Name: David Durrette
Hometown: Summerville
Year: Senior
Major: Mechanical engineering
High School: Fort Dorchester High School

David Durrette was torn between engineering and music as potential college majors – interests, he admits, that are at "both ends of the spectrum."

But a high-school physics teacher helped him understand math and science in their applied forms. It made his education relevant, and he decided to pursue engineering in college.

So, Durrette headed to the University of South Carolina because he liked its campus and the opportunities to be involved in student activities. His high-school teachers had told him that he was likely to receive personal attention from engineering faculty members. He's found that to be true.

"I can get in touch with my professors. They get to know you personally," he said. "They care about you as a student – not a Social Security number."

He found that he didn't have to give up his love for music by studying engineering. He became a member of the university's marching and concert bands, proudly playing the trombone for his school.

Durrette, who will graduate in May, is beginning his quest to find a job and would like to work for a defense contractor and design airplanes.

Since I was a little kid, I always liked military airplanes," he said. "What a fun job it would be to build them instead of just looking at them!"