Wayne Stark, director of SBC Career Services, has great news regarding the class of 2004 graduates.

As of the May 1 commencement, 95 percent of seniors have reported their post-graduation plans to Career Services. Of these students, 70 percent have either secured a job, been accepted to an advanced study/graduate school program, or are pursuing a personal endeavor such as travel. Including those currently interviewing for positions, 87 percent of students are effectively engaged in post-graduation pursuits.

As a whole - and including unknowns - 66 percent of 2004 graduates have either found a job or are pursuing an advanced study program or personal endeavor. This is two percentage points higher than that of the outstanding class of 2003 at graduation time and 16 points above the national average for the "Time of Graduation" statistic reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Stark said the caliber and variety of students' opportunities this year is a testament to Sweet Briar's unique strengths. "This campus really pulls together for the students to be successful in the real world," he said. "I'm extremely pleased that Sweet Briar has been able - through the combined efforts of faculty, Career Services, Co-Curricular Life, the Administration, and the hard work of the students themselves - to create such great opportunities for Sweet Briar students to pursue."

Here is a very small sampling of the diverse endeavors undertaken by class of 2004 students:

• Cynthia Beller will pursue a Ph.D. in biostatistics this fall at Harvard University.


• Medora Hackler has accepted an internship with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, where she will work with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the Chesapeake Bay area.


• Katherine Kirkwood will pursue a mechanical engineering degree this fall at Yale University.


• Autum Matysek-Snyder has accepted a position in the Sweet Briar College Admissions Office.


• Meredith Rucker is awaiting a Peace Corps assignment in the South Pacific while working at the New Life Church Day Care Center in Monroe, Va.


• Ebony Scurry begins study for a master's degree in organizational development and strategic human resources this fall at Johns Hopkins University while working part-time in the school's human resources department.


• Tasha Purcell will be hiking the Appalachian Trail this summer.


• Karen Story will be an entrepreneur owning and managing her new business, New Legacy Farms.


• Morgan Swann will be attending Law School at the University of Michigan.


• Christina Tannahill is a quality assurance manager with Anheuser Busch.


• Autumn Wade has accepted a position with GE Financial Assurance in Lynchburg.

If Stark's growing list is any indication, this summer should continue to be a promising one for SBC graduates. "The students have been well prepared for a huge range of opportunities," he said. "And many have gone on to do exactly what they wanted to do, whether they will be working on a Ph.D. or hiking the Appalachian Trail."