MARIA VASILE
Tucson, Ariz.

Vasile's parents, both Romanian immigrant hairdressers, put her on a plane in August 1997, as clueless about life at VMI as she was.

She laughs now about how, on her first night in Lexington, she called her mother and said, "What did I do?"

Her friends call her the "study troll," but it's worth it for the academic stars on her uniform, indicating a grade-point average of 3.5 or better. Her parents are "excessively proud," she said.

Vasile was born in Bucharest, Romania, but left with her parents when she was five. Her father "had no problem" with Nicolae Ceausescu's communist government, Vasile said. "He was making very good money, but he didn't think the future for his children would be too bright in Romania."

After two years in Italy, the family landed in Tucson. Vasile spoke no English until she was 8.

She's on her way to Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas after graduation, where she'll work in Air Force intelligence. She wouldn't be more specific.

"If I tell you," she said, grinning, "I'll have to kill you."