STUDENT INSIGHTS
A Lifelong Dream Attending a Space Adventure Camp at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in his youth sparked Arnold’s fascination with space exploration.
Future Goals When Ani envisions her future, she sees herself opening her own FBO. “There’s a lot that goes into it, but because I’m very hardworking, I know that once I put everything into it, everything I’ve got, by God’s grace, it’s going to work out.”
Meet & Greet Arnold and other interns were lucky enough to brush shoulders with Christina Koch and Victor Glover, two of the four astronauts who will orbit the moon on Artemis II in late 2024.
Set for Success Ani will be leaving Embry-Riddle with lessons learned in handling pressure, staying humble and keeping focus in the aviation industry.
Portia Ani ’23, ’24 AVIATION MAINTENANCE SCIENCE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION The Perfect Blend
Connor Arnold ’25 AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Broadened Perspectives An internship at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center changed Connor Arnold’s outlook on the possibilities in his field and how he sees perfection. Arnold’s internship focused on Resource Recovery & Recycling Technology for Human Space Flight. Sustainability and chemistry weren’t necessarily on his radar, the latter being far from his favorite subject. “I didn’t want anything to do with chemistry,” he said. “But after …learning about all these projects and plasma fission and building these bioreactors, it really did broaden the spectrum of things I might be interested in doing.” Arnold also learned an important lesson about perfectionism through the trial-and-error process of research in the lab. “You don’t go into a research program, go straight through, get your results and you’re done,” he said. “There is no perfect solution when it comes to research or engineering.”
From one Embry-Riddle degree to the next, Portia Ani is building a solid foundation for her future in aviation. After completing her B.S. in Aviation Maintenance Science, Ani is now on track to complete her MBA. Ani’s aviation journey started in Nigeria, where she grew up with dreams of studying at a top aviation school in the U.S., such as Embry-Riddle. “The knowledge I’ve gotten at Embry‑Riddle is unmatched,” she said. “Just the people who work within the system alone, the professors, everybody — they’ve all had some kind of background or experience in the aviation field, and they have their own connections...” As a member of the fleet maintenance team, Ani is helping to keep the school’s training aircraft airborne. She earned a scholarship from Flight Safety International and completed an initial Maintenance course on the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft.
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