How Summer 2006 grads have "lived well"

Agree or disagree? "The purpose of life is not to be happy." What if you add the rest of the Emerson quote, "It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well"? During his speech at the Summer 2006 medals ceremony, President Graham Spanier indicates some of the ways in which our Summer 2006 graduates have "lived well."

Academic Excellence:

• 88 percent have a 3.5 GPA or higher and 32 percent are pursuing a double major.

• Scholars in this class have studied everything from street children in Latin America and plant closings in rural Pennsylvania, to images of slavery at the Smithsonian, tourism in Fiji, and the role of electric and magnetic fields in powder metal compacts.

• Within this class is also the winner of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, an international scholarship for outstanding graduate students to study at the University of Cambridge, as well as the recipient of a national Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for excellence in science, engineering, and mathematics.

Internationalization:

• Nearly half of the class has traveled and studied abroad in countries such as New Zealand, Costa Rica, Thailand, and Bangladesh. One scholar plans to go on to spend two years teaching secondary science education for the Peace Corps in sub-Saharan Africa.

Leadership and Civic Engagement:

• The class contains leaders from a multitude of areas, such as the president of the Graphic Design Association, president of Penn State Amnesty International, vice president of Engineering Leadership Development, and the president of the Penn State Investment Association.

• Some of these Scholars also are volunteers for the American Red Cross, Dance Marathon, and Second Mile, an organization that helps at-risk youth.

To find out more about the jugglers, moms, and ironwoman (oh my!) see Dr. Spanier's speech.

Here's to you, Summer 2006 graduates!