If she hadn't left on her own, Jolin probably would have taken her leave of VMI involuntarily.

The 5-foot-11 Jolin's taste for fun was too big for life as a freshman "rat." Away from her home in quiet, countrified Highland County for the first time, Jolin couldn't contain herself and VMI couldn't contain her.

She piled up demerits for disciplinary violations ranging from tardiness to conduct unbecoming a cadet on a band trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Figuring she would be suspended anyway, Jolin resigned.

While the last of her colleagues line up to graduate from VMI, she'll be receiving an associate degree in arts and sciences from Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. She had to start over academically -- her grades at VMI were so bad she didn't even try to transfer the classes. She has a 3.4 grade-point average now.

Jolin hopes to transfer to the University of Virginia, James Madison University or Bridgewater College after taking a semester off.

"I want to be a medical examiner or a coroner, play with dead people," she said.

She's manager of the tire and lube center at a Wal-Mart in Staunton, where she lives with her boyfriend.

"The whole ratline thing, it was good for me. It takes a lot to get me rattled anymore," Jolin said. "I wish I'd done things differently sometimes. And I wish I was graduating this May."