The end of an era

So the semester comes to an end. As the sun sets on this week, I recall the memories made and the friendships forged over this last school year. The everlasting bonds and the lessons learned. All the knowledge I have gained from my classes and experiences is something that I will forever cherish. I have learned more about myself in each one of the classes I have taken this semester. In college writing 1, I have learned that I have the potential to do more than I thought I could. Through the revision of my work, I now understand how much better I can write as I correct myself. I have gained the skills and knowledge that has helped brush up my work, bringing me a level up. I am happy with this course and I am excited to put my knowledge to use in other classes!

Inspiring Others

So I have mentioned that I'm a student worker in the aviation department. What I love about my job is working with kids and prospective students. Every so often, we have campus visit days where high schoolers would come and visit. I usually get put in charge of running the simulators and teaching the kids how to fly and land a plane. It's always a nice experience working with them and to some of them, being a person that can somewhat help them understand what a life in aviation will be like.

Something else I do is giving tours of the aviation building and its facilities. I usually give tours to a family and their kids and I think that this is the highlight of my job. By giving a 1-1 tour like the ones I give, I can answer any questions the family has about the school and the programmes we offer. I also try to be completely honest with how I feel about the courses offered here and how I like it too.

Living With Dorm Mates

I can't complain about my dorm mates in my section this semester. They have been amazing friends to me besides just dorm mates. It amazes me how well we clicked together and go out with each other for spontaneous Wal-Mart runs or "Nug" runs, which are nugget runs to McDonald's. They make for an amazing study group too especially since most of us are aviation majors. We do help each other out where we can and support each other too. They have been very welcoming to me and they make feel as if I fit in this foreign land. Oh and we have spontaneous Nerf wars in our section too!

Getting a car

Now that I have gotten my drivers license, I want to be able to use it. I went car shopping with my parents had had a look at some cars. It was an interesting process to go to different lots and test drive cars till I found something that I liked. It was exciting but at the same time, it was confusing. I had no idea what I was doing but I'm glad my dad was there to help with the process. I fell in love with my car and we proceeded to make a purchase then and there. Who doesn't love making monthly car payments?

Earning my drivers license

So I got my drivers license this semester. Not many people believe me seeing as earned my pilots license over the summer of last year but I would say that the hardest part of the test was making sure that I had all the paperwork that I needed to actually take it! I went to the secretary of states office in Joliet and the people there were actually pretty nice. They were welcoming and were in a way fun with our conversations. It's surprising how different reality can be from stereotypes. I did both the written and the practical test on the same day and got my license! It was a rather simple process and if you have to go to the DMV for any reason, I'd recommend the one in Joliet.

Working in groups

https://www.natoma.com/blog/content/2017/12/4/
journeying-through-servant-leadership

Working in groups can be a great thing. However, it may also be just as bad. It goes without saying that I had to work with groups in the army, often with different people from different backgrounds. Despite our differences, it always seemed to work out. We always managed to complete our tasks on time or early and we were always productive. Like clockwork, if you will.  There seems to be a rather large difference here in college. I often find myself struggling to get done with work in groups due to a lack of motivation among my peers, and perhaps even a lack of leadership. I often wonder what the difference is and I believe that it is the strength of leadership within the group. In the army, we had appointed leaders who earned their ranks and positions who were able to motivate their troops. Whereas here in college, it is up to each one of us to step up and lead those around us.

WeAreLewisU

I had the honor of running the WeAreLewisU Instagram page for a week. It is a page where random students are selected to post about their daily lives and their experiences. I found it fun to be able to show others a bit more of my personal side and that of other students who have run the page before me. Make sure to follow it! @wearelewisu

Learning from others

Just the other day I had the privilege of flying with a friend of mine in an aircraft that I am very unfamiliar with. He is a stage ahead of me so the maneuvers he was performing are maneuvers I will be doing in the near future. It was an eye-opening experience and humbling to be able to learn from him and observe how he flies his aircraft. It reminded me of how important it is to be humble because we can learn from others around us, whether they are ahead, behind or at par with us.

Staying cool

https://twinsandablog.com.au/milo-3-in-1/

Staying cool is important. No not like that but being able to take a step back from our responsibilities and cool down at the end of a long day. We all have our own ways of doing this including eating, sleeping, watching a show or having a relaxing drink, whether be it a cocktail or a warm beverage. I find it important for me to at least have a little time to myself to unwind at the end of each day. My daily routine includes a warm shower after finishing whatever work I had for the day, then watching a show with a nice cup of hot Milo from Singapore. For those of you who don't know what Milo is, it is a light chocolaty malt drink straight from heaven! This routine is often followed with me going to bed. Do you have a daily routine to cool down? If so, what is it?

Verizon advertisement: Answering the call

The advertisement released by Verizon features audio played of various individuals who have previously been rescued by first responders. The individuals each call the people responsible for saving their lives and identify themselves with them by explaining what the rescue was as the rescuers are not able to remember each and every person they have saved in the past.

The audio of each phone call is accompanied by the pictures of the moment each caller is rescued. This addresses pathos. It attempts to make the audience feel sympathy for the callers but at the same time, proud and delighted that this opportunity was given to them to get in touch with the people who saved their lives. Having still pictures rolling in the background allows the viewer to really get into the atmosphere and plays with the viewer's thoughts giving them a better feel for what the atmosphere was like.

The advertisement addresses logos by linking the first responders with the people they have rescued. It shows the importance of our first responders. The very first firefighter called responded immediately with “oh my God. You kinda caught me off guard here.” as the caller identified herself as someone he rescued 4 years ago. This shows that our first responders are greatly unappreciated and receive hardly if any, acknowledgment or appreciation from the victims they have rescued despite doing what they do for a living and saving lives every day.

Verizon, being a service provider, secures ethos at the end, with the line "They answer the call. Our job is to make sure they can get it". Through this, the company is stating their involvement with first responders. They are portraying themselves to the audience as a vital part in saving lives by connecting those that need urgent help, to those who can help. 

            

This We'll Defend

My stepdad served the US Army as a ranger.
My dad served the Singapore army as an armor infanteer then as a police officer.
I have served the Singapore army as an infanteer, and this commercial hit me hard.
I feel like the men and women in uniform of this country are represented poorly by media, especially news providers. They are not just robots who are produced in a factory. They are not programmed to do something and follow without emotion. They are very real human beings who live their own individual lives. They are real people that have flesh covered in skin. They feel, physically and emotionally, like everybody else.

The nation's flag means so much to us. It's not just a piece of cloth. It's more than just a simple symbol. It represents victory and pride. Power and our strength. It represents us.  It is the last thing we see on the coffin of a fallen brother or sister.  Protesters who burn the nation's flag here are extremely lucky that the government considers it "freedom of speech". That's all it is, luck. I understand that they are upset with the government, but an attack on the flag is NOT an attack on the government. It is an attack on your home, your family, and friends. It is an attack on you.

This commercial was created by Grunt Style, an organization run by veterans who design apparel. The commercial was originally supposed to be aired for the super bowl but they couldn't make the financial commitment.

My other hobby. Somewhat...

I remember many years ago my parents bought me a little camera for my 9th birthday. At least I believe it was my 9th. Anyway, that sparked an interest in me to start taking photos of almost everything and anything. I would play with different angles and lighting but eventually, that interest died off. A few months ago I had once again grown an interest in photography, more specifically aerial photography. While I do enjoy taking pictures outside the airplane when I'm in the air, I also enjoy creating videos of certain milestone flights that I have done. Here is one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkhMudc9coU&t=5s

This short film is from my long solo flight requirement for my commercial certificate. It was a flight from Lewis to Cape Girardeau to Carbondale and back to Lewis. It is the longest flight I have ever completed solo and it was an amazing experience. I hope you enjoy the video!

Video filmed and edited by me,

Music: Tove Lo - Habits(Stay High) - Hippie Sabotage remix

A new experience...

So I've recently been given the opportunity to work in the aviation department as a student worker. Basically as an office boy helping out with paperwork and whatever else the faculty and staff may need help with. This is a position that I've been hoping to get for a while now and I have finally gotten it! This is the first job I've had since my time in the army in Singapore. The atmosphere in the office is welcoming, with an amazing group of people who run it.

I believe this experience is going to help me better understand how the aviation department works and that I may possibly play a part in helping the department assist its students in any way that I can. I believe that the experiences I gain here are going to be beneficial for me, both in the near and distant future.

Discipline

"If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another"-Adm. McRaven, commencement speech at the University of Texas, 2014.

Basic dicipline starts from the moment we wake up. The amount of work we get done throughout the day can often be determined with how much we get done in the first 30 minutes of when we get up. It is the small tasks like making our beds, washing up, and wearing our clothes properly that gives us the sense of dicipline and stays with us subconsiously. If we are unable to complete the smaller tasks like these, there's no reason why we should expect ourselves to get anything bigger done for the rest of the day. Dicipline starts from when we wake up.

Studying and living abroad

Being so far away from home for such a long time is a challenge. This picture that you see is what I used to see every day back home in Singapore. I came to the United States in January of 2017 to become a professional pilot because some of the best courses are offered here. I've only been home once so far in December, and my next trip home will probably be during our next winter break. It may be tough but I'm not complaining. Each one of us has our own problems and we each deal with them differently. If anything, I probably have it easy! My stepdad is from around the area, so although my parents are hardly around, I do have some family nearby. Also, Singapore has become westernized in many ways making the adjustment to the social life here easier. My military training on top of all things has taught me how to overcome hardships and work towards achieving my goals.

Although it may have been easier than expected for me, I wonder what the transition is like for other international students. There are many issues that they may face and it usually boils down to the differences in culture. Food, weather, language, behaviors, and pace are just some of the many challenges that some of the students have brought up during our International Student Association (ISA) meeting last week. One of the main challenges I personally face here is transportation. I can hardly get anywhere without a car! I never thought much about it before but this made me extremely appreciative of the public transport back in Singapore. I do however have amazing friends and family here who offer to drive me places.

I do miss my family, friends, and food back home, I miss the warmth of the tropical island and the country itself, but being here is a fun adventure, and I do enjoy studying and living abroad here in the US.


*Picture taken by Ross L. Harris

Cartel Land

I'll start of by saying that there aren't that many documentaries that are capable of holding my attention for the the time they last. Cartel Land however, held me in suspense. Constantly playing with my emotions and keeping my curiosity in its grasp.

1. There were many scenes that got to me but there was only one that really blew my mind. That was the very last scene and how it looped back to the first scene. The documentary started with some cartel members who were cooking meth. They begin to explain that they have to do such a thing to survive in the environment that they're in. Only their masked faces are shown this whole scene without any emphasis on the clothes they are wearing.

The main plot of the Show here was about the rise of the "Autodefensas", a private militia built to destroy cartels and organised crime. They were doing good for the state until they expended to the point where corruption began within their organisation. Towards the end, the Autodefensas joined the corrupt government and were given standard issue uniforms and weapons. Now here's where I was just absolutely caught by surprise, the last scene comes to a full circle with the start of the documentary. This time showing what the meth cooks were wearing, the same uniforms issued to the Autodefensas. The Autodefensas had become the exact thing they were trying to stop in the first place. I was shocked, filled with pain, disappointment and disgust. I felt so many emotions all at the same time.

2. I'm surprised with the level of corruption that exists in that region. I've heard stories, seen movies, etc but seeing how easy it is for anybody to build an army and take over towns to loot houses, rape civilians and kill people who only try to defend what's theirs is eye opening to me. Adding to this is the lack of action of the government organisations due to they're corrupt relationships. The only time we see the army step in in this documentary is when they were attempting to disarm and scatter the Autodefensas, who were only helping a town at the request of its people.

3. The documentary raises many questions. It was said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. When Dr. José Manau Mireles started the Autodefensas, was the organisation already doomed to become corrupt and commit crime like the others before them? What, if anything, is being done to stop this violence and vice? Is the United states doing anything that is effective in terms of defending their own borders? Or do the people have to take matters into their own hands like that of their Mexican neighbours? Coming from Singapore I feel as if these are basic expectations of a government to be able to protect their own people. This however, does not seem to be the case here.

Why I fly...

I'm constantly asked why I've chosen to pursue a career in aviation, specifically in flight. To that question, I have no one answer. Like many pilots before me, my passion started at a young age. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to soar with the birds in the sky and to me, that's where my heart has always been. Not until my first day behind the flight controls of an airplane have I felt so complete, so whole as a person, so at peace with myself. That's when I knew that I had to work towards a career in the best office in existence, the cockpit of an airplane.

Sure there are hardships with this path such as the stringent training, frequent exams and high expectations from our chiefs and instructors, but in the end, I find the challenges to be worthwhile. There's not a day that the feeling of regret passes                                                                                      my mind for pursuing this dream of mine.

Like any dream we may have, it is up to us to make it happen for ourselves. It is us that must work towards what we want for ourselves. For in the end, only we can truly make ourselves happy.

*Picture taken by Ross L. Harris