Tom is in India working for Deloitte Tax LLP, a large U.S.-based tax services firm, as director of their Hyderabad affiliate. A lawyer and accountant by trade, he worked his way up at the firm's San Francisco office in the late '90s.

When I use the term "green building," you may have a certain idea of what I mean. If you're like most Americans, you're probably thinking of those coiled light bulbs, a weak-flushing toilet, maybe a solar panel or two. But architect and PUC Class of '96 alum Jarrod Denton sees that as just a snowflake on the tip of a massive, environmentally-friendly iceberg.

"In the real world, there's time to just live rather than analyze things," muses Brian Fuller, studio director for artist Ira Yeager. Fuller has been living in the beautiful Napa Valley and fully enjoys the atmosphere and experiences that he has come to call his own.

Kenia Ledezma is very far from home. She was the only student to come to PUC this year from Sandia View Academy, a small Adventist school in her hometown of Corrales, New Mexico. And it must be a jarring transition to find herself in California's mountainous vine country from the small desert farming town where she grew up.

The Maxwell scholarship, which awards $10,000 in renewable scholarship funds to worthy incoming freshmen, was Samantha's ticket to Pacific Union College. Before learning she had won the award, she was moving forward on plans to attend nearby UC San Diego. But the scholarship was proof to her that God had better plans. "I prayed a lot as to what college I was going to. I think I knew in my heart that God wanted me to be at PUC," she says. "Winning the scholarship means that PUC is the right place for me."

When graduation is brought up, a hint of sadness flickers on Kelsi Cadiente 's face, but she immediately covers it with a broad smile. "It's going to be so hard being away from so many people my own age," she muses.