May 21, 2007 -- The remarkable achievements and diverse talents of the University of Virginia’s graduating students are captured each year in the graduation issue of Inside UVA. In years past, the staff of the Media Relations Office have written stories about the students. This year, the students told their own stories.

“In Their Own Words” presents essays by members of the Class of 2007 in which readers will hear directly from aspiring scholars, humanitarians, artists, doctors, nurses, poets, soldiers, and spiritual and political leaders. Twelve essays appear in the graduation issue of Inside UVA. Here we have included those essays, plus a number of others from the Class of 2007 "In Their Own Words" series:

Mostafa Abdelkarim B.A. Foreign Affairs

Clay Broga B.A. Economics & Foreign Affairs

Jessica Childress B.A. Politics & African-American Studies

Sid Crocker B.S. Nursing

Elizabeth Davis BA, Architecture

Yvonne Epp B.S. Environmental Sciences

Tammy 'Flo' Hayes M.S. Nursing

Michael Hunt M.Ed. Kinesiology

Joshua Justice B.A. History, U.Va.-Wise

Brian McReynolds B.S. Electrical Engineering

My-Linh Nguyen Echols Scholar

Anna Oppenheimer M.A. English

Devan Stahl B.A. Religious Studies