Woodridge, Ill.
Math and computer science

Practice makes perfect: Spends at least 15 hours a week playing his bassoon in Concert Band, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Norsewinds, a student woodwind quintet; also plays bass drum in pep band.

Work-study: Serves as a tutor in the math department and Student Academic Support Center.

Summer job: Accepted to do math research at the University of Iowa, with the goal of presenting and/or publishing his work.

When Aaron set out to choose a college, there was high probability that he'd select Luther--his parents, one set of grandparents, and several aunts and uncles on both sides are graduates.

But it didn't take him long to make the experience his own. With many AP credits he earned in high school bolstering his transcript, he found room in his course load to study African literature and the Twi (schew-EE) language in Ghana for a semester, for example. He also chose upper-level courses well outside his major areas like "Gender and Sexuality in Asian Religion."

"It's been really nice to work with professors to take classes in the order and subjects that suit me and clear my schedule to study abroad," he says. "It's pretty amazing that I can go a whole semester without taking math or science and still graduate in four years with a double major."

With his degrees in hand, Aaron hopes to do research or consult in the corporate world. He's always liked robotics and wouldn't be disappointed if he could fashion a career working with artificial intelligence. But, true to his Luther roots, he's open to teaching literature, too.