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My Life @ Riddle Daytona Beach EditionCarly Senior Aerospace Engineering Isabella Senior Engineering Physics Alumni Graduate Where are they now? A look at alumni Christine Graduate Systems Engineering and Business Administration Chloe Senior Aviation Business Administration Post navigation ← Older posts The Fourth and Final Riddle Rewind Posted on May 1, 2024 by Carly Reply I had the time of my life with you! The last day of classes has come and gone. As you’re reading this, the last assignment of my undergraduate degree has been completed and I’m just waiting for my grades to come in. That’s absolutely crazy for me to think about- I don’t feel like I’ve been here for even a year, much less four years. But here we go on the last and final Riddle Rewind. ( Freshman , sophomore , and junior year can be found at the links!) The WAMP O-Week Luncheon! The timing of my internship unfortunately didn’t work with O-Week, so I couldn’t be on the Orientation Team this year. However, I did make it back in time for a Women’s Ambassador Mentoring Program luncheon for all of the female freshmen, and I was given the opportunity to speak. It was a great experience! WAMP Ice Cream Social! WAMP events in the fall were a lot of fun- and this one had FREE ice cream! I couldn’t complain about that. ? My Women’s Ambassador trip to Pittsburgh! I had never been to Pittsburgh before, but it was definitely a cool experience. While I was there I also got to meet some cute cats in a cat cafe! Adopting my kitten, Radar! I adopted a five-month-old kitten named Radar back in late September after moving off campus and it’s one of the best things that I’ve done. He is the sweetest cat ever- and my roommates love him, too! He recently celebrated his first birthday, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch him grow. My Women’s Ambassador trip to Washington, D.C., and NYC ! Visiting D.C. and New York City was a whole lot of fun! It rained on my first night in NYC, but that didn’t stop me from having some late-night adventures. Open House 2023! Open House is always a lot of fun. There are always new people to meet and new things to learn! I volunteered for both the Women’s Ambassadors and Aerospace Engineering Student Advisory Board. Flying Into Finals Week! Pun… ha ha. Finals week isn’t fun, but going for a short flight in a Cessna was a lot of fun and a great way to relax before the stress of finals week hit. The Rolex 24 (and the Roar Before the 24)! I’ve never been to a car race before, but I thought that attending the Rolex 24 was a lot of fun. It’s definitely something to experience at least once if you’re here. Touch-N-Go Comedy Night! For Blue and Gold Week, comedian Ryan Kelly came to campus and gave an amazing one-hour comedy show. I laughed- a lot. My Women’s Ambassador trip to Boston and Hartford! Don’t get me wrong- I was SOOOO cold!! However, it was a lot of fun to walk around one of the United States’ oldest and most historic cities when I had the chance. Speaking about internships at the WAI Conference!! I never thought I’d be speaking at a conference as an undergraduate student, but I proved myself wrong. The Women in Aviation conference was a lot of fun, and being a speaker was an experience that I’ll never forget. The Last WA Trip – Ever! My last trip was to Washington, D.C., and Richmond, VA. I’d never been to Richmond, but I LOVE D.C., so I was happy to go. On the way back, I did get stuck by myself on an unexpected overnight in Charlotte- but hey, it was a new adventure. Preview Day 2024! Just like for Open House, I volunteered for the Women’s Ambassadors and Aerospace Engineering Student Advisory Board. Preview Day was also a lot of fun- over the Friday and Saturday that I worked, I got to meet a lot of new people who may be at ERAU this fall! Sun n’ Fun Airshow! I love airshows- so much so that I went to the Orlando Airshow (aka the Air Dot Show tour) the weekend after Sun n’ Fun. Airshows are a great opportunity for me to see aerospace in action- plus, just being around giant airplanes is cool. When I graduate, I’ll be working as a Space Systems Engineer, but still- airplanes are cool. I plan to go to as many airshows as I can even after I graduate! It’s been a lot of fun blogging these past four years- it’s made me get out and adventure more than I would’ve without. This is my last post as an ERAU student, but who knows- maybe one day I’ll come back and write about what my new life looks like after Embry-Riddle. I’m really thankful for every single opportunity I’ve had, and I hope you’ve found my posts interesting. See you in the skies! -Carly Posted in 2023 - 2024 | Tagged 2023-2024 , carly mcdonald , erau , Spring 2024 | Leave a reply The Orlando Airshow Posted on May 1, 2024 by Carly Reply This is so much better than watching Top Gun! As mentioned during the Sun n’ Fun post, I went to the Orlando Air Show! It was part of the Air Dot Show tour that went across the United States, and it stopped at the Orlando Sanford (KSFB) airport. I was definitely excited to go. While it had a few of the same performers from Sun n’ Fun, it also had a bunch of different ones. Instead of the Thunderbirds, the Blue Angels performed, and I’ve only seen them once before. There weren’t as many static displays to look at, but I got to get a lot closer than I did at Sun n’ Fun. They had an F-18 and a few older aircraft on display, and there were long lines to climb into the older aircraft. Of course, I took that opportunity. The airshow itself was awesome. The acrobatic performers were, as always, amazing to watch, but they also had plenty of things I’d never seen before. One of them was the Coast Guard demonstration of a water rescue from a helicopter. It was amazing to watch- they lowered the rescue swimmer down to the ground with a basket, collected a test dummy, and then safely brought everything back into the helicopter. I honestly haven’t been around helicopters much since we don’t have a helicopter program. The Coast Guard rescue demonstration. The F-22 Raptor demonstration team was also there, and I’ve never seen them before. I enjoyed the airshow- the F-22 has very powerful engines, and you can definitely feel their power. They also did heritage flight, and it was awesome to see historic and modern-day aircraft flying together. The Blue Angels were the final act, and they were awesome as ever to see. Their airshow was similar to the Thunderbirds in the fact that they had a diamond and two soloists, but the maneuvers were different. They were as majestic as ever, and I really enjoyed watching them in the heat. In my opinion, an airshow is worth the heat- as long as I use plenty of sunscreen! Having airshows in the area is one of my favorite parts about ERAU. I love aviation (even though I’m in the astronautics track!) and coming here has enabled me to go to a few different ones. I’ve had a lesser credit load this semester so I’m able to spend more time doing things outside of class, which has been a whole lot of fun. I’m graduating soon, but this isn’t the last post. So… I’ll see you in the next one! Posted in 2023 - 2024 | Tagged 2023-2024 , carly mcdonald , erau , Spring 2024 | Leave a reply College Advice From A Senior Posted on April 22, 2024 by Carly Reply Honestly, graduation seems years (not weeks!) away still… Sometimes I look around and wonder where the time went, since college seemed to flash by in the blink of an eye. Other times it felt so slow- waiting for the weekend, excited for the next trip I was taking, waiting for an internship. But here I am now just weeks away from graduating, and I’ve been thinking a bit about what I’ve done right vs wrong during my time here. When I work at admissions events, I get a lot of questions, including What would you change if you could do it all again?” So here’s my advice. GET INVOLVED. Join an organization you’re passionate about. Here’s how. It can be intimidating walking into a club meeting where everyone seems to know...