Embry Riddle Dancing Eagles

Competition Team after an amazing performance at Xi Man!

So I suppose I can skip all the "new year, new me" stuff, I know I've been completely AWOL lately.

Anyway, this year has been FULL of adventures! I joined so many new clubs, including PAWS, which helps take care of the working cats on campus, The Riddle Off-Roaders, and I got back into RC flying. I also joined a new organization called SWISE, which stands for Society of Women in Space Exploration. But by and far the most adventurous thing I've done is...I joined the Dance Team. Embry-Riddle Dancing Eagles. I've never done anything like this, as anyone who knows me knows, I've always gotten my kicks backstage. But I've performed on the quad, at basketball games, and even onstage. I'm getting out of my comfort zone, and now I have so much to share with all of you!

At first, the dance team scared the living daylights out of me. I walked in to their first "intro" class, and I just looked around at all these people who were introducing themselves with how much training they had in dance...and then there was me. "Hey, I'm me, and my dance training is watching other people dance from backstage." Wow, I felt like a fish out of water. But the second thing to surprise me about them was how nice they were; how welcoming. It's quickly become a highlight, something I look forward to every week. No matter how bad my week is, knowing I have dance pushes me through to Friday. Dance team is divided into two sub-teams, there's the performers who go do like basketball games and talent shows and stuff, and the competition team, who just won their first title and are going to NATIONALS. HOW COOL IS THAT? I'm not the competition team, but sometimes I go as a supporter, although I can never completely leave my Stage Manager tendencies behind! Here are some of the amazing people I get to dance with every week.

 

 Hafiy is the captain of the team, and a really talented dancer. He always has so much energy and is very kind and has awesome facial expressions when he dances! He's always encouraging everyone-even me, and I have turned tripping over my own two feet into an art form.

Hafiy pictured before the Team Xi Man performance, with Zack and Kelsey












Kelsey is another amazing dancer. She choreographed the first dance I ever did with Dance Team. She is super-smart and friendly. As you can see from the pictures, she's always smiling!

And, lest you think we work TOO hard, we always find time to relax and hang out and talk. Even if it's just while we're stretching. Everyone is so willing to help each other, it would seem fake if you didn't know these people, and know how nice they actually are. It's not fake, they genuinely ARE a team in every sense of the word

Another thing I've learned and appreciate about the dance team is how supportive they are of each other. While the competition team was performing, people who weren't performing but are in dance came to support their teammates! Here's Alyssa and Lauren waiting for the doors to open at Xi Man!

Alyssa's best friend on the team is Alexis. They always high-five before the dance in rehearsals, and I consider it good luck, even though I don't know the backstory of it. Alexis lives in the same complex as me and she's super talented. (Ok, yes, I say that about everyone, but you have to see these people dance!) Her smile is infectious, if she's laughing, she'll make sure you're in on the joke and will make you laugh too.

This is one of the "social events" Dance Team does. At this one, we went to Oceans Dance Studio, where we learned new dancing styles. Here we learned the cha-cha and the Tango and the teacher danced with me, so that was cool.

Skye, Annalise, and Amy are currently choreographing the next dance we'll be performing at an event called Squawk. It's like a talent show for Orientation Team. I have no idea what Squawk is, but I plan to have fun in the doing of it. I practice the dance a lot-no, video of me tripping over my own two feet will not follow.

We practice in the gym every week on Friday Nights. That means I don't go to TNG events and get bonus bucks on Fridays anymore, but I don't even mind, surprisingly. I'm actually having so much fun at Dance, and I enjoy the company of these people so much. I'm surprised by how much I admire these people, but also very much consider them friends and teammates. I mean, look at these smiling faces, how can you even DOUBT we're having fun in there? (Ok, to be fair, we were also trying to get this done quickly cuz we wanted cake, which was just outside this picture, haha.)

 Photo creds to Dance Team Photographer

I've danced in TWO of the dance performances. The first one was where I danced on the quad. We wore camo, and Alexis did my makeup. We also did it at the soccer game the next day. We did that one for homecoming, and it's up on Facebook on the dance team Facebook page

I'm in the hat, stage left in the photo. Photo creds to Dance Team Photographer

The second one was choreographed by Zack and Skye, and I managed not to fall off the stage, which is what I was really afraid would happen. Anyway, that dance was at Riddle's Got Talent, put on by my own Riddle Players. You can watch that on the Dance Team Facebook Page too. 

Next week is spring break, and I'll be home for a week, see my mom and my puppy. I can't believe it's finally my SENIOR SEMESTER! I graduate in May, and I will officially be the first in my immediate family to have my Bachelor's! More photos and videos will follow shortly, so keep it here!

xoxo Martian

Touch-N-Go Incentive Trip!

Hey Everyone! Well, it's that time of year again. What? Christmas? No! It's Touch-N-Go INCENTIVE! 
Welcome back to another Episode of The Little Martian Girl. It's been awhile. Welcome back to Touch-N-Go Productions. The Gold Standard for Campus Activities. We've had another year fly by, and we're back...ironically, in black.

It's nearing the end of the year, and students are rushing to the office. Everyone is asking one question; "Did I make hours?" This means-did I attend half of Touch-N-Go meetings and, out of the 96 hours we spent putting on events, did I do at least half of those? The answer, for about twenty of us, was a resounding "Yes!" And so, on a Saturday in November, we piled into the School Transportation Vehicles, and off we headed to Orlando.

We got there within an hour of leaving-around 130. After bags had been searched, and admission bracelets adorned each member's wrist, everyone rushed to the Go-Karts for a traditional TNG Race.

Here we are, waiting our turn, in our handsome Black-and-White Member Polos, indicating our status and making it very easy to find each other

Here we are, identifiable as ever, looking cool, walking in a group, in our Member Polos....

Well, within an hour, my best friend arrived, and off we went to the carousel, tilt-a-whirl, the Fun Slide, the ScramBlurr, and to ride the Go-Karts again. 

And occasionally take a break...

Riding the Rip Curl

Arguably my favorite photo, taken from the old wooden roller coaster looking up.

Then, we all went off to Dinner, a treat paid for by Touch-N-Go, and, by extension, The SGA.

 The place we went was called Texas de Brazil-a dinner place that cost $50/person and there isn't even a menu! They bring different foods (mostly meat) to your table and you say "yes, I'd like to try that" or "No, thank you."

Look at this fancy Ketchup!! It comes on its own boat!

Look at this Dessert Selection! (I went for the Chocolate Cake)

My favorite was the mashed potatoes. Look
at the fancy little boats that the sides were
served in!

 Everybody got very excited when they brought the dessert selection around. It was a very serious debate!

 Annd Finally...the Touch-N-Go Group Photo

As you can see, some of my old friends are still around, and I've made some new ones along the way. It's been a great adventure so far, and we aren't done yet. We're rocking and rolling here, and this was a great time, and a fun bonding experience. Well worth the over 70-odd hours I logged to earn the right to be here and call myself, still, a member of Touch-N-Go.

Stay tuned, amd keep visiting me here for more updates on my adventures!

xo -Martian

Tolland Town is Burning Down...Goodbye, Goodbye...

Well this weekend was a fun one, though tinged with sadness. My sister, serina, and I, set off to Tolland Mass for an Alumni Camptastic Weekend at Camp Timber Trails

Our camp is closing! My sister grew up here, and the camp director reached out to make sure we were both coming. So I, not very keen on the great outdoors, packed up a change of clothes, a sleeping bag, and my Bunny (dressed in full scout regalia) and headed north with my sister.

Day One was a lot of fun. As all scout events do, we began with an opening flag ceremony. We say the pledge, and the Girl Scout Promise. The promise goes as follows (you hold up your middle three fingers, and the pinky and thumb come down in the palm)

On my honor, I will Try

To serve God

And my country

To help people at all times

And to live by the Girl Scout Law

Photo Credits

Our motto is that we "learn the promise, 

live the law." The Girl Scout Law is in the photo here

To Follow our Location through the camp, I've linked to a map here.  

Our Flag ceremony was out-of-doors, and our fellow scouts raised the flag high above the camp. It was gifted to Timber Trails and had flown over Afghanistan. It was due to be retired at the end of Alumnae Weekend, a ceremony I partook in. But, we'll get to that.

I think what makes Camping so great is the food! After opening flag, we were treated to lunch, which consisted of the standard fare; hamburgers, a healthy fruit option, Bug Juice, and Cookies! What's Bug Juice? Well, we thought it was Kool-Aid, because it was pink. (For those of you that don't get it...it's fruit punch)














 Then came what has always been my favorite part-unsupervised free time! The archery range was open, the waterfront, the smallcraft area, and arts and crafts! 

Serina and I went out on the water in Kayaks, and I tried Archery for the first time since Camp Oj. Notice I didn't do too badly! No one died, anyway. That counts.

We went out on the water, although I unfortunately do not have any cool photos of that. For obvious reasons, I didn't particularly want to take my phone out...in a kayak. We traveled behind Blueberry Island, and out to the very edge of the lake. Afterwards, we went ahead and got ourselves settled into our bunks...um, dorms...um, cabins. 

We also did our fair share of arts and crafts.... I love friendship bracelets, and No fleece was safe from my no-tie-blanket SWAPS

Dinner was served in true Timber-Trails style, with singing, Grace, and passing of the food. We had a "hopper"-someone who goes and gets the food, helps set the tables, and otherwise is the "head of household" for the night.































Later that night, we gathered around the campfire at our campsites with other troops and alumane who had also come to make s'mores and remember the best things about Timber-Trails. I have to say, I roast a mean marshmallow.

The next morning consisted of an early wake-up to retire the flag that had flown over Timber Trails for years. The flag flew over Afghanistan in February 2012, and was presented to the Girl Scouts for the Centennial anniversary of Scouting. We were going to partake later in a flag retirement ceremony. As they told us, this was not a burning of the flag-this was the retiring of a symbol. It's cut into pieces to ensure a complete burning, and to make clear it is no longer a flag when it is cut. Each Scout participating received a piece of the flag, and a small quote about what that stripe, or star meant, or a founding principle. Out of respect for the solemnity of the ceremony, there are no pictures of the Flag retirement. However, a sample of what each Scout said can be found here. I was a stripe.

This was my stripe. 

Before the flag retirement was a quick Lunch in the dining hall, much less formal than dinner and breakfast. (Breakfast having been another fun Timber-Trails style affair 😊) Lunch consisted of hamburgers, watermelon, and my favorite memory of Girl Scouts-GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! (No All Abouts or Tagalongs, unfortunately, but we did have the classics-Thin Mints, Trefoils, and the new Cookie of the season-S'mores, which really wasn't that bad)

After that, it was time to head to the beach! Unfortunately, this wasn't such a party, as a last chance to tell the other scouts, our fearless leader, Ms. Val, and Timber Trails herself what this place meant to you. We wrote down our memories, we sang songs, and lastly, we burned the Timber Trails T's. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with some music!






















I had some treasured memories from Timber Trails, though I was never personally an overnight camper, and as we gathered round to memorialize our memories in our beach campfire, I snapped a quick picture to be sure I remembered them.

As the sun set, There were two T's-for the initials "Timber Trails" that were set up in the lake, waiting to be burned into eternity.

Following our small campfire, we set our wish boats out on the lake... They were made of sticks, twigs, leaves, and adorned with a candle, symbolizing sending our wishes out into the world

The next morning was a last chance to say goodbye. I took up my chance, and walked through the camp, snapping photos as I went. Some pictures from that morning...

The Director's Cabin

The Play Field

This is the Camp Site Serina Called home, and the one she requested for our stay. I went back to get a solid Panoramic View. This is Rocky Knoll, and it's WAAAYYYY behind everything else. It was an adventure to find! Thankfully, I had a good tour guide. I wanted to get this picture exactly as you'd first see it as you walked in. I hope you get the same feeling I did.

And so, We bid goodbye to our Program Center....

And set off into the world.

I keep telling myself this is not goodbye. This is "see you later." We'll miss you Timber Trails. 

Aintcha mighty sorry? Goodbye, Goodbye...Aintcha Mighty sorry, Goodbye Rocky Knoll, Bending Tree, Birch Valley, Rocky Point, Watercrest, Windy Pines,...Goodbye Timber Trails.