Islander grads will now scatter across 32 states and across the globe to further their education and pursue their dreams. Some will go to arts schools, others to Ivy League institutions, and others to specialized technology schools. Beau Riebe will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, and Julia Chalker and Colin Ramsey are enrolled at the Berkelee School of Music in Boston. Some will attend Bellevue College, just minutes away, while a pair will enroll at Bowdoin College in Maine. Another two will call Florida home for a few years and three are set to continue their studies in Hawaii. Nearly 40 will study in both public and private colleges in California. Others will travel to different countries and cultures. Audrey Col-Spector will attend the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and Scott Lane heads to Beijing University. Some are taking time off, now referred to as a “gap year,” while others will work or travel.

Of the 325 Islander students who graduated from Mercer Island High School on June 11, 235 will stay in the Pacific Time Zone, including five students who are enrolled at colleges in British Columbia. In all, 178 students from the class of 2009 — just over half — will remain in-state. About one-fifth, just over 60, will attend the University of Washington, including five in the UW Honors program. Also nearby, Western Washington University has accepted 34 Island grads; 16 will head to Bellevue College, and a handful to local tech schools. Twenty-five Islanders are heading east of the mountains, including a dozen who will attend Washington State University, and about a half dozen will attend Gonzaga and Whitworth Universities in Spokane. Just 45 students will head east of the Mississippi River with all but a handful clustered between Duke in South Carolina and the colleges in Boston.