SENIOR PICNIC: Afternoon for seniors to gather with their favonte faculty and staff. ONLINE BACCALAUREATE: Spintuai gathering fO' students and theT visiting family to reflect on the past four vears. ONLINE ■ GRADUATION ; CEREMONY: I A capstone expenence on a I student’s experience at Eton I where tnev have grcwn from an acorn to an saplmg. i ONLINE THE YEAR IN PHOTOS ■ MORE ONI IMF- 11 n. r % GRADUATION REHEARSAL: A look Dehind the scenes of those :nvoivecl the ceremony. SENIOR GALA; Night for seniors to dawn their ciassv attire and enjoy a night of dancma. HE Pendulum ELON, NORTH CAROLINA | SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2010 | VOLUME 36, EDITION 15 www.elon.edu/pendulum r, e as?of 2010 COREY GROOM | Staff Photographer Softball captures first-ever SoCon crown Pam Richter Editor-in-Chief As the regionals for the 2010 NCAA softball tournament were announced, the Elon University softball team erupted in cheers when they saw that it would not face the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, the University of Alabama. After being one of the final regionals announced and watching other teams learn their fates in the NCAA tournament, the Phoenix finally found out where it would be headed in the first round —Athens, Ga. But for a team who captured its first- ever Southern Conference tournament win, which resulted in an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament, it was worth the wait. "This was 10 years in the making,” Elon head coach Patti Raduenz said. “We have a young team this year that has put in the hours, that has worked hard, stayed positive.” Raduenz is in her 10th season coaching the Phoenix, and this year the team recorded a program-best 38 wins. “They have the passion day in and day out,” Raduenz said. “I have two of the best assistant coaches in the country that help me bring the best out of these players.” The Phoenix found itself in the Athens Regional, along with Radford University, Florida State University and its first-game opponent, the University of Georgia. The Phoenix’s first game of the tournament was at 5 p.m. Friday, May 21 against the Bulldogs. Sixty-four teams in the NCAA softball tournament are broken into 16 regionals. The winner of each See SOFTBALL I PAGE 15 Recent graduates get creative with job search ^ . ioh ” he said. “I had to sit and think for at the North Carolina General Assembly reached o. Camille DeMere Online Programs Director Graduation day isn't a scary day. Dont believe it? Last year on graduation day, ‘09 graduates niight not have bought it either. According to a survey from National Association of Colleges and Employe^, on y 19.7 percent of graduates last year had a job by the they walked across the stage. The association reporte this spring that employers plan to hire about 6 percen more graduates this yecir than last. . But some Elon University seniors will still toss tneir caps in the air today without knowing what exactly e job market holds. What do 2009 alumni say to that. Don’t worry. „ “People focus too much on after college, graduate Alex Nickodem said. “They should be making . « -1 1 : the sake of have a job,” he said. “I had to sit and think and pray about where 1 should be.” And he decided where he should be was in Buena Vista Colo., working with two friends from Elon for Noah’s Ark, a whitewater rafting company. He was a cook, combining his love of bringing people together over meals with taking time to find himself. “I had four years of college and feel like the time frame is really man made,” he said. rr,r.r,pr Nickodem spent the winter working at Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Summit City, Colo, and was considering returning to Noah’s Ark for another season. BurtL changed when he applied for the Phoneathon Coordinator position at University Advancement, aSut plans in motion to return to his home of four ^®%f there’s anything people make fun of me because , llkl, 1, S m«“! 1,'s ll».- h. s.ld. -I ne.e, had . ,rue graduate Alex Nickodem said. “They snouia oe b ifs Elon," tie saia. i ^ this much or have this job. Some of the happiest people responsibility as this, so being around Elon I’ve seen now arp wnrkint? for AmcriCorps or diiiGre nrettv awesome place to have the adven ur . I indsav Borousch is now a special assistant on the Linasdy duiwwo coninr without VAXXO U1 liavc lllio JWU/. * * j-rr I’ve seen now are working for AmeriCorps or dittere non profits.” . u ^ ^Lindsay Borousch is now a special When he received his diploma last year Nickodem had initiative, but she was another a few job offers, but decided not to take any of them. ^ Sjjg burned to the ^^orked “I didn’t want to jump into an entry level job jus during her last semester. The represen ^ ^ for at the North Carolina General Assembly reached out to the political network in Washington, D.C. After two phone interviews and an in-person interview, the joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in the capital offered her a job. “I lucked out timing-wise,” she said. The week that the job offer was finalized was also her last week working for the North Carolina General Assembly. She started the job just two days after the offer. “1 felt really lucky because D.C. is one of the larger alumni associations,” Borousch said. “My roommate has even helped some people in my graduating class get ^”*^Borousch said recent graduates should remember that even if they don’t have a job, they shouldn’t let their resume have a blank spot. She suggests volunteering or working a summer job, so a potential boss doesn t ask the graduate to explain six months of not doing anything. • u » “Vour first job might not be your dream job — not everyone finds that their first year out, but don’t be deterred,” she said. “If you put in your time, you will get to where you want to be.” k’i VISIT FI nN.EDU/PENDULUM