Well, it’s that time of year again… volleyball spring training!  Fun right?  Well this morning my team and I all went into the wrestling room and did P90X for about an hour.  Let me tell you… I am DEFINITELY going to feel that tomorrow.  We’re not in the Activity Center this week for practice because over Christmas break, a pipe (or pipes) broke and totally messed up our gym floor!  That’s not the only place that got hit with burst pipes… my apartment complex got hit too!  My friend’s pipes (who also lives in the complex) burst as well because Prescott is SOOO COOLLDDD!!  Luckily Lauren and my pipes were intact when we got back, but it hasn’t warmed up any since then!  The other day, it was 8 degrees.  NOT including wind chill.  I thought that my face was going to freeze off, but luckily it didn’t!

This is how ERAU looked over Christmas.  Luckily it isn’t AS cold now, but it’s pretty dang close!  Photo courtesy of Wynter Schneider Krisha.

On Tuesday, the cold did not stop people from going to the speaker at Embry-Riddle, who gave a speech on the “12 Steps to Diversity.”  I thought that the speaker, Mohammed Bilal, did a fantastic job.  Not only was he on Real World on MTV, his poems/raps were so deep and I loved what he had to say about the world all connecting on a more personal level.  I’m so glad that I braved the cold to listen to his speech.  It was SOO worth it!

Here was the advertisement for the speech.  And yes, there were drinks and cookies provided… oh I love ERAU.

“There is only one success – to spend your life your own way.”

-Christopher Morley

I most definitely am going to have a fantastic semester.  One of the classes that I am super excited about is my Forensics class, with Dr. Robert Baker.  He is the program director for Global Security and Intelligence Studies, and is working on a new track for students in GSIS called Security Operations.  Here is what the Embry-Riddle website says about him: 

“Professor Baker served four decades in law enforcement, corporate security and government security positions and is a expert in aviation security.”

And he’s my teacher.  Awesome!  My first encounter with him was last semester, at the 6th Annual National Security and Intelligence Symposium, where he addressed the audience with a speech on airport security which I thought was very interesting.  Now I get to have a class with him!  A class that is VERY interesting.  So far we’ve learned about fingerprints, their types and how to fingerprint someone.  Last class period, my friend and fellow teammate on the volleyball team Darja and I got to dip each others fingers in ink and actually fingerprint each other.  The ink wouldn’t come off of my hands for about twenty-four hours, but that’s okay!  I learned that I have loops on my fingers, and Darja has whirls.  Those are the most common.  My little brother (who is ten and brilliant) told me BEFORE I even took the class that he had arches, and told me only about 5% of the world’s population has them.  And… he was right.  Of course.  Good job Levi!

I’m pretty sure that Dr. Baker has this exact same picture hanging up in our Forensics room.  Pretty sure.  Then again, fingerprints kinda look the same when you’re just starting to learn about them… Haha.

This is definitely something that I like learning about!  I can’t wait to go to our crime scene during the class and look for fingerprints!  Oh, how I love my school.

“Don’t wait.  The time will never be just right.”

-Napolean Hill

Christmas break was fantastic.  I loved being able to rest and relax for a change!  I got to see all of my family and friends and I had a great time.  I even got a little George Foreman grill so I could make yummy dinners at my own apartment!  (Last semester’s dinners included, well, frozen dinners.  That is not so this semester though!)  My family and I had a fantastic time hanging together.  Too bad it didn’t snow until New Year’s, but, better late than never!

This semester is going to be tough, but super fun!  I am taking Personality and Profiling with Dr. Bloom at eight a.m.  I have a good feeling about that class.  We start off listening to music that will wake us up, such as Dr. King’s Memphis Soul Stew!  (that was this morning!)  Then we have discussions about really interesting topics.  That class is stuffed!  You’d think that at eight in the morning, there wouldn’t be a lot of people.  WRONG!  There are 60 people in the class, with more trying to register!  It’s insanely packed.

Next I go to Chinese 2, with Yang Laoshi.  It is lots of fun.  This weekend we’re taking a field trip to the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix!  It is going to be a blast.  Then comes U.S. Foreign Policy, then Forensic Science (we get to do fingerprints on Thursday!), then Observing Asian Cultures.  All of these classes are going to be amazing, to say the least.  I also feel more comfortable in my classes, because I know most of the people in them.  That’s the good thing about being a sophomore in the GSIS program… we all take most of the same classes, so you get to make lots of friends and you see them EVERYWHERE.  No joke.  So that is my Spring 2011 semester!  I’ll keep you updated when I think of tips and lessons that I am learning here at ERAU.

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.”

-Lloyd Alexander