Plattsburgh State Salutes Class of 2004

Tina LaMour will be graduating magna cum laude on Saturday with a BFA in studio art, concentrating in sculpture and printmaking. After graduation there's no time to rest as LaMour prepares to travel westward.

"I will be attending the University of Colorado - Boulder, pursuing a master's degree in fine arts," said LaMour. "I will look back on my education at Plattsburgh State as an excellent foundation and credit the faculty, especially Diane Fine and Don Osborn, with the development of my work to date and the support to pursue my goals."

LaMour was a recipient of the Lucienne Glaubinger Award in Sculpture, which she credits for giving her the time to develop her work conceptually as well as technically.

She was a tutorial assistant for printmaking and sculpture and taught a plaster carving course for seventh- through ninth-graders at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts.

She's also been involved in the Visual Artist Series with other art students, selecting artists to participate in the program.

Sean Hibbins is spending this semester student teaching in Galway, N.Y. His post-graduation plans include traveling to Japan for a year to teach English.

"I think it will be a good experience," said Hibbins. "There's a high demand for native speakers of English. It's an exciting opportunity to experience the culture, and I'm really looking forward to it."

When he returns, he hopes to teach French in a high school somewhere in the Capital District (Albany).

Justin Elmendorf is a mass communications major who is currently in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., working as an intern at CNBC Television. He works in the On-Air Promotion and Satellite Operations departments.

"After 13 weeks, I still love coming to work every day just because I work with the finest, nicest people that television production has to offer," said Elmendorf.

Although nothing is firm as of yet, there may be a job opening for Elmendorf with CNBC after graduation.

While a student, Elmendorf was a Student Ambassador, a member of two Student Association boards and was the student representative to the Northeast Region of the National Collegiate Honors Council in 2002-2003.

Emily Beckley is a food and nutrition major from Hyde Park, N.Y., and will be going to Indiana next August to begin her one-year internship at Ball State University.
"I'm so excited," said Beckley. "I enjoy the clinical aspect of nutrition and am looking forward to getting more experience through my internship."

She said that she's heard from other food and nutrition graduates who have completed their internships that the program at Plattsburgh State really prepared them well for their experience.

"They've (past interns) said that they were the most prepared compared to interns from other schools," said Beckley. She also said that she enjoys working with others doing community service and volunteer work.

Lyndelle LeBruin , from the Commonwealth of Dominica, is graduating with a bachelor's in chemistry. The next step for her is to go on to medical school.

"I want to do clinical therapy," said LeBruin. "I love interacting with people and helping people feel better about themselves. I'm also interested in medical research. So these are my two options right now."

LeBruin said she loved coming to Plattsburgh and will miss the community spirit.

"There's always someone you see on campus that you know."
LeBruin serves as a Student Ambassador and is a member of the Plattsburgh Gospel Choir. She is also a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity; Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society; and Phi Kappa Phi, an all-discipline honor society.

Elizabeth Paccione , a music major from Stony Point, N.Y., has decided her course of action after graduation -- she is going to Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa. to study music therapy.

"I'm very excited," said Paccione. "It's another step towards what it is I want to do, which is to be a music therapist. I want to work with different populations and help them experience emotions in a different way."

She said she would miss all the performance opportunities the music program at Plattsburgh State afforded her.

"I've played in the Jazz Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Flute Ensemble," she said. "I love the faculty here. I feel they've prepared me to go out and get my master's."
Paccione is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Delta Pi and has helped raise money and participated in community service for the Council for Exceptional Children.

This May will be the second time Rose Wells graduates from Plattsburgh State. But, this time around, the Chazy resident will take her second bachelor's degree and parlay it into a career in community counseling.

Her 1977 English degree didn't lead Wells, 49, down a career path. She married after college and had two sons, now 15 and 13. A divorce left her a single mom of two. By her own admission she had "pretty much hit bottom.

Something needed to change," she said. With the boys in Schenectady with her ex-husband, Wells relocated to the Plattsburgh area and eventually decided to come back to school for psychology and counseling. She will return to Plattsburgh to earn her master's degree in counseling, but not before taking the summer off to spend time with her boys and family.

"I've worked very hard these last four semesters. I want to enjoy a break before grad school," she said.

Steve Sweet , a history major with a social studies concentration and member of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity, is from Penfield, N.Y. He is a member of five honor societies -- Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Theta, Kappa Delta Pi, Gamma Sigma Alpha and Phi Eta Sigma.

Sweet is also a visible pillar on campus. He is a student assistant for the Center for Greek Affairs and Leadership Development, a resident assistant in Whiteface Hall, a tour guide for the Office of Admissions and a summer orientation leader.
Sweet was also involved in the Student Association.

"The Student Association was a great time for me. I made many friends, and I enjoyed my time there because I was able to meet and interact with diverse campus leaders," said Sweet, who plans to continue his leadership roles at graduate school at either Bowling Green State University in Ohio or the University of Vermont.

Elizabeth Sanger is a graduating English major from Chazy, N.Y. After starting out at a school in Oregon with no idea what it was she wanted to do in life, she found herself "drifting" back closer to home and enrolled at Plattsburgh State.

She's now on her way to the University of Montana in Missoula, where she'll be in the two-year MFA program in creative writing with a poetry concentration.

"I'm so excited. It's a really good program," said Sanger. "There are poets there that I'm really excited to work with. The program is nationally ranked. I'll be a TA (teaching assistant), which will cover tuition."

She said that the English faculty at Plattsburgh State has been really important to her.

"I cannot sing their praises high enough. I feel I have really good friends."
About her future, Sanger said, "I'll probably end up teaching creative writing at some level."

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