Shae WestThese three 成人头条 seniors will graduate with their bachelor's degrees this week and begin their search for a career after college.
Costuming a calling for WSU theater student
Kaye Brownlee, 25, a fine arts senior majoring in technical theater with an emphasis in costume design, graduates with a wealth of experience in her field.
Brownlee was "bitten by the theater bug" at 10 and has been involved in the arts ever since, performing for Chanute Community Theater and Pittsburg State University.
She came to 成人头条 from Thayer, her hometown, because she knew she could "hone her skills" in the WSU theater program.
Brownlee originally came for performance, but she changed her major after taking a costuming class from Professor Betty Monroe.
"She encouraged me to go into technical theater because you have a larger chance of getting a job after you graduate and, therefore, have income that doesn't involve serving coffee," Brownlee said.
In costuming, Brownlee has excelled.
During her second year at WSU, she designed costumes for the first time for "A Giant Arc in the Skyspace of Directions (or the Story of Miracles)," and won a meritorious award for her work.
Last summer, she designed costumes for "High School Musical" and "Love, Sex and the IRS" for the Crown Uptown Dinner Theatre in 成人头条.
At WSU, during the spring 2010 semester, Brownlee designed costumes for "Urinetown" and "The Father," her final show.
Her costume design for "Urinetown" was nominated for the American College Theater Festival Costume Parade, and the adjudicator, the person who judges all aspects of a show, including costuming, told her she needed to go to graduate school.
Brownlee can sing, tap dance and act, but she'll market her technical skills when looking for a job after graduation.
This summer Brownlee will perform at the Cabaret Old Town in 成人头条, where she's waited tables for four years, and she'll search for costume design opportunities in the 成人头条 area.
After taking a year off to build her resume, Brownlee plans to look for graduate schools in Texas, New York or California.
"I came here and I didn't know anybody. I put myself through school and came out only slightly in debt," she said. "I think I've done pretty well."
IMC opens doors for public relations hopeful
Alana Tull, 26, an integrated marketing communication major at WSU's Elliott School of Communication, spent most of her college career searching for a calling.
Tull
But she found her calling in communication working with people, planning events and being creative.
"It just made sense that this was the career field for me," she said.
Tull began an internship with Hospice Care of Kansas in fall 2008 and said she's grown as a professional from the experience.
"My writing, time management and communication skills, as a whole, have improved," she said.
Tull has been responsible for writing press releases and radio and television scripts, designing and placing advertisements and designing flyers and brochures, producing a monthly newsletter and assisting in company events.
"My supervisor is very supportive and encourages me to experience and try every part that her job entails," Tull said, "not just one area."
Her position can be hectic, starting five new projects daily and only finishing two, but she said it is well worth the end result.
Hospice Care of Kansas offered Tull a fulltime position as the communication assistant upon her graduation.
In the future, she said her dream job would be to do public relations or become a publicist for a performer.
NASA offers full time position to engineering student
Mallory Jennings, a mechanical engineering major, always knew what she wanted to do after completing her degree.
Jennings
Jennings first majored in aerospace engineering because she thought all astronauts had to be pilots and be in aerospace.
Though Jennings is a pilot, receiving her license at 16, she decided to major in mechanical engineering because it was a better fit.
She said her current major has helped her during her internship with NASA.
In spring 2007, Jennings began an internship with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. She worked in mission control in charge of thermal control systems for the International Space Station, which included any heating or cooling needed for the station.
"As a sophomore who hadn't taken thermodynamics yet, it was little intimidating," she said, but it made taking the class at WSU easier.
Jennings returned to WSU full time for the summer and fall semesters, and interned at NASA again in spring 2008.
During her second spring, she worked on spacesuits for the return mission to the moon in 2020. The mission has changed, however, and her team will work on spacesuit development to go to Mars.
In 2009, Jennings was chosen to receive a paid, fulltime position at Johnson Space Center. She's already bought a house and plans to move in June.
Jennings still wants to be an astronaut, but she's being realistic.
"The most important thing you can do is find a job you love every day and apply to be an astronaut," a friend at NASA told her. "If you get it, good, but if not, you love your job."
"I love what I'm doing now," Jennings said.
WSU's spring 2010 commencement ceremonies will be Friday and Saturday (May 14-15) at Charles Koch Arena on the WSU campus. For more information, go to .