letters from professors. To contact them, please email uaawards@erau.edu.

Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Security Agency.

Cyber Defense Club Shines at Department of Energy’s Cyberforce Competition

Embry-Riddle Cyber Defense Club

ERAU’s Cyber Defense Club places 34th out of 80 teams for the Cyberforce competition, the team scored full red team points at half-time and was a favorite team at Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Cyber Defense Club sent 6 members to compete in the Department of Energy’s Cyberforce Competition.

The team was given 2 weeks to prepare a website, mail server, create users, patch vulnerabilities and secure 5 Virtual Machines that were given to them. They had to make the systems usable and work with a miniature oil pump and a raspberry pi cluster made of 4 raspberry pi computers that were given to them the day of the competition.

The team was the only team out of 4 competing teams at Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory that had the Human-Machine Interface, the raspberry pi cluster and the oil pump successfully operating.

Professor Jesse Laeuchli helped the students prepare and attended the competition for assistance with setup for the Raspberry Pi Cluster and the Oil Pump.

The students that helped prepare and compete were:

  • Michaela Adams
  • Dani Chappelle
  • Jacob Henry
  • Andrew Recker
  • Alan Tomaszycki
  • Jessica Wilson

The students acted as a Blue Team and was able to make a working machine for the users of the laboratory, and successfully defend against a red-team of hackers who were attempting to breach the system.

They also got to tour the laboratory and see the full-scale super computer that their miniature Raspberry Pi cluster was modeled after, meet members of the Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory and meet school members from UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara.

The students were given their oil pump and raspberry pi cluster to take home and use to help teach other members of the club and prepare for next years’ competition.

Out of the 4 teams attending Lawrence-Berkeley, the team placed 3/4 teams and nationally they placed 34/80 teams.

Rick Perry, the Secretary of Energy debriefed all teams competing in the competition to help show the importance of cybersecurity in our nation and how jobs in cybersecurity are the most-needed job in America right now.

The cyberforce competition is run yearly, and this was Embry-Riddle and the Cyber Defense Clubs’ first attendance of the competition.

For more information, please visit https://cyberforcecompetition.com/

Get Involved in the Community

by student and guest blogger Tessa Frederick, senior in GSIS, Chinese Track and Honors Student Association

Being an Embry-Riddle student means more than just being a regular attendee in your classes each day. As a student at the Prescott campus, you play a vital role in the on-campus and greater off-campus communities that you are a part of.

Getting involved on campus has provided me an unparalleled opportunity to participate in the Embry-Riddle and Prescott communities, particularly as a member of the Honors Student Association on campus. From blanket making, to thrift store sorting, to outdoor trail maintenance, it certainly feels like we’ve done it all! We regularly work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and The Spot (a local science museum for children) to help them meet their organizational needs.

Forensics Night at the Spot Museum

Forensics Night at the Spot Museum

The best parts of serving in the Prescott community include having the opportunity to make new connections, and being able to positively represent Embry-Riddle. The understanding of the community that actively participating in service provides is incredibly valuable, and truly contributes to the university experience.

Although we love to help out in the Prescott community, participating in service on campus is just as valuable and rewarding. Embry-Riddle’s Prescott campus may be small, but we definitely have a strong sense of community! Lately, the Honors Student Association has been pushing to participate in more campus events. Embry-Riddle students put on amazing events every week, and the opportunities to serve the on campus community through these events are endless. We’ve helped organizations across the board, ranging from the Society of Women Engineers to the TEDx task force. When you visit events such as Preview Day, chances are that you’ve interacted with students serving their Embry-Riddle community.

Project Linus Service Meeting

Project Linus s

Once you’re at Embry-Riddle, your sense of community and service permanently changes. There are so many ways to give back to your communities, and all it takes is a service mindset and the willingness to get involved. If you’re interested in some of the events I’ve mentioned, check out Embry-Riddle’s Control Tower website to get a feel for what service events are going on now. If you don’t see anything you want to participate in, don’t hesitate to reach out and take charge of service in your own way. Whatever your choice is, remember that being a part of the Embry-Riddle community is an incredible experience. Take the chance to give back!

Follow Me Through my Freshman Year!

Hi everyone! My name is Megan and I am a freshman here at the lovely Prescott, AZ CampusERAU Home of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I am originally from Renton,
Washington, which is about twenty minutes outside of Seattle, and very different from AriMy home in WAzona.
Coming from a rainy part of the US, the sun took me by surprise, but I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with Prescott, the sun included.

During my time at ERAU I will be studying Global Security and Intelligence and plan on double majoring in Global Business as well. I am studying GSIS because I want to make a difference in people’s lives, and help them feel safe and secure no matter where they come from. This is something I have known since I was little, and finding ERAU has given me a path way achieve my dream. After college my top goal is to work for the Department of State as a U.S. Diplomat.


Outside of the classroom
life is pretty busy. An organization I have beenSorority fun very involved in already is Chi Alpha. This group goes on adventures during the weekend and has helped me build a community in my short time being on campus.
Recently I have also had the privilege of being offered a bid from Alpha Xi Delta, and will soon be a new member of this wonderful sorority! Because of the recent club fair I am becoming involved with the Mountain Club, and Engineers without Boarders. There are truly hundreds of clubs to join and things to get involved in. Which makes life here even more fun. Even though I am new to campus and Prescott I already feel as if I have a strong community surrounding me and I will be able to achieve my goals.
Since college New Friends!is a time for new opportunities, stress, and an enormous amount of fun I invite you to follow me through my freshman year. We can go through the challenges and triumphs together, so that if you are considering ERAU or another university you will have an idea what the life is truly like as a freshman.

 

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

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!

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

Embry’s Biggest Surprise — The Tight-Knit Community

IMG_1747

Ever since I was a kid, I had a passion for anything aviation. My aunt was in the Navy and my grandpa was a private pilot with a V-Tail Bonanza. I loved to be surrounded by people who shared the same passion as I had. When coming to Embry-Riddle, I knew I would be surrounded by a community of students and faculty who also loved aviation (since it is an aeronautical university), but I had no idea how tight-knit that community would be. Embry-Riddle is just a large family, with all its members having one common passion and drive: aviation. Not only is everyone pursuing a career in a similar field, but many also share the same extracurricular interests. By the third day of orientation, my suitemates and I built an airplane out of a broken printer we found in the dumpster (no we weren’t dumpster diving) and proceeded to launch it off our third story balcony.

My new video ROP project5_edited-1

Silly as it seems, the building and launching of the ‘printer plane’ started the formation of a strong bond between my suitemates and I, and made life long memories before school had even started! And the adventures aren’t limited to gliders created from old electronics; within two weeks I had built friendships with several other guys who shared my love for remote control aircraft. Since then, we have built combat airplanes, built and flown multirotors such as hexacopters and tricopters, have had plenty of crashes, and have made tons of memories.

RC fieldDSC04977 DSC04965

It’s that sense of family that surprised me most about Embry-Riddle, and I think it’s a unique community you won’t find at any other university

If you’re interested in seeing the “Printer Pelican 1”, you can watch the video I made at this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA1GviCfwlw

us

 

Get Outside! Outdoor Adventure Surrounds You

by Miguel Diaz

Last weekend was really great! On Friday, a good friend who graduated from Embry-Riddle came to visit and we hung out with him for a while. On Saturday, I had my Industrial Hygiene class, and we did our individual topic presentations. After that I was able to finally relax after a long week. But the highlight of the weekend was Sunday, when my friend Alex and I took a few members of the Mountain Club (check out our Facebook page) for a day of rock climbing at a nearby canyon called The Promised Land. The Mountain Club is one of the many student organizations on campus. We are a community of rock climbers and mountain bikers that enjoy one or both of these sports and like connecting with like minded people. As an officer of the club, I love bringing people out on trips and introducing them to the sport of rock climbing. Anyone is welcome regardless of experience or gear ownership. We have taken many beginners and we have plenty of gear that we can loan out to members for use. The only requirement is a sense of adventure!

The canyon is located about 10 miles northeast of Prescott, or directly east of our neighboring town to the north, Chino Valley. There was seven of us going that day. Six students from different majors and even one staff member! Even though the canyon is close in distance, we have to go through some rough dirt roads, so it took us about an hour to get to the climbing area.

 

The Promised Land 1 MD PICTURE 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hiked in and started setting up. In rock climbing, each specific path, or line up the rock is called a route, and they vary in difficulty. So we started off by setting up some easy routes up the wall to warm up. Everyone did great and was able to finish them no problem.

We moved on to other routes as everyone was done with the first two. We tried one much harder route that only two of us were able to complete, but the challenge was a lot of fun! We continued on to two others that climbed on some jagged rock leading to a flatter face. Very fun but challenging too! This one seemed particularly enjoyable for most of us, although we were getting a little tired at this point.  At this spot I took a picture of one of our members going up the route

The climb
And another one of the group as I was descending back down.

Down the wall

After this we moved further down the canyon to do two more routes. One of these routes involved going around a cactus growing out of the wall, and it proved to be quite entertaining to see each other trying to climb up while avoiding it. Are we crazy?

At the end, we all had fun throughout the day and everyone enjoyed spending a day outside with beautiful weather in an awesome place with good people. We talked about climbing equipment and gear, about school and classes, joked around with each other, and made plans for future outings. It was a good day and a good weekend for us. And we look forward to more days like these!

Outdoor beauty around Prescott

Successful Day of the Dead Event

horchata

Horchata a Hispanic rice drink 🙂 Very yummy!!

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus had a successful Day of the Dead celebration by selling tacos, tamales, horchata, and assorted Mexican sodas on 31 Oct. The event was very well received by all members of the campus and within a few short hours the food was sold out!

 

The group of about 15 members made over 600 tamales and about twice as many tacos, as well as 6 gallons of horchata!

Embry Riddle Precott SHPE Members

Embry Riddle Precott SHPE Members

The fact that the food all sold out in such a short time proves how welcoming our campus is to different cultures and peoples. The campus community is very friendly and accepting of everyone and we would love to invite you here to see for yourself!

Embry Riddle Precott SHPE Members

Embry Riddle Precott SHPE Members

 

Come and visit the campus sometime soon! There are always cool events going on and all the students/faculty/staff are more than happy to meet new faces 🙂 Maybe next year you can join us for some tacos and tamales!!!!!

416481_128467310610671_1279488615_o

Student Life

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