Freshmen Year in A Bottle

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Adam

Hey there reader, if you are an incoming freshmen or just curious what college life is about as a freshman, you are in luck. Throughout this blog i will go over the entirety of my freshmen year, tips and more.

So if you do not know so far I am a freshmen currently attending Embry-Riddle in Prescott, Az. I am involved in Air Force ROTC and hope to fly some day soon. First i will go over some FAQ and need to know stuff.

FAQ:

Q: Is college difficult? A: Yes & no. The biggest thing i see an issue with is time management, revolving your life around classes and study time. The first year is almost always set at a good pace for a freshmen to begin learning and taking on responsibilities, But it is still just as easy to be lazy.

Q: Do you have enough spare time? A: Yes, as a normal college student i have plenty of time, all most too much…that is as a freshmen so far…but I am involved in AFROTC, honor guard and have an on campus job. Yet i still manage to go to the gym and have a life.

Q: Should I worry about an internship as a freshmen? A: No, about your sophomore/junior year you should look into them.

Q: How is having a roommate? A: Awesome and sometimes irritating. Having a roommate is great, My roommate and I are now pretty close friends. But i have to say, after a whole year you really start to appreciate having a room to yourself.

Q: What Should I Bring to college? A: Necessities! The biggest pain I have right now is packing to go home because I brought to much stuff that I didn’t use.

I hope those Helped, if you have more feel free to ask.

One thing most people do not realize is the resources they have. Utilize them, things like the main office, admissions office, an RA, neighbors and your professors are there for you.

Now freshmen year was great, i have a lot of great memories from it. From Air Force ROTC events to meeting awesome new people and clubs. I definitely feel like i made the right choice coming to Embry-Riddle Prescott campus to start my career as an engineer, especially with the best Air force Det. in the U.S. I couldn’t have made a better choice.

From the late night study sessions to the late night kick backs, and the early morning PT

sessions to the finals, the years go by pretty quick so hopefully you too can make a good choice and start a great career.

Thanks for reading.

So Far So Good

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Adam

Hello readers, if you do not know already I am a current freshman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott Campus, and in this blog i will be catching you all up on what i have done all year long in terms of classes, clubs, Air Force ROTC, and more. First off I am going for my Electrical Engineering degree, as well as being a cadet in Air Force ROTC and have so far enjoyed the beginning of my career here.

The first semester, the first semester was pretty difficult because of the transition away from home, but class wise i was not taking anything difficult. Basic classes such as calculus, history, physics, as well as engineering 101, and Air Force 101. These classes are the main classes you will most likely have. I did get home sick for a period of time, but eventually that passed and I got used to living at school. The things I have missed the most were my dogs and home cooked food.

After the first semester i began to realize, this is it, the real deal. So once the second semester came around, I was well prepared. This semester I have taken Calculus 2, Physics 2, Engineering 115 aka (MATLAB), Humanities, and Air Force class 102. Although i am still not into the difficult classes yet i feel more prepared then i was at the end of last semester. My roommates and I enjoy going to the movie theater on the weekends, hikes, and out to eat, there are plenty of great restaurants in town, i suggest going into town and exploring, they have some interesting stores.

Now throughout the year I have been involved in many organizations, and activities in town and on campus. This past weekend i went into town for a chalk festival, held annually, this event is awesome and lots of fun. I also participated in the human society’s dog walk on campus. I am also a part of AFROTC Honor Guard and have done many performance in town as well as out of town. If you plan on joining AFROTC I highly suggest joining one of the teams in Honor Corps, such as Sabre, Rifle Drill, and Honor Guard.

The campus is easy to navigate getting to class in about 5 min is really nice. One of my favorite pass times is going to the gym on campus, and hiking across the street.

Hopefully you enjoyed my blog, if you want any more information feel free to let me know.

Finals….

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Cherie

Its that time of the semester again, the time we all look forward to and yet simultaneously dread. This will be my second round of finals in college and to be completely honest with you, I am soooooo ready for summer!!

My summer plans involve work, and summer classes but, still 4 credit hours and a job isn’t as hard as 18 and two jobs so I’m excited for my upcoming relaxation time 🙂

It is definitely hard to continue being motivated in order to push through your last few weeks but, I figured i might be able to offer you some small tidbits of advice, take them or leave them, its up to you. Some of my proven finals techniques that got me through high school and my first semester of college are as follows, enjoy!!

1. No Cramming

2. A book is not a pillow…although they sometimes turn into one

3. Organize your study schedule, this will reduce stress and help you keep track of your finals schedule

4. Eat healthfully, bananas are great power food for your brain!!

5. Pranking the library during finals week is strictly OFF LIMITS!!

6. Review everything, but only a few times and then pick out the things you need to study the most and focus on those.

7. Relax, you know your stuff, with some dedicated studying you will be fine 🙂

So good luck everyone, I hope my tips and tricks work for you and if you have any to share please leave a comment, i look forward to hearing from our readers!!!

Eagle Cards…What are those??!!

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Cherie

So today I have picked a rather interesting topic to discuss with y’all, I’m sure most of our readers have heard us mention an Eagle card at some point or another and your curious about what we are referring to. Well, the Eagle card is an ID card and somewhat of a Debit card. It can be used to gain access to the dining hall, recreation facilities, and to do your laundry or buy some extra food. As i mentioned earlier it is also a way for the university to confirm your identity as a student.

The typical Eagle Card looks like this:

As a debit card it can hold three types of funds, Eagle Dollars, Dining Dollars, and Flight Dollars.

Eagle Dollars is money that you put onto the card. They can be used for buying snacks (when your dining dollars run out), doing laundry, sending mail, and in the campus copy center. There are two ways to get money on your card, put on yourself via blackboard or visit the eagle card office and they will assist you in manually putting money onto te card.

Dining Dollars are awesome, you will come to love them. Basically, its money that your meal plan gives you to spend on items that the dining hall, simply to go, WOW, and the Scholars Cafe sell. It is additional to your meal plan and can be used for items that the dining services don’t usually serve to students but offers in there convenience sales stock. For example, you want some candy to eat while seeing a movie, you can use your dinning dollars to purchase some 🙂

Candy Anyone?

A note about these though: you are only given a certain amount each semester anything you spend above that limit comes straight from your own pocket!!

Flight Dollars are a fund that you can use at the Flight line, you have to put this money onto your card just like you would with Eagle Dollars. I’m not entirely sure about the other details of the Flight Dollars so if you have any questions go ask Jason or Maddie, my fellow bloggers and student fliers!!!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Preparing for Finals

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Adam

So the end is near and final exams are approaching, its crunch time. Preparing for finals, is every college kids dread. There are good habits and bad habits that you may develop for studying. I will go over a few tips to avoid the bad habits. And some ways to keep yourself relaxed because the last thing you need to do is be stressed out. Here at Embry-Riddle Prescott campus there is plenty of tutoring available for all subjects personally i appreciate the small class size here.

So the end is near and final exams are approaching quickly. The stress is really hitting and its time to study. Some of the best ways to study are up to you’re personal preference but there are better ways to go abut it then others. All teachers are different so studying by doing practice problems and looking over previous test/quizzes, for classes such as physics and math, are a great way to understand how the teacher would like you to approach the problem. Also understanding the terms or ideas behind formulas is a great way to comprehend such problems.

Classes such as English and history are much different, but again looking over homework, quizzes and tests are great ways to prepare for these tests. If you want an insight on anything, going to tutoring and talking to previous students of a particular class or just talking to the teacher is a great idea. Understanding and comprehending what you are doing in class is the best way to do well on tests especially finals, that leaves less work for you to do in the end.

Using your resources is important to getting insights on a class or a future class, or time management.

Personally loosing motivation will happen, and one of the most important ways to do well in school is by staying motivated. Going out with friends and keeping up with hobbies is a personal favorite. Any way to stay active and healthy will also help. In Prescott, AZ there are plenty of outdoor activities, from intercollegiate sports to camping the movie theater.

The big idea is to get your mind off of school and whatever worries you have on weekends or when you have the time to, i speak this from personal experiences.

As long as you can remember to stay focused when you need to, you can survive.

Thanks for reading, hope it was a help.

Dining Options at Riddle

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Cherie

Hey there everybody. At our Preview day I heard a ton of questions about what Embry Riddle Prescott has to offer in the way of dining options for on campus students so I just thought it would be nice to discuss each one of these options with you!!

The Prescott campus has four dining options, the largest is Earharts Dining Hall, and then there’s, World of Wings (WOW), The Scholars Cafe, and finally a convenience store called Simply To Go. Ill talk about each one of these separately so you can get a better idea of what Prescott has to offer.

Earharts- The biggest dining facility on campus it is open all day until 9pm on weekdays and 7pm on weekends. Earharts serves, vegan, vegetarian, and meatlovers as well as gluten free, soy, and low fat options. Earharts is the best place to go in order to get some variety in your food choices and also to satisfy any dining limitations you might have.

They will also allow you to take food out in Recyclable boxes so that you can store food in the refrigerator that is provided for you in the dorms. Seating in Earharts is never lacking as well, there are high barstool type tables, booths, outdoor dining patios, group dining and single dining accommodations.

If you should ever need any other special accomadations while dining at Earharts then tthe staff will promptly help you out. They are all very friendly and efficent, several of them are even college students at Riddle!

World of Wings- Everyone on campus calls the WOW, they are a more fast food style resutrant which serves food to order. They will most commonly have soup, fried chicken, chicken wings, wraps, hamburgers, salads, and a few interesting specials from time to time.

My personal favorites are the fried chicken tenders, hamburgers, and salads. They are excellent!!! WOW is a great option and it is open during the same hours as the dining hall, so if you want to change up your eating habits stop on by WOW for some good food!

The Scholars Cafe- This is located in the library and easily visible as you come in through the doors. The cafe serves Starbucks coffee and pastries during normal bushiness hours, the ladies who work there are really sweet and can make a killer Caramel Macchiato 🙂

They offer black coffee, fraps, Chai Tea, regular tea, specialty coffee drinks, and soy substitutions. The pastries they have are really delicious as well; these are scones, muffins, cookies, brownies, and dessert bars.

In another case they offer additional drinks and food to purchase such as sandwiches, salads, breakfast burritos, fruit and vegetables, energy drinks, bottled water, juices, and milk. I love the service that they provide, especially because it is located in the library for when we are up late doing our studies!

Simply To Go- A convenience store style arrangement, this allows you to use your dining dollars ($ that is on your Eagle card, you have a certain amount each semester that the school gives you to buy additional food).

In the store they offer breakfast foods, icecreams, energy drinks, protein bars, chips, drinks, shampoo, etc etc. So basically anything you could ever need when you are stuck on campus and don’t have a ride to go to walmart with.

Another really fun fact before I begin is that your Eagle Dollars (on your Eagle Card) can transfer to numerous restaurants in the town of Prescott so if you need to get off campus but don’t have any cash then utilize this awesome perk!!

Whatever your preferences are for dining Embry Riddle Prescott can take care of you!! We look forward to seeing you here on campus and we hope you will enjoy trying out our dining facilities.

Almost The End

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Adam

To those of you who would like to know what freshman year is like at Embry-Riddle Prescott, all summed up in a couple paragraphs, well today is your lucky day. It is almost the end of my freshmen year so i will be writing about, the best parts of getting through it, a few tips, and a few of my experiences.

If you have been keeping up with my blogs, I have already talked about the big move away from home. No body really talks about that part, but it can be tough. The best part about being away from home though in a new environment is the freedom that comes with it. It can be a good thing and help you or it could hurt you if you don’t treat it with respect. From my experiences as being a freshmen getting adjusted, keeping yourself busy helps you learn to manage your time wisely and keeps you on the right track to success. I have seen great success because if it and tragic failures.

The next big thing that can make a difference your freshmen year, is continuing to do things that you enjoy, keeping you hobbies or developing new ones is a great way to relieve stress from the school work. Yes it does get stressful. There are many clubs at campus, Embry-Riddle makes it easy for students to be involved with the campus. We have clubs that range from, Rock Climbing to Dance and even Martial Arts. If you are in ROTC, you will have plenty of options to get involved, the more you get involved the more friends you will make, it is easy to meet new people especially at Embry-Riddle, most people here staff included are very outgoing and very approachable. In fact one of the great things about the staff here is how approachable they are. some teachers even host events such as taking a group of people down to phoenix to watch a baseball or hockey game. its a great way to get to know the professors and hear some of their great stories or projects they are working on.

The first year is tough but some of the best parts about getting through it are the unexpected. You never know whats coming around the corner but that is the best part. You will meet a lot of great new people that have common interests and degrees. You will have great memories and a lot of laughs, but knowing you finished your freshmen year successfully is a great accomplishment and great way to start your career.

In this blog i went over a good way to deal with your free time, and a great way to keep yourself on the right track to success. I gave you a few personal insights, and a good way to get involved on campus.

Thank you for reading, I hope this was informative. If there is anything else you would like to know specifically. Feel free to let me know.

Update on My Second Semester

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Cherie

Hey everybody so as you know this is my second semester at Embry Riddle Prescott and its time for my update on how everything is going 🙂

Right now I am taking Digital Circuits and the lab, Engineering Economics, Calculus 2, Physics 2, and ROTC courses. They all seem to be going really well but, I think my most favorite course is Digital Circuits Lab because here is where you get to implement what you learn in the class and it is a ton of fun. Pretty much all you do is wire circuits, program circuits with VHDL, create state diagrams, and verify circuit functions with oscilloscopes. It sounds tough but in reality it sooooo easy and you will come to love it once you get a good lab partner and a system for accomplishing the lab.

The class that I enjoy the least is Engineering Economics because it kinda seems pointless to me. I took Micro/macro economics in high school and passed the AP exam but, I had to take this course as an elective as I got credit for all the other electives except this one. All in all I have really low motivation to show up to class but, I motivate myself by thinking that its an easy A that will boost my GPA and give me a “cushion” just i case I don’t do so well in one of my other courses. Even with this logic behind my motivation it is still very difficult to make myself care about the course. This is the second time I have encountered this in my college career and I’m sure it will become a persistent problem for me and perhaps any other students who are coming into college. The best advice I can give you is to know yourself, know what courses you like and which ones you don’t but, treat them equally as you study and do your homework.

The best way to do this is to follow the tips below:

1. Do the homework you don’t enjoy before doing the homework that you do enjoy, for example, I do my economics homework before doing my digital circuits homework that way I know I will complete it and do it well.

2. Give yourself incentives. Watch a movie or go hang out when your done with homework and continually remind yourself that the work you put into your “pointless class” is really inflating your GPA all to your benefit.

3. Always show motivation in class. This will catch your professors attention and when you need help they will be more willing to help you out as they know that you are taking their course seriously. TIP: Also, they are more likely to round up your grade if you are on the border line of a higher letter grade and you consistently show motivation in class.

4. Finally, talk about it with others. Tell them you are having trouble caring about the class, they might have the same issue and maybe you both can work through the issue together.

I hope these suggestions will help you if you ever encounter this type of a situation, Thanks for reading!!!!!

Easter at Riddle

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Cherie

Since we just all finished up our Easter festivities I thought that some of you might be wondering where the tradition of dying eggs originally came from, well if you recall that civilization we all studied in World History sophomore year of high school then you will remember the Mesopotamians. These people originally carved and died Ostrich eggs in celebration of the rebirth and fertility that the spring season brings. Of course this caught on in other regions as a result of world trade and different peoples across the world incorporated this art into their own traditions.

It is for this reason that most people as kids got to decorate eggs and hunt them each spring. We all have our own variations on the tradition, for example my family always hides the candy filled eggs, but we eat the dyed hardboiled ones at brunch after a contest to see who has the toughest egg. I only won this contest once lol, but there have been quite a few attempts on my part to win in the past.

At Embry Riddle the tradition is that the campus comes together as a community and has a massive Easter egg hunt. There are your standard candy eggs and if you’re lucky enough, you will get one of the special eggs which have cash inside or tokens for other sweet prices like Ipads or giant stuffed bunnies. No matter what you get the hunt is always a fun time to bond with other students and build up morale in the few weeks left before spring finals.

Whatever your tradition is always enjoy it and be ready to accept new takes on this spectacular holiday 🙂 We hope that your Easter was awesome and that some day you will join us here at Embry Riddle Prescott for an Easter Egg hunt in the future!!

Bataan Memorial March

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Adam

Happy Easter followers. I hope you are enjoying my blog so far, today i am going to talk about my ways to keep yourself busy, how community service is beneficial and mainly experience at the Bataan Memorial Death March this past month.

One of the ways I keep myself busy and on track with school is by getting involved, and challenging myself to new heights, attainable goals that is. Not only does keeping yourself busy help your grades but you will have better experiences and memories. Not just getting involved in the school but the community as well by doing community service. It is proven that a student who has a well balanced schedule will have better grades then a student who does no or little extra activities.

So the last community service act i participated in was the Bataan Memorial Death March, in White Sands, New Mexico. Participating in this event with a few members from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University AFROTC Detachment.

It wasn’t just any community service though, it was a weekend long experience that i will never forget. The Bataan Memorial Death March is a 26.2 mile hike/run that raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project, it really is an experience seeing different kinds of people from all over the world, not only the states but from 7 plus countries come to support and challenge them selves in this event.

HINT: Community Service looks great on RESUMES. Even if you are in ROTC this (and other Community service) looks good on your part towards the cadre and your peers especially if you need a pilot slot or field training position.

Taking me ten and a half hours to complete with a ruck, I will definitely be back for the next several years to participate, whether you do it alone or with a buddy i would suggest checking it out online.

For more information, visit www.bataanmarch.com

Not only are you receiving community service for events like this and supporting the troops in a big way but getting a great experience. And if you like challenges then this is something yo wont want to miss.

Events like this are also a great way to motivate yourself in life, especially if your a college student and want to take a little break and have a great time while being productive at the same time.

Thank you for reading, i certainly hope you enjoyed this topic. For more information or a specific blog feel free to let me know.