Editor's Note: The following is the first in a series that will profile members of the Class of 2009 in anticipation of the College's Ninety-First Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 17. The series will continue through Friday, May 15.

Providence, R.I.--Four years ago, Cara R. Bragg '09 of Holland, Ohio, was a wide-eyed freshman about to embark on her journey through college.

On Saturday, May 16, during Providence College's Commencement Weekend, Bragg will address fellow graduates at the Academic Awards Ceremony as the student with the highest academic rank in the Class of 2009.

The political science major and French minor, who also is a student in the rigorous Liberal Arts Honors Program, has earned a 3.99 grade-point-average at PC.

"I want to say how PC has allowed the graduates to have an education, not just consisting of book learning and academic contemplation, but of engagement with the world," she said of her address. "This education has allowed us to not only be transformed personally; it allowed us to transform our outside community."

Through an extensive public service record, Bragg will have a wealth of personal knowledge to speak about how PC's education goes well beyond the classroom.

She has been a member of the College's Amnesty International chapter for four years and served three years on the organization's executive board. This year, she also served as secretary for Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society on campus.

Her other campus-centered involvement includes hunger awareness outreach with Campus Ministry, working as an ESL tutor, and volunteering with the Obama for America campaign.

Away from the College, Bragg spent a semester during her junior year studying abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris and traveling throughout Hungary, Italy, and Belgium. During the summer between her junior and senior years, Bragg was an intern in the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.

Following graduation, Bragg will teach secondary English education in the formerly Soviet-controlled country of Georgia as a volunteer with the Peace Corps.

"Success is not about the money we will earn or the positions we will hold," she said. "Success is about the lives we will affect, the memories we will make, and the lessons we will learn."

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