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5.17.07
Sweet Briar’s Class of 2007 Ahead of Many Peers in Post-graduation Plans
On the day Sweet Briar College held its 2007 commencement, nearly 80 percent of the students had plans for life after graduation.

According to Wayne Stark, director of SBC’s Career Services Center, most of the seniors had responded to a survey conducted by his office on their post-graduation plans.

Of the 95 percent reporting, 71 percent had either secured a job, been accepted to an advanced study or graduate school program, or are pursuing a personal endeavor such as an internship or overseas travel.

“Including those currently interviewing for positions, seventy-nine percent of students are effectively engaged in post-graduation pursuits,” Stark said. “It is clear that the class of 2007 is joining the past four classes in attaining outcomes that well exceed the national averages as reported by National Association of Colleges and Employers.”

According to the NACE, 55.6 percent of graduating students nationally are reporting jobs or graduate school acceptances at the time of graduation. Sweet Briar also compares well against other small four-year institutions with regard to graduate school acceptance, Stark pointed out.

The “NACE State of the Profession: NACE 2006 - 2007 Career Services Benchmark Survey for Four-Year Colleges and Universities” reports that students from schools with enrollments of fewer than 1,000 students averaged a 10.5-percent graduate school acceptance rate.

“Here at Sweet Briar, 24 percent of the students from the class of 2007 are going on to graduate school,” he said.

Stark also put together this sampling of the diverse endeavors undertaken by the Class of 2007:
  • Elizabeth Ashley will be working for the West Virginia state Office of Economic Trade and Development.
  • Megen Blaesing will be working on a master’s degree in occupational therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
  • Shavonne Clarke will be working on an Master of Fine Arts at the University of Maryland.
  • Tiffany Corbin is showing her entrepreneurial spirit with Tiffany’s Hair Salon.
  • Corinne Davies will be attending pharmacy school.
  • Marieme Diop will be working for a shipping company in Senegal, Africa.
  • Kara Evans is employed at MBH Settlement Group in Potomac, Md.
  • Sarah Gurtler will be employed with the city of Lynchburg as a plant operator with the utilities department.
  • Kendra Hawkins will be attending medical school at the University of Texas at Galveston.
  • Jessica Hopson has been accepted to a graduate program in sociology at George Washington University.
  • Kelsey Jeffers will be pursuing an internship at the Newfound Harbor Marine Institute in Florida.
  • Erica Kennedy will be at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga studying chemical engineering.
  • Ferrell Lyles will be working for Northrop Grumman as an intelligence operations specialist.
  • Rebekah McSpadden will be teaching in Prague.
  • Ashley Monson and Morgan Roach will both be in England. Morgan will be studying at the London School of Economics and Ashley will be cracking the books at the University of Bristol studying anthropology.
  • Irene Maslanik will be pursuing a law degree at Stetson University in Florida.
  • Maggie Saylor will be the tutoring program coordinator for the Lutheran Volunteer Corps.
  • Betty Skeen will be dancing her way to a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Maryland.
  • Mary Petrie will be working on a degree in occupational therapy at Shenandoah University.
  • Jennifer Summerfield will be going to veterinary school at Ohio State University.
  • Karen Summers is continuing her work in the SBC president’s office.
  • Renee Tanner is studying psychology at George Mason University.
  • Rebecca Teachey will be studying for a Master of Business Administration at Lynchburg College.
  • Heidi Trude will be working on a Master of Teaching at Mary Washington University.
  • Christine Vazquez is employed at the U.S. Navy Midshipman’s Welfare Office.
  • Amelia White will be working as a production assistant in Wilmington, N.C.
  • Jennifer Wolf will be a ranger/naturalist/educator as she works for the National Park Service in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming.
  • Lindsay Woodward will be backpacking around Europe.

— By Jennifer McManamay, SBC staff writer