With UCSB’s first annual Senior Week in full swing, future graduates have the opportunity to participate in events ranging from leadership workshops to a bonfire complete with free s’mores before walking in June.

Senior Week 2008 is taking place all this week on campus from April 21-25 as part of the Leadership Education Program run by the Office of Student Life. In addition to post-graduation career-oriented activities, several social events are also planned.

Seniors are invited to the second annual UCSB Beer & Wine Tasting Festival on Saturday from 6-7:30 p.m at the Faculty Club. The event is $15 for students and space is limited. Additionally, the first annual Senior Bonfire will take place Friday night at Depressions Beach below Manzanita Village from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The beach band Kelp will play and free s’mores will be provided. Space is limited to the first 500 seniors.

The week began due to donations from two alumni — Barry Posner and Jackie Schmidt-Posner — who saw a need for a leadership training program for seniors, Director of First-Year Programs & Leadership Education Britt Andreatta said.

With their donation, Andreatta said OSL pooled its resources with other groups, including Career Services and UCSB Alumni Affairs to prepare a week-long event for students.

Andreatta said the week’s schedule seeks to prepare seniors for their lives post-graduation, as well as provide them with some fun Spring Quarter memories.

“The event is training for when students go into the next stage to get leadership skills,” Andreatta says. “There will be young alums there who just survived the transition [after graduation] to talk about what things worked and what things didn’t.”

This week’s events include a variety of workshops to teach leadership and career skills. The events aim to help seniors with several of the issues they may face after graduation, such as resumé writing and finding housing. Sessions on graduate school will also take place for those seniors thinking about continuing their education after graduation.

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