UC Berkeley Web Feature

What's next?

The world awaiting the Class of 2004 is very different from the one that existed when they entered UC Berkeley oh so many years ago. But Berkeley's latest crop of graduates has many of the same plans, hopes and dreams as those who have gone before: a job, a family, some summer fun, a return to school for an advanced degree. The NewsCenter talked with a random group of grads as they waited for the commencement procession into the Greek Theatre, to bug them one more time with that favorite question: Where do you go from here?

'I'm taking a full-time job that will help me prepare for an MBA. I'm also taking a research assistant position for the summer at Haas (School of Business).' —Vanessa Hawkins, Psychology, San Bruno, CA

'I'll be moving to the city (San Francisco) and working for Marsh Co. as an insurance risk analyst. I'm looking for experience and to have a fun time.' —Jason Lane, Business, Danville, CA

'I will attend San Francisco State University to obtain a masters degree in Education Administration. While in the program, I'll serve an internship as an assistant principal at a Bay Area middle school.' —Aaron Wayne Smith, American Studies & Sociology, Los Angeles, CA

'I have a fellowship through Lawrence Berkeley Lab this summer, and then in August I'll go to work for a biotech company in the Bay Area. What I want to do is cancer research.' —Grace Cruz, Molecular & Cell Biology, Pacifica, CA

'I plan to go to dental school at either USC or UCLA, but first I have to take classes to make up some requirements. Plus I'm getting married in a year!' —Marisa Hill, Anthropology, Long Beach, CA

'I'll be working at MicroAssembly Co. in Richmond, designing packaging for semiconductor devices.' —Kevin Chang, Mechanical Engineering, Fresno, CA

'I've gotten involved in the music world as a singer and songwriter, so I'm going to explore that world, but it's a rough one. I came to Berkeley to learn about the world, and I think I have.' —David Ahlman, History, Walnut Creek, CA

'I'm going to take paralegal courses at San Francisco State this summer, because I'm on the fence about law school. After that, it's either more school or start a career.' —Jennifer Brennan, Legal Studies, Sonora, CA

'I'm going to be working at Mervyn's Corp. in financial planning and marketing.' —Reena Desai, Economics, San Jose, CA

'I have a family, so I'm going to try to work at home in my new artist's studio.' —Dinna Eisenhart, Art History, Mill Valley, CA

'I'm going to be doing chassis design as an intern at Ford Motor Co., then back to grad school at Berkeley in mechanical engineering.' —Lionel Mohri, Mechanical Engineering, Paris, France

'I'm thinking of playing volleyball in Puerto Rico. I played here at Cal.' —Astrid Gonzalez, Social Welfare, Duarte, CA

'I'm going to try to find a summer job before going to graduate school in speech pathology.' —Lisa Arechiga, Linguistics & Spanish, Richmond, CA

'I'm going to graduate school at USC in their school of English. I want to become a teacher, probably high school English.' —Richard Samudio, English, Los Angeles, CA