KENDRA RUSSELL
Chattanooga, Tenn.

Russell arrived at VMI with her requisite white skivvies, high hopes and the only cache of juggling equipment on post. She was under the false impression she would actually have some free time as a rat, she said.

She did wind up doing some juggling that year -- on demand of some upperclassmen who also ordered fellow rat Jen Jolin to stand by humming carnival music.

Russell will graduate with a major in math and minors in computer science, English, physics and philosophy, having taken as many as 25 credit hours in a semester and maintained a 3.5 grade-point average. Along the way, she graduated from Air Force Field Training with Superior Performer and Expert Marksman awards and played soccer, rugby and trumpet in the VMI band. Last year, she became editor-in-chief of the cadet newspaper, which she says is posting record profits.

Russell will be commissioned in the Air Force as a weapons control officer based in Panama City, Fla.

She still juggles. And the only unicycle in the bike storage room at VMI? It's hers.