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 A four-year member of the varsity women’s basketball and softball teams, Claire Lasher has made a science of balancing a hectic schedule. As a math major with a concentration in educational studies, she has tutored middle school students and served as membership officer of Carleton’s chapter of the Mortar Board honor society. “Being in sports forced me to be organized and use my time well,” Lasher said. She will put her dual interests in sports and education to use next year as a geometry and algebra teacher and coach in an independent school in Connecticut. A native of Austin, Texas, Lasher had never been to the Midwest before she visited Carleton. “I just fell in love with the people,” she said. “I came for the academics, but it was a bonus that I would be able to participate in athletics, too.” Two days after commencement, Lasher and her basketball teammates will depart for an outreach trip to Thailand, where they will teach their game to Thai children and provide humanitarian assistance in remote villages. “I love being part of a team,” Lasher said. “I like getting to know people in that kind of setting.”
 When Mike Hanslick of Gibbon, Minn., was a first-year student, the sport of Ultimate Frisbee was new to him. Three years later, he is co-captain of the Carleton Ultimate Team (CUT), which is ranked seventh nationally. Since the team is almost entirely self-supported, Hanslick plays the roles of coach, competitor, fundraiser, tournament host, and mentor to younger players. “There are some limitations when coaching your peers,” Hanslick said. “You have to know how far you can push them.” During spring term, the team practices three times a week and spends most weekends at tournaments, and the players are very serious about the sport. “You can see the appeal of Ultimate when you see the time commitment that people have to make,” Hanslick said. “You have to have the dedication to sacrifice your time, but it’s worth it.” Many of Hanslick’s friendships have begun in CUT. “They’re a great group of guys,” he said. “We end up spending so much time together that we really bond.” In addition to his math major, Hanslick has also taken several art history courses and completed a summer research project in art history. His long-term plans include studying architecture and playing Ultimate Frisbee in a less-competitive venue.
 Art has always been a central part of Linh Trieu’s life, but until she came to Carleton, she didn’t consider it anything more than a hobby. She spent her first two years at Carleton in a state of uncertainty, not quite sure that her chosen major, biology, was her true calling. An off-campus studies program in New Zealand and Australia during her junior year confirmed her decision to switch to a studio art major. Professor Fred Hagstrom, who led the trip, worked with Trieu to sharpen her observational skills by helping her discover the difference between looking and seeing. Strong encouragement and support from Professor Hagstrom gave Trieu a new confidence in her art, and in herself. Trieu, originally from Portland, Ore., is now looking forward to the next phase in her life, though she is not quite sure where it will take her. She plans to attend graduate school eventually, but may take some time to do an internship in graphic design or work in an art-related setting.
 For Brian Dever, learning does not stop at the classroom door—to him, service learning is an integral part of a student’s education. During his junior and senior years, Dever, of Centerville, Mass., served as service learning co-coordinator for Carleton’s Acting in the Community Together office, where he worked with students and faculty to integrate service projects into Carleton’s curriculum. “We want to bring students out of the Carleton ‘bubble’ and into the community and the world,” he said. Dever’s work ranged from providing contacts for professors who wanted to add service learning components, to coordinating service trips for classes. As a result, one professor gave her students the option of presenting research to elementary students instead of writing a paper. Dever was rewarded for his efforts this spring, when he received Minnesota Campus Compact’s Sister Pat Kowalski Leadership Award in recognition of his skills in strengthening service learning and campus collaboration. “This award is a sign that Minnesota Campus Compact realizes that service learning is on its way up at Carleton,” Dever said. He will bring his service learning skills with him next fall, when he teaches English as a student teacher in a St. Paul high school.
 Luc Mehl first set foot on Minnesota soil only five days before the start of his classes at Carleton. Mehl is a native of McGrath, Alaska, a remote village only accessible by plane, so he knew that he would be most comfortable at a small, rural school. He chose Carleton sight unseen by the reputation of the geology program, and on the advice of some of his Ultimate Frisbee buddies. “I had no idea that Minnesota would be so flat,” said Mehl, an avid rock and ice climber. Mehl has always been one to make his own fun. Early in his first year, Mehl and several of his friends started a breakdancing squad. They meet once a week to take instruction and practice their moves. During his sophomore year, Mehl and his roommate challenged each other to a badminton game, with the winner getting to shave the loser’s head. That bet escalated into a full-scale tournament, the Barber Badminton Bonanza, which they coordinated during their sophomore, junior and senior years. The Bonanza, which started with 16 people and ended when only one person was left with a full head of hair, turned into a benefit this year. By taking pledges for the amount of hair collected and auctioning off the right to shave the heads of the organizers, $4,000 was raised for a local woman with cancer. Mehl will continue his geology studies next year in Alaska, through a program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
 When Howard Kushlan transferred to Carleton for his sophomore year, he had no political experience—he had been too shy even to apply to be hall monitor in third grade. He now boasts an impressive political résumé—he spent his junior and senior years as vice president and president of Carleton’s student body. Last summer, he worked as an aide for foreign policy in U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone’s Washington, D.C. office, and for six weeks last winter, he served as deputy press secretary for Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign. “I am most interested in raising the public’s consciousness, and defining who we are as a community,” Kushlan said. During his tenure as student senate president, he enacted changes from the addition of clocks in the dining halls to the formation of an environmental advisory committee for the college. Kushlan, a native of Palo Alto, Calif., is keeping his options open for after graduation—he’s looking into working for organizations that specialize in raising issues and community action.
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