With the job market as tight as it is now, a chemical engineering graduate has a lot of employment options. Tesfu Solomon chose a different option. After traveling as far as San Francisco and Houston for interviews, he didn’t find what he was looking for. "The jobs just weren’t as interesting as I thought they’d be," he said. Having already been accepted to the University of Michigan’s chemical engineering doctoral program made it an easy choice.

It wasn’t always going to be that way. Solomon entered college with the idea of getting done and getting to work. Three summer internships at 3M and contacts he’d made as president of the University’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, showed him the opportunities industry had to offer. There were even firms willing to take chemical engineering majors and retrain them to manage computer systems. But Solomon has also always had a strong academic bent. Under Minnesota’s postsecondary option program, he took a year of classes at the University while a high school senior, including rigorous courses like calculus, chemistry, and physics. His father, Solomon Gashaw, is an assistant professor of sociology on the Morris campus, commuting from the family’s home in New Hope. Finally, when Professor Frank Snowden pulled Solomon and another student aside and began "opening our eyes to grad school," he was receptive.

As he pursues a Ph.D., Solomon will be able to further investigate areas that interest him, like biomedical chemistry or composite polymers. "I was surprised how interesting all the different areas are once you start looking into them," he said. "I’ll keep an open mind." Once he gets his doctorate, Solomon will be able to lead a research lab or design his own studies rather than work on the experiments of others. Also, he will be qualified to teach at a college level. "I still think I’d like to work in industry first," he said. "But, I’ve always been interested in teaching."

Through the National Society of Black Engineers, Solomon worked on numerous projects, from tutoring in high schools to making presentations at conferences. As one of the students who helped rejuvenate the local chapter, helping it go from 7 members to more than 30, he was co-winner of the Paul A. Cartwright/Institute of Technology Alumni Society Award for Outstanding Service. "I’ve always had to balance between school and being involved," he said. "Even when I was taking all my classes here in high school, I was student council president and went back for all the activities."

Afshar chose ROTC out of high school for "superficial" reasons, she said, thinking it would look good if she decided to go into politics. But once in the program, she saw military service and training as an end in itself. "It has really taught me who I am and what I am about," she said. She switched from Navy to Marines for her four-year post-college commitment in order to test herself further. "I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘I could have and should have been a Marine.’"

Born at the University of Minnesota Hospital, Afshar grew up in Mound, Minnesota, near Lake Minnetonka. Her parents are both Iranian immigrants. A trip back to Iran during high school, followed by her ROTC experience, has created patriotism in her. "I really believe in everything my country stands for," she said. "I appreciate so much all that I have gained by being able to live here."

Quantico will be Afshar’s home for six more months of training. Then she will be posted as a second lieutenant at a Marine base, preferably somewhere she can put her German and Farsi (Persian) language skills to use. "I want to get the most challenging post I can to see how I respond," she said. "I’ll have a degree and gold bars on my collar, but I’ll have to remember that the NCO (noncommissioned officer) at the post will probably have 15 years of experience while all I’ve had is training."

After her four years, Afshar may stay in the Marines or move on—to business, motherhood, or almost anything that comes up. "I’ll stay with the Marines as long as it makes me happy," she said. "Whatever I’m doing, I’ll be happy."

For Anthony Bettendorf there is nothing more exciting than seeing freshmen arrive on campus. "I really love working with students who are just coming here," he said. "This is a big stepping stone, an exciting time of searching for direction." Although Bettendorf came to campus planning to be a high school history teacher, he leaves to go on for more studies in student development. In fall he’ll start graduate school in Western Illinois University’s college student personnel program.

What happened in between was that Bettendorf decided first to live in a residence hall—Bailey, on the St. Paul campus—and then to become involved in residence hall boards and committees. ("Residence hall" is today’s preferred term for dormitory.) By the second quarter of his freshman year, Bettendorf was national communications coordinator for the Residence Hall Association, which represents hundreds of college-based groups. He has also chaired the 60-college Midwest Regional Association, stayed active in Bailey Hall governance, served on several student life committees, and spent a year as a community adviser in Frontier Hall. Frontier is a first-year residence hall that as recently as a few years ago had a notorious reputation—a nice place to move away from. This year, however, staff have worked to improve community, and academic programs have thrived. Fully two-thirds of Frontier residents say they want to return to a residence hall next year, almost triple last year’s rate.

Bettendorf was used to balancing school and activities, having been "way overly involved" at Foley (Minnesota) High School. "I had to find something to fill my time besides studying," he said. At Western Illinois, he will study but he will also have an assignment as an assistant residence hall director. He’s also running to be national chair of the Residence Hall Association. He eventually wants to move on to being a residence hall director or work in related higher education fields like academic counseling, admissions, or financial aid. His long-term dream is to get a doctoral degree that will allow him both to direct residence halls and to teach student development. "I just love students," he said. "That’s the whole thing."

Nate Clay On the fast track

When Steve Placensia looks for a word to describe Nate Clay, graduating with a double major in marketing and finance, he uses the term "resilient."

Holland came to the University from Grand View, Texas, a Dallas suburb. Although the weather was a shock, the academics were not; he had been one of the top finishers in Texas’s Academic Decathlon competition. Wanting to get involved on campus, he joined the College Bowl team his first week, then moved on to the CMU Program Council, where he eventually found himself creating and booking events. "There’s nothing better than seeing an idea of yours translated into an actual event on campus," said one of this year’s two recipients of the University’s Zander Award for Outstanding Student Leadership. "If you get involved early, you can really see how what you do makes a difference over the years."

Holland’s experiences working on events, then on the renovation, convinced him to pursue his master’s in public affairs, something that should go well with the economics degree he just earned. He’d like to work in a nonprofit or government setting for a time, then consider a run for elected office wherever he ends up. "I’d want to know the issues and feel I have something to contribute," he said. "I’m not a person who would run for an office just to run."

At the University of Minnesota, a rejuvenated Coffman Union will be his lasting contribution. "I wanted it to be a landmark, the heart of campus," he said. "This is where you go if you have a few hours. This is where you go if you’re new on campus and want to get involved. This is the place on campus student life should be celebrated."

Elvira Carrizal From freezing to thriving

"I wanted to leave home but not go a big city," says Kalambo, whose father teaches French at the University of Kansas and whose mother works in disaster relief with the Red Cross.

As an incoming freshman Kalambo had his sights set on medical school—he estimates about half his original class were pre-med students. He considered majoring in biology or chemistry but settled on chemistry because of "the one-on-one attention I knew I’d get from professors." And though he’s changed his mind about med school, he’s graduating this spring with a B.S. in chemistry, with an eye toward enrolling in graduate school next fall.

"He has good intuition on organic and the synthetic inorganic side of chemistry as well," says Kalambo’s research adviser, UMD chemistry professor Paul Kiprof. "He can assess in advance whether a reaction will work and he can see where problems might arise. Overall, he’s one of my best students in terms of undergraduate research."

But Kalambo’s academic career is only half the story of his time at UMD. He combines the scientific mind needed to conduct research into high-valent titanium arene complexes with the aptitude of a born politician. After attending a meeting of UMD’s student association his freshman year—his first-ever involvement in student government—he went on to serve as a student representative in the UMD’s Senate Consultative Committee and as a senator from the College of Science and Engineering for two years. And, along with graduating, he is also finishing out his term as president of the UMD student body.

"I saw student government as an opportunity to have a say about what was happening on campus," he explains.

"He’s the kind of person who can listen and understand what other people think and feel," observes Kiprof. "I think he’s a real team player. He can collaborate with people and do things in a group setting while also showing leadership. He’s been exceptionally dedicated whether it’s to his research or his role in student government."

Heather Amundson Range parliamentarian

Heather Amundson, graduating this spring with a double major in agricultural industry and marketing and animal and plant systems, hopes some day to own a farm or ranch and raise livestock.
She is, in the words of animal sciences professor and Morse-Alumni distinguished teacher Les Hanson, "a young woman with a lot of grit and determination." Hanson, who’s been Amundson’s academic adviser, points to the grueling internship she underwent two summers ago at a Stillwater farm as proof of her endurance; putting in 70 hour weeks, Amundson helped manage 1000 sheep and 350 cows.
"Working with cattle and sheep on the range is not exactly glamorous," says Hanson. "At one time it wouldn’t have been considered a woman’s job."
But to this ambition, Amundson brings an experience that makes her choice of possible career options even more unusual: she has a working knowledge of parliamentary procedures, which she has brought to bear on her leadership roles in two student organizations, The Block N Bridle club, in which she’s held numerous positions, including chair of the club’s national convention, and the Ag Ambassadors, where she is past president of the U’s chapter.
"My father was chair of the school board back home," explains the Zumbrota, Minnesota, native, "and was really into parliamentary procedures, so I brought that experience with me to the U."
"As a leader Heather is very concise and gets things done on time," observes Jessica Krueger, the U’s adviser to the Ag Ambassadors, an exclusive organization of 30 student members that represents the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at on- and off-campus events, conducts campus tours, visits high schools around the state promoting the U, and makes up the college’s delegation to FFA conventions.
"Being president was a great experience," says Amundson. "My main contribution has been to make meetings run better so people can get home and do homework."
For now, Amundson is considering whether to work on a ranch or for an industry association, preferably one involved in marketing beef. But in the future, after paying off her debt, she says, "I may go into farming. That’s where my heart is."

—Richard Broderick & Chris Coughlan-Smith