What follows are vignettes of several 2004 Virginia Tech graduates. Contact information is provided.
Balancing books and familyElizabeth "Page" Dodson of Christiansburg will graduate as the mother of two, including one child that was born last April. She completed all her incomplete grades from that semester to last summer. She will graduate with a bachelor's degree in apparel, housing and resource management with a concentration in consumer studies from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
Twins graduate with honorsTwin brothers Daniel and James Mosier of Great Falls, Va., are graduating this spring, both with degrees in electrical engineering from the College of Engineering.
Daniel is graduating magna cum laude (29th in his class of 208 electrical engineering graduates) . Their older brother, Steve, is a graduate student in science and technology studies at Virginia Tech's northern Virginia graduate center.
Coincidentally, the College of Engineering has another set of twins enrolled in the college. The other set, Brian and William St. George, will graduate in 2006.
It takes a community to educate one studentCedric Owens of Greensboro, N.C., will graduate with a bachelor's degree in accounting and information systems (with honors) from the Pamplin College of Business. But it wasn't an easy path to his degree. According to officials in Pamplin College, Owens had to overcome many difficult situations at home and multiple obstacles to receive his degree.
His education at Virginia Tech has been a cut-and-paste of assistance from many different people. Ray Smoot, vice president for administration and treasurer at Virginia Tech, and executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Virginia Tech Foundation, helped Owens find work at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. Wayne Leininger, former head of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems in the Pamplin College, helped with departmental scholarships; Virginia Tech alumnus Wayne Robinson, who heads a youth ministry in Greensboro, S.C., provided guidance and support..
Deafness is no obstacleDanny Dove of Broadway, Va., a graduating senior in wildlife science in the College of Natural Resources, is deaf and has learned to compensate for his disability with hearing aids and other measures as always sitting up front in class.
During his college career, Dove has won several art shows at the State Fair in Richmond for his photographs of wildlife and other scenes. To those who have seen his work, it is described as "stunning." Of particular interest to Dove is the plight of coyotes, which have become an increasing problem in Virginia. He recently completed a publication for Virginia Cooperative Extension on coyote management.
Nontraditional SuccessCalvin Michael Andrews, a graduating senior, is your prototypical non-traditional student. Andrews is active as the City of Radford representative on the New River Community College Board. He also is a male in a traditionally female field - Family and Consumer Sciences (this is what used to be called "home economics"). He is already active in various professional organizations, and has attended legislative sessions in Richmond. His next goal - teach culinary arts, food occupations, and food and nutrition subjects to middle school or high school.
He and his wife, a public school teacher, reside in Radford.
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