Living Off Campus

One topic that may strike your interest as an incoming freshmen is “What is it like to live off campus?” You might wonder what are the pros and cons? Well I’ve got some good news for you! Today I will go a bit into the differences of living on and off campus.

To start off if you don’t already know, freshmen at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University are required to live on campus their freshmen year. Although, there are some exceptions for those that are unable to live on campus or if you are local. You may call admissions 928-777-6600 or check out the website for more information on that.     http://prescott.erau.edu/admissions/

Living off campus is a BIG step! You have to keep tabs on your bills and make sure you’re roommates are all in and responsible!

So now to the fun part, as I currently live off campus I have a bit of insight to share. The best thing about living off campus in my opinion is the home feeling you get. Every morning you wake up in your own bed and have breakfast in your kitchen. You have your own room again!

Now for the cons. Sometimes you may be forgetful, leading me into my biggest problem. If you live 15 to 20 min. away from the school then chances are you don’t want to waste time or money on gas driving back because you forgot something very important. Well by living on campus you can completely eliminate this problem because it takes maybe 5 – 10 min. to walk to your room and back to class.

Of course the big decision is yours to make after your Freshman year. I know some prefer the convenience of living on campus but some like myself are willing to give up convenience for my own apartment.

Open House!

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On Saturday, October 18th, Embry-Riddle hosted its annual Open House. Being a current student and student employee of ERAU Admissions, I was beyond ecstatic to see the turnout and talk to future Embry-Riddle students. Over 225 students plus their families were on campus that day! The Riddle experience offered was incredible, students were not only able to meet with faculty and staff, but they were also able to meet with current students, such as myself. This day started bright and early at 8:30am, and from then on students were able to socialize with other future classmates and learn more about the University. My favorite part of the day was being in charge of the Campus and Flight Line Tours.

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As a Senior Tour Guide, I managed various other student employees, and also had to make sure that all the tours went out at the correct times. I had many people approach me to ask me not only about the campus but also about student life, here at ERAU. I absolutely loved my job because not only was I able to share my experience, but it felt good knowing that my opinion was going to positively impact someone else’s life. As the day came to a close around 3:00pm, it felt good knowing that I did my job to the best of my ability, and that I helped many future students decide on attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I hope to see all of them in the near future!

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Halloween

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Halloween is coming up, have you found a costume yet? I haven’t but, Prescott, AZ has some great places to get a costume for the holiday. There are also some really awesome public haunted houses and pumpkin patches to see if you (like all college kids) are too old to go trick or treating.

The campus is also hosting a costume competition to celebrate and the student with the best costume has a chance at a prize!! So if you are in town come check it out. We have a lot of really fun and festive events going on and we love to welcome new faces to our Embry-Riddle campus community!

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The Graveyard of Darkness is your chance to find out what is behind the RASC Safety Building, but beware and watch where you’re going because dangers lurk around every corner!

Scooby Doo Clue

Or if Scooby Doo is more your style, we have the ultimate Clue game going on this Friday. The event will include nine crime scene investigations located throughout campus. Each location will allow the students to investigate, gather information, and obtain clues.

If you want some more information please visit our main page. Happy Halloween!

Everyday Life

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For those of our prospective students who may want to know what college life is like, today I am going to give you an overview 🙂

So for one, its kind of like living in a hotel with tons of other semi permanent residents. Since you are all living around each other for 8ish months you get to know people pretty well. So that makes things easy as far as having friends on campus is concerned.

Also, its like your job is going to class. There are some people who really don’t do their job well and there are those who do. It is up to you to choose as you are the boss of your career.

Its not like living at home, no one will do your chores for you and if you are hungry you are responsible for taking care of that. So I suggest learning how to do laundry before you leave home, ironing is a part of laundry as well. There  may be times where you need a nice suit for an interview or event on campus. The rest of the time you can dress how you choose but, remember you must make a good impression on your professors or they will not take you seriously as a student. So basically I suggest you dress within reason, no crazy doo’s, shorts are fine but no booty shorts, shirts should NOT show your stomach, also high heels on campus are so ridiculous. At Embry-Riddle you have to walk everywhere so it’s totally not worth the pain. For guys do not wear sweats or athletic clothes to class, it is sloppy and a lot of professors don’t like it. Try to wear jeans, nicer shorts, and a simple T shirt or polo.

Then of course when classes are done you do homework, hang out with friends, relax, attend campus events, and enjoy the many interesting places in our community 🙂

The whole week pretty much goes like this, some days are busier than most but regardless of the work load its a lot of fun!! Hopefully, you will  join us here soon!!!

Thanksgiving

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What will you do if you aren’t going to make it home for Thanksgiving in college? Well, I can answer that! It can be tough not to go home over Thanksgiving but, don’t be a loner!!! You can still have a lot of fun over the short break by connecting with other faculty or students in the area, trust me I did that my freshman year. 🙂

Even though I was totally bummed about being stuck at college over my favorite holiday, I found others who were in the same position me and we held our own thanksgiving potluck! 🙂 The best part was that I actually got two Thanksgivings that year as I was also invited, with some of my other classmates, to a professor’s house where we spent a fun evening playing board games and enjoying another potluck.

Even though I was away from my family it was a wonderful Thanksgiving over which I made some new friends and learned about how friends are not only your social network but, your extended family away from home. So don’t be sad and go have fun!

Entrepreneurship as Spoken by Dr. Kodimer

Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a business or organization. Last week Oct. 7th was IEEE day. And as a member of the student IEEE branch at ERAU I am glad to announce that in celebration Dr. Kodimer at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University gave a speech on entrepreneurship and his professional experience.

Today I will go into a few of the interesting topics he chose to discuss with us which includes goals, marketing, and a few other great discussions.

First and foremost I’d like to start by saying not everyone’s goal is the same, and your goal to be an engineer may change to being an entrepreneur. For many, it may be to own a small company that does good for the community OR, you may want your company to grow as large as Sony, Apple, or Microsoft.

It all depends. Dr. Kodimer stated, ” Remember the prime directive”.  No matter what the goal may be, it can be easy to get lost in the ownership of the company and lose track of what may be best to survive.

One of the key things he listed in his speech was what it takes to be an Entrepreneur. Health — a clear mind; Knowledge — in the field of need; Integrity, Courage — higher risks; Compassion — for others on the team; and lastly Marketing! What to say and how plays a large enough roll to severely impact your success. Dr. Kodimer revealed something called a push for market and a pull for market. A push for market is when you design something for a target group that they don’t yet know they need/want. While a pull for market is when a target group needs a solution or item that may or may not exist.

There is much more to discuss so if you have further questions or knowledge that you would like to share please contact me or leave a comment.

Thank you.

olimskia@my.era.edu

Career Expo at Embry-Riddle

Wow! What a crazy week. If you don’t already know this past week on Thursday          Embry-Riddle, Prescott campus held the school year’s first career expo. Followed by that starting on Friday was OctoberWest. Today I will go a bit into the career expo, and my next blog will be about OctoberWest.

As far as the career expo goes, for those whom never been to one I will give you a short description then I will discuss about this year’s expo.

A career expo consists of companies looking for interns, co-ops, or new employees. Usually career expos happen on a school campus. For instance at Embry-Riddle we have companies ranging from Garmin AT, Boeing, Honeywell, Edwards Air Force Test Center to the FBI and to Airlines looking for pilots. As an example this year Honeywell was only looking for Electrical-Engineer interns but Boeing was looking for a wide variety of Engineer interns.

Career expos are mostly if not always a professional environment, this means you need to dress appropriately (suits, business formal, etc…).

Fortunately for me I happen to be studying Electrical Engineering which is one of the most desired degrees of study at the moment. Most engineering companies are looking for experienced and knowledgeable young men and women. So if you are a freshman that has yet to take any higher level engineering classes, you are probably out of luck. But this is a great chance for you to connect with companies, learn what they’re about and make connections within the industry.

If you are a junior or senior your chances of obtaining an internship or a job are greatly improved. For those looking for a job/internship, it is customary to research the companies you plan on talking with. This shows you are very interested in there companies and you won’t be wasting their time.

So the next time the career expo comes around don’t forget to attend no matter what year you are in, learn about the atmosphere and what to expect and how to act.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow I will update you on OctoberWest so stay tuned.

Career Day

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For those of our students who haven’t heard, its Career Day today!!! Grab that resume and head on down to our Activity Center where numerous Aerospace companies have gathered to educate you about the opportunities that await when you graduate. Additionally, there might be some internship opportunities involved 🙂 But, you will never know if you don’t get out there ans start the job search.

Many companies actually love to hire interns as they are good potential employees. An internship is for you to decide if you want to work in a particular side of the Aerospace industry and also for the corporation to evaluate you. If you do well enough you have a shot at an awesome job after graduation. If that doesn’t motivate you, here is something that will! Some internships or Co-ops provide college credits and you get paid to learn more about the industry/your future career.

Grab that resume and get going!!!!

Roommate Relationships

As of last weekend I took a camping trip at Lake Powell with my roommates, so with the experience I had I feel this is a great time to go into roommate relationships. There are s couple topics at hand but first I will get into what it is like having roommates. Then I will go into how to deal with them whether you like them or not along with some of my personal experiences.

Having roommates, one of two things can happen; 1) You like them and enjoy there company possibly becoming best friends or roommates in future semesters or two, you have serious roommate problems and cannot stand them. Both happen quit often and are very possible. Fortunately for me I have enjoyed my roommates and become very close to them.

Most of the roommates if not all are also new to the scene, just new to college no parents, new friends and a new lifestyle. It is a drastic change that we all deal with, but how you react to it and how you handle your relationships are all variables. In other words no one can tell you how your roommate relationships will turnout. But with a little effort from all parties it ca turn out nicely.

As I have just experienced a camping trip last weekend with my roommates, I hvae some good advice. The tip that you should hold at the top of your list is be PATIENT. yes be patient as you would with anyone else, at the same time if you encounter a problem confront it. Have a normal conversation about whats on your nerve. That is really the only thing to do I you don’t want your relationship with your roommates turning upside down.

You Will experience great moments and sad ones with your roommates, but all in all in the end all the experiences we have together shape our personalities. So take advantage of having a roommate and really get to know the person, I did and it has been one of the best decisions I have made being here at Embry-Riddle.