Oh look, I didn't update in forever, again. Who cares?
Ehm, after glancing over the previous entry it looks like I have a bit to catch up on.
I did end up taking summer courses at ERAU, so I was away from Indiana for over a year. In the first half of summer I travelled to Japan for study abroad, more can be seen about that awesome trip over here.
Second half of summer was normal coursework back in Daytona. I took Environmental Science to finish up my physical science requirements and Drugs in Society to help finish up my Human Factors minor. I have no idea how I passed Drugs in Society, it was a class cleary geared for Human Factors majors who had actually spent time studying the subject. I was probably the lowest scorer in the class, but thankfully the professor understood my situation and gave me a nice curve up to a B.
All this time Mike started living with me at my apartment. He had graduated in the spring and was working at Sanford International until the FAA hired him. He would get his interview letter in the second half of summer, and then spend much of the fall at the Academy, leaving the apartment to myself. Around Thanksgiving he moved to his assigned facility.
For myself, in the fall I started my final semester at ERAU. I had finally gotten my GPA up to my graduation goal of over 2.6 after years of struggling. Never-the-less, I was determined to improve it further before I left. Unfortunately, the classes I chose for my final semester didn't turn out to be as easy as I thought they'd be. In fact, they were the exact opposite. All I really had to do was finish up my Human Factors credits and take the required Aviation Law course. To this end I enrolled in Human Factors in Aviation Safety and Aviation Law. Both turned out to be heavy in coursework with very difficult exams. For my HF group project I spent hours putting together information and data to end up with probably the most detailed part of the project. Our group did very well and was undoubtebly the best group of the class in the end.
My other two classes were Air Cargo Management and Aircraft Crash Investigation. Aircraft Crash Investigation was pretty fun and interesting. The tests required that I study a fair amount for them, which was new to me, since I usually can just sponge up information in class. I ended up leading the group project for that class, although I don't feel I did a very good job of it. Air Cargo Management was supposed to be an easy elective just to fill credits, right up until the professor on the first day said those who took this class to fill electives would likely fail. He wasn't kidding, this was probably my hardest class while at Riddle. However, I did put in the effort, especially after having to babysit my group project (and rewriting most of my group member's parts because of their junior high level grammar). The final project in that class, a 12 page research paper, I spent several nights at the library and at home piecing together. The result was probably my finest work in college, although its a bit dry (its a brief description on the layout and design of air cargo terminals).
And so the days of university quickly dwindelled and as December rolled around it began to dawn on me that I was finally going to graduate. I graduated alongside my former roomate and friend Greg, and 48 hours later was back home in Indiana. Of course, then my problems began.
I had yet to take my FAA ATSAT, which is a pre-employment test required of all CTI graduates and anyone else hoping to become an air traffic controller. Finally I was notified of my test date in March, except the test location was back in Daytona. So I boarded a plane and flew down, spending the night in my friend Matt's dorm on campus before heading over to the test location in the morning. Several other test takers that day were acquantices from school, so that helped settle my nerves. We were given a maximum of 8 hours to take the test, I believe I finished in 4 even with my breaks. It was very difficult, but I was confident of how I did (although still nervous at the same time). About a month later I recieved my scores. I opened the letter to find I had scored a 94.5 out of 100. To say I was happy with that is an understatement.
Litterally minutes after opening my test score I submitted my application to the FAA online. They had started using a new system called ASAP, I would soon find the irony is such a name, as it would take 3 long months for them to finally contact me about where I would have my interview. So yesterday I recieved the e-mail about that. As all the Pre-employment processing centers are too far away for me to justify attending, I've decided to take the longer process of local employment processing. It may in the end be shorter then going to the PEPC in Memphis since the date for that is 2 months from now. So, thats where I stand now.
Oh, and I've requested employment in the state of Washington. Once I recieve my academy date I'll drive to Oklahoma, do my six weeks at the academy, and then head straight to my facility in Washington. So I've decided to leave Indiana for good, aside from coming back to visit. I think Washington is the perfect place for me and I want to try living somewhere completely new again (this will be the third time I've done that).
Finally, the closest thing I have to a regularly updated blog or journal is really my Flickr account. It won't give an exact description of my life, but I'm sure you can judge from my pictures what I'm up to.
Later.
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