Christmas In the Dorms

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Cherie

The holidays can be a difficult time of year for students but, here at Embry Riddle Prescott we try to keep the spirits up 🙂 Our campus really likes to celebrate so every on campus office decorates and puts up a tree, each dorm decorates with lights and has light show competitions, RA’s host Christmas parties, and so much more!!

This year my room mates and I didn’t get a tree so we drew a massive tree on our white board and placed our presents on the table underneath it. Next to our tree we improvised a fire place and opened our presents by the “fire”. Although it was definitely a college style Christmas it was so much fun!!! Other students went around the hall passing out chocolate covered pretzels and hot cocoa, so we had a wonderful pre Christmas celebration 🙂

No matter where you are going for Christmas or whether you celebrate the holiday or not we welcome you to come join our fun at Embry Riddle. We are a community waiting to share the holidays with you. So come on by for a visit, apply, or give us a call today to hear more about what Embry Riddle can offer you.

Flying home for break?

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Cherie

If you plan on flying home for Christmas break it might be better to book those tickets now if you haven’t already!! Ticket prices can increase exponentially over the holidays as families try to get their loved ones together for the occasion, so don’t get stuck with out transportation or worse yet, a very expensive travel bill!!!

Most college students who have to fly home for the holidays buy their tickets months ahead of time. We like to do this because the tickets are cheaper, we can plan around our finals, and as Christmas gets closer we won’t spend most of your gift money on a plane ticket.

This is basically a plane ticket home from college

Buying a ticket and flying home by yourself may seem a little scary for those first timers but, don’t worry it’ll be fine. Its really not as difficult as it seems. What I would advise a first timer to do is research the luggage requirements, terminal location, and the baggage check process. Once you know what to do its really no big deal. It is also extremely important to arrive early at the airport and if possible have someone drive you. This way you don’t have to worry about parking a car or paying to park a car. It s a lot easier that way!!!

I hope these tips have been helpful 🙂 Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Christmas is coming up fast!

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Cherie

We all know that as soon as Thanksgiving is over people nationwide will hit the stores in the gifting rush of Christmas. So, the question is how do you find the perfect gift? Well, I always like to think of a persons interests, so for girls i always get jewelry because us girls like things that glitter no matter who they are. For guy friends I always get them something useful, like food, a scarf, gloves..etc. Guys can be really hard to shop for lol.

For my parents I often go with chocolates because there’s not much that they want that a college student can afford ha-ha. Well, its that reason and parents are even harder to shop for because most of the time they say that they have everything and that they don’t want a gift. so chocolates or college T shirts are the route I always take 🙂

Lets see for best friends I always get something kinda cheesy or at least something that reminds them of all the ridiculousness of high school.

Soooooooo for whoever you will be shopping for I hope that these tips/ideas help and good-luck!! Merry Christmas!!!!

Thanksgiving Plans

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Cherie

We know that a lot of students do not get to go home for Thanksgiving for their first year in college so here at Embry Riddle we try our best to ensure that our students have somewhere to go. For instance, the dining hall offers a Thanksgiving dinner for students who are here on campus, sometimes professors open their homes to students as well.

Seniors and other students who live off campus often will have all their friends over for dinner, and those who live nearby also bring friends home with them for the evening. All in all, it is holidays that show the community spirit that has developed here at Embry Riddle Prescott. We try are best to make everyone feel welcome and at home for the time that they are taking courses at our campus. And for those of us who have been here and have seen it many times we are proud to say that we come from Embry Riddle, and we care for our fellow students.

We invite you to apply and take part in our community here at Riddle, we will be more than happy to welcome you in!!! See you next year!!!

Holiday Travel

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Cherie

No matter how you will be getting home for Thanksgiving this year, the most important part of traveling is safety. I know we all hear this every year but, it is still essential to practice safety as you make your way home this holiday season.

So some things to look out for if you are driving are:

1. Driving late at night/tired

2. Ice on the road or bad weather conditions

3. Vehicle maintenance issues- before you head out check your oil, brakes, coolant….etc.

If you happen to be flying home:

1. Print your boarding passes and arrive at the airport early!!

2. Do not leave your items unattended EVER

3. Don’t be too friendly with strangers….yes we have heard this a million times but it still applies!!!

If you are just going down the road or across town:

1. Be aware of driving conditions

2. Do not rush, its better to get there late and in one piece than not at all…..

And of course no matter how you travel use your common sense. The main idea is to have a wonderful holiday and come back safe!!! On that note, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

Veteran’s Day Events

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Cherie

As we all know Veteran’s day is also fast approaching so you might wonder, what the students of Embry Riddle Prescott do to honor our veterans……well….we do alot of different things. From the ROTC side of life we do a veteran’s day parade, the Honor Guard (my team!!!!) does a 24 hour Vigil at the veteran’s memorial hospital, and we go out to the veteran’s hospice to keep them company throughout the day.As for the rest of the campus, not much really goes on because our students go out into the community to get involved with the events in downtown Prescott.

No matter who you are and what you do, just take a moment this Veteran’s day to stop and thank a veteran for their service. They volunteered to do what only 1% of Americans do, and have made immense sacrifices to ensure the freedoms that we take for granted daily. They should ever be forgotten, and neither should or POW/MIA.

With that said, have a good, fun, and safe veteran’s day. I look forward to participating in Vigil and the Parade again this year so you might be able to see me there if you can find me (I’m short and hard to see because i blend in with all the Air Force Blues) !!!

Thanksgiving Break is on its way!!

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Cherie

In about two weeks Embry Riddle’s Prescott campus will be celebrating Thanksgiving Break, and boy are we ready for it!!! We have a mixture of students who go and home for Thanksgiving and those who do not. If you should choose not to go home during Thanksgiving do not fear, we are here for you!!!

Our Dining Hall staff actually cooks a full Thanksgiving dinner for students to enjoy and professors always invite students over to their homes to celebrate as well. Last year, I was unable to go home for Thanksgiving, so me and a bunch of friends went over to my MATLAB professor’s house for dinner and had a wonderful time 🙂

Luckily, I will be going home this year and even though the break will only be four days long (because of travel time) I am very excited. There is nothing like a good home cooked meal and enjoying old traditions. Although now that we are all old college students, we can begin to make our own!!

So no matter where you will be celebrating this year, have a good time, and don’t be lonely!! The Embry Riddle community is here to welcome you and Thanksgiving is one of our favorite times of year 🙂

P.S. LOOK FORWARD TO THE TURKEY COMA!!!

Warrior Week

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Cherie

This week in Air Force ROTC is what we like to call Warrior Week. It is basically the week that we all bring the competition to prove which flight is the best in the detachment. The week includes flight competitions in sports, knowledge, and fitness. As well as costume contests for Halloween and wrapping it all up with an event called Dining In.

So we are beginning the week by constructing costumes, and wearing them to lead lab on Wednesday. I am not sure what my flight has decided to wear quite yet but, the overall theme of Warrior Week is combat superheros so it should be pretty interesting. I’m thinking superman T shirt and BDU pants, that superhero-y right?

Alpha Flight, the coolest flight Ever!! We won the costume contest!

Then we will have a bunch of sports, hopefully not cow tongue Frisbee like last year….that was really gross but amusing to watch. When the sports are all over then we will do knowledge competitions, and here at Dining In who won Warrior week and earns the Warrior Flight of the semester award.

Dining In, like I said earlier is a military tradition where the detachment gets together and enjoys each others company. During this time we have toasts to those who came before us and those who can no longer join us in our traditions. After the toasts, there is something called a grog, it is really really really disgusting but, if you did something really dumb durign the semester you are called to the grog. If you don’t have a witty rebuttal then you must drink a cup of grog to the last drop. If anything is left when you flip the cup upside down you have to take another serving!!!!

When the grog is all done we will eat and listen to guest speakers talk about their military service. When we are all done it is time for some fun, we go outside and have an epic water balloon fight between flights. At Embry Riddle we have Dining in at the Flight line in a maintenance hanger so its pretty entertaining to see people running around in costumes in the airport parking lot with water balloons.

Pumpkin Carving

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Cherie

Today some of our RA’s or Resident Assistants organized a pumpkin carving contest in preparation for Halloween. Some of the pumpkins were pretty awesome and others just plain gruesome. Overall though, the event was just another goofy even that we have here at Riddle to bring our students closer together around the holidays.

Our student body comes from all over the world, so when participating in events such as the pumpkin carving party it is entirely possible that you may meet someone who has never taken part in the tradition before. I met two such people today and it was really cool to be able to hear about their countries and make new friends all because of a simple tradition!

Events like this bring all of our students closer, and create a community on our campus that is unlike any other. We all love it here and we would like to invite you to come on over for a campus visit and experience it yourself. For a campus tour click here and learn more about what Embry Riddle Prescott has for you!!

Volunteer in the Community

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Cherie

Volunteering is a fun opportunity that can have amazing rewards in regards to personal growth, I strongly encourage you to go out there and get involved in the community wherever it is you choose to go to college. Some ways that Embry Riddle Prescott students get involved are: volunteering in local schools, tutoring, awareness walks, air shows, and cemetery cleanups.

Since I have been a student at Embry Riddle Prescott I have volunteered in vigil, cemetery cleanup, benefit auctions, air shows, and cemetery research. The one volunteering project that probably stands out the most, besides vigil is the cemetery work. Its kind of strange for a college student to be going out and cleaning up an old cemetery that know one even remembers, but it is something that i enjoy doing.

Embry Riddle’s AFROTC Honor Guard

I really like this project, as unlike my other volunteering experiences it is an ongoing effort to honor the veterans and other nameless individuals that are buried in a forgotten cemetery not too far from Prescott. The reason I have grown so attached to this work is that I actually had my first performance as a member of Honor Guard in that cemetery. Since then I have wanted to continue honoring those who lay at rest there, and my hope is to remind others to honor them too.

So what I mean when I say that volunteering can enhance your character is that you might find a passion in a very strange place, that overall will make you a better person. Ever since I began to volunteer in the cemetery I have achieved a greater respect for life and a curiosity about those who are unnamed. It has been a year since we started the project and every day I work a little on it, hoping that I will get closer to finding their names. There hasn’t been much luck but, within the next few years my goal is to inspire others to continue this work and to not allow our predecessors be forgotten.

So as you can see, volunteering has made a positive impact on not only myself but, on the community. Now people know about the cemetery and our work there, we are getting an even bigger following every year. It is my hope that others will find their own passions while volunteering and will pursue them in order to make not only themselves, but their community a better place.