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March 26, 2009
Spring Break 2009 Part 1
So for the first time in my history of being at Embry-Riddle, I FINALLY left campus for spring break, and yes, it was glorious. I’ve always worked on campus during spring break, and I decided that this was going to be the last opportunity for me to enjoy spring break without working about school or my job…haha, yea right. The teachers love to pile on the homework right before you get onto spring break. Sounds pretty evil, eh? Well, spring break wasn’t all break, but I enjoyed every second that I had.
The big question: Where did I go for spring break? Like my other blogs, which I’m sure you’re are tired of hearing, I flew back down to Daytona, FL to spend time with my boyfriend and to check out a few possible grad schools. We had a lot of events that we had to go to in a whirlwind, and so here I go:
I was able to meet with the ERAU Crew club and watched two of their boats compete. I’ve only been to a paddling meet back home. I have never a crew meet, so this was definitely an interesting experience to see what they do and how they prepare. As a team they take-off and put back on the trailer their boats, which was carefully driven behind their coach’s truck. They have to screw on the riggers to the side of the boats and then make sure that its level so that the oars will go straight while they race. The teams are split into different weight groups for racing to ensure fairness, kind of like wrestling. The steers make sure that they know what time their race is so that the team can bring out their boats and row out to the starting line. When the race starts, most of us will go near to the finishing line and start cheering for the team to stroke harder and row faster while the steer yells at them in the boat. Both teams did fairly well. My boyfriend didn’t get to row because he had hurt his back earlier that season, however his teammates and coach look up to him a great deal for support and help on the boats.
We had to hurry back to the boathouse in Daytona to put the boats and equipment away, and go home to shower and get ready for one of the main events and highlights of my trip: Þorrablót . Yes, this is a strange word for all of us to learn, but I had to learn how to pronounce it in Icelandic. This is kind of like their end-of-winter festival celebration, where back in the day, they would eat up all the rest of the food that they hadn’t eaten during winter…so from the examples the I had gotten from a few Icelandic buddies of mine, sheep balls are really good, stay away from the scrambled brains and shark that has been underground for three months. Well, when we got to Orlando to celebrate Þorrablót, of course everyone was speaking Icelandic. I had no idea what was going on…all I know is that everyone had a drink in hand. I guessed what was going on throughout most of the program: the host introduced himself, gave a background on the event, said some jokes, and called up the tables one-by-one to eat. There was a very long table full of food: squash, a type of bread with two different types of spreads, bits of shark, dried fish (which is very yummy!), lamb’s head, some chopped up lamb parts, and some amazing and soft lamb! The food was delicious
The rest of the night was learning some folk songs, some really random songs, folk dancing and waltz dancing. I had a really awesome time, and definitely thanked my boyfriend for an amazing evening of food, fun, and culture. The rest of the night, we chatted with people from Iceland, and mind you there were about 200 people there, chatted with people who married Icelanders, and those who have traveled to that country. This was definitely one of the best ways to interact and gain knowledge of another culture.
March 23, 2009
The Week Before Spring Break
So, as most of you know, Spring Break is almost here and I can’t wait to get out of here and take a break from school! Unfortunately, I have to drag through this last week of school before I can reach that heavenly vacation I’ve been needing all semester. The teachers, of course, have assigned big projects, papers, or exams right before you can thing or smell spring break. Each day goes by ever so slowly, and the evenings of homework drag out even longer. I had 2 big projects and homework that were due before I left, and trust me when I say that I had not gotten any sleep that week.
My roommate and I stayed up to nights straight to finish and turn in our Macroeconomics assignment early, since she had to leave early to give a presentation in Maryland for her McNair research project. We also had a group project that we worked on for our Emergency Management course, which again left me with another sleepless night. Yes, I will have to admit to a bit of procrastination on the last project, however most of the information for our project we already had but didn’t start putting together in a power point…oops! We gave our presentation on Thursday, and mind you I was already dead to the world, so I had to drink a red bull to keep myself away during my part of the presentation.
Oh, does it feel good to have gotten those big projects done…but here’s the side effect of knowing that spring break is coming: teachers also like to give really big exams the week after spring break, and assign a bunch of homework for us to do during our vacation. Isn’t that lame? Well, that’s the reality of the life of a college student. I in fact have 2 big papers that I need to finish by mid-April. I would rather get them done and out of the way during break, but my mind will only thing of vacation and not of reading books.
March 3, 2009
Becoming Greek
As I was going up, I have always been told by people around me that when I go to college, I should never join a sorority. I’ve been told that they’re crazy, they haze, and they party really hard. But, is this really true of Greek life?
This past summer, I got to taste a bit of not only what it means to be Greek, but most importantly, what it means to be apart of a sorority. I had the opportunity, while on my trip to China, to hang out with three Alpha Xi Deltas from the Embry-Riddle Florida campus for about a month. Granted that I also have hung out with a lot of the Alpha Xi Deltas here from the Prescott campus and am friends with most of them, I got a whole different view of how much they stick together and support each other away from the comforts of home and school. Like many of the Greek organizations we see around campus, these Alpha Xi Deltas displayed their pride for their sorority by wearing their jerseys and letters around China, including on their hike on the Great Wall of China.
There were two other representatives from two other Greek organizations: Sigma Alpha Epsilon & Sigma Chi. They also wore their letters to show their pride. The Greeks stuck together for a lot of the trip, much like a close family that they relied on while they were away from home. Now you must be asking yourself: why am I telling you this story? Well, hold on a bit…you’ll soon get your answer.
I’ve been here at Riddle for almost four years, and have been apart of the Women’s Volleyball team, which I had considered as my sorority. I told myself and the people around me that I would never join an official Greek organization. Now that I am officially done with my eligibility for volleyball, I really don’t see or hang out with many of the girls. I’ve been concentrating on school, work, and the other organizations that I am apart of. However, thanks to my experiences in China, I have decided to finally go Greek. Better late then never, eh?
I must say, however, that there are a lot of misconceptions about the Greek system in general and I have learned a lot in the past month and a half about the sorority that I am a New Member of, along with what Greeks really do. I’ve learned that all the Greek organizations on this campus have their own Philanthropy programs, which basically where a lot of the Greeks do volunteer work and raise money for charitable causes, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters or the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I believe that this is one quality that Greeks has always been overlooked by everyone who looks down on them.
I have also observed, especially in girls here in Alpha Xi Delta, a lot of them hold leadership positions and are very much involved with other aspects of school besides just doing school work. There is a strong bond between all of them, and even if they bicker over something, they always come back together because they are family. One could go all over the United States, and find another Alpha Xi Delta sister and instantly create a bond because of the bond they already share through their sisterhood. They Alpha Xi Deltas here are very helpful to each other, open, and supportive of what ever they do.
I have learned a lot in a short amount of time about what Alpha Xi Delta is about and how it can help me to grow and find my potential in whatever I want to be in, and so this is why I am now a New Member. All I ask from my readers is that you keep an open mind about the Greek organizations…what you may hear or see them as portrayed on television isn’t what is real.
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