They graduated during one of the worst job markets in U.S. history. While these ’09 CC grads stay realistic about the challenges, they find many reasons for optimism.
Melanie Auguste ’09
Distinction in economics, cum laude; basketball player; recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and the national 2009 Jostens Trophy, which honors a Division III player who excels in the classroom, on the court and in the community.
I will be attending UCLA Law School in the fall. I am going to pursue a joint JD/MBA degree and hopefully keep myself involved in the world of sports through volunteer coaching.
Mark Neuman-Lee ’09
International political economy, cum laude; 2008-09 president, Colorado College Student Government Association; Mortar Board; Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute fellowship.
Immediately after graduation, I will work at the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute (COFPI) as a fellow for one year. COFPI is a nonprofit in Denver that promotes justice and economic security through fiscal policy. I acquired this fellowship through CC’s Public Interest Fellowship Program that sets up CC students with Colorado nonprofits.
Anya Aylesworth ’09
Psychology; New Student Orientation trip leader; Center for Service & Learning newsletter editor; BreakOut trip leader; media relations intern for CC’s communications office.
I plan on moving to Denver to work in media, most likely at an advertising agency.
Blake Hammond ’09
Political science; senior class president (read his Commencement address); football team captain; Service Award recipient; 2009 Spirit Award recipient.
I was accepted to Teach for America and will teach K-6 in the Mississippi Delta. I am super excited because it provides me an opportunity to help children who were just like me who were labeled “will not succeed” as a result of their personal experiences. I was raised in a single-parented household with two other siblings and I am African-American. I was automatically labeled as “will not succeed” and I proved them wrong thanks to my great education at Colorado College.
Alex Weiss ’09
Biology; Fulbright Scholarship and Critical Language Enhancement Award recipient; State of the Rockies researcher and report author.
My post-graduation plans have drastically changed because I just found out I was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship. I will be researching ethnobotany at a university in Kunming, Yunnan China, which is in the southwest of China. There, I will study the preservation (and loss) of local botanical knowledge among a few of China’s ethnic minorities. I will also work with an ethnobotanist at the Kunming Institute of Botany, a world-renowned institute.
Chad Rau ’09
Economics; hockey center; second team All-America; first team All-WCHA; All-WCHA Academic team; M.B. Hopper Award for top points producer;member of CC’s “Century Club” for scoring 100 career points; Bob Johnson Award as CC Rookie of the Year.
My immediate plans are to try and play hockey for as long as possible.
Kaeley Anderson ’09
Distinction in neuroscience, summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa; 2009 Arnold B. Scheibel Neuroscience Award; 2008 W.C. Champion Prize in Organic Chemistry; Girls’ Day in the Lab organizer.
After graduation I will continue my neuroscience research at CC with my advisor, Professor Bob Jacobs. We have the opportunity to write a short methods paper that will be very similar to my thesis, and we will hopefully publish our findings in the fall of 2009. When the summer ends, I will be returning home to Portland, Ore., to spend a year or two doing something that is completely unrelated to science. I think my time away from research will only make me more excited to enter graduate school or medical school in the future.