HOMECOMING SECTION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27, 2008
5C
GRADUATION
Final homecoming game of college for December graduates
BY KATHRYN MCSTOWE editor@kansan.com
As homecoming approaches again, seniors get one step closer to their walk down the hill in May. It will be a particularly bittersweet experience for those seniors graduating this December.
Brittany Jeter, Overland Park senior, will be one of many students who will be graduating at the end of the fall semester. Jeter, who will be graduating with a degree in journalism, plans to move out of her parents' house
and look for a job graduation. J et e r remembersher time spent at the University as memorable, crazy and all together too short.
have moved away are coming back for this year's homecoming game." Jeter said. "Alumni come back for these games and tailgates and I think I will definitely be coming back for games, too."
"I'm definitely going to miss
Annie Booton, Leawood senior, will also be graduating this December after three and a half
"I'm definitely going to miss KU sports, especially tailgating before games, going to The Wheel and watching the games, all that stuff."
But this homecoming certainly won't be the last for Jeter and her friends.
KU sports, especially tailgating before games, going to The Wheel and watching the games, all that stuff. I'm really just going to miss it all," Jeter said.
BRITTANY JETER Overland Park senior
"A lot of our friends who have already graduated and
years at the University, with a degree in political science.
" M y favorite m e m o r y from KU will definitely be listening to the band play the night before football
games at The Hawk or Wheel." Booton said. "I don't know why but I have always liked game days in the fall. There is something so wonderful about them."
Booton will continue to live in Lawrence following graduation, as she prepares to start applying for law school. She hopes to eventually attend law school in
Kansas City, Chicago or Los Angeles. Yet, despite being far from Lawrence, Booton said
she would still remember her Jayhawk roots and make it back for games.
For those seniors who have already entered the professional realm, early graduation will give them more time to pursue their careers.
Mallory Gaune, Lenexa senior, works part-time at an advertising agency in Kansas City, Mo. She said once she graduates in December, her company would discuss making the transition from a part-time position to a full-time one. Gaune, who will
graduate with a degree in journalism, said she was excited about graduating early, and although she would miss college life, she was ready for a change.
friends who will still be in Lawrence and will also come back to reconnect with friends who have already graduated.
Jeter said her advice for students who are at the other end of their college careers was to, most importantly, branch out.
"A lot of my friends who have graduated already are coming back for this homecoming, and so I know I will be coming back, too, after I graduate."
"A lot of my friends who have graduated already are coming back for this homecoming, and so I know I will be coming back, too, after I graduate," Gaounce said. "There's always people here to stay with, so I'll be back."
"Just go out and do everything, and don't be afraid to meet new people, because it goes by way too fast," Jeter said.
MALLORY GAUNCE
Lenexa senior
"I have had some great times here, especially events with my sorority like the big date pinafore, or the homecoming parades we did with other fraternities; I'll miss all of that." Gaunce said. "But I think leaving before my friends will be the hardest part, I'm going to miss them the most. But I am definitely ready to be done with all the schoolwork. It's never really been my thing."
Yet despite her excitement to graduate and finish school, Gaunce, like Jeter and Booton, won't be leaving Lawrence behind in a trail of dust. She says she will come back for games and to visit
Gaunce sam
her advice was
to meet new
people and to
step outside
of a comfort
zone.
"Live it up"
she said. "I look back and wonder if I maybe could have talked to more people.
This experience just happens so fast, and when you look back it's really an eye-operer."
"I know as a freshman you come in with tunnel vision, whether you're focused only on school or only on your social life," Booton said. "But you forget that you go to a school that is so rich with tradition, things like waving the wheat or where the rock chalk chant comes from, it's all part of the experience. Learn as much as you can about your school, because it's all part of showing your pride."
LOGAN WILSON Neosho, Mo., freshman "The girls. That's all that needs to be said."
What do you think? BY ANDREA BLACK
BY ANDREA BLACK
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING A JAYHAWK?
TOBY LOWRY
Topeka freshman
"The diversity. I can meet a lot of new and different people here."
REBECCA CANNON
Topeka sophomore
"Actually, it just happened. I haven't been having a good day and when I was counting change, a janitor asked if I needed some change and then she gave me some chocolate that she made. So, I like just how nice everyone that works here is."
SAMANTHA WALTON
Topeka freshman
"My favorite thing is how no matter where you go, there are always going to be Jayhawks or someone associated with KU"