Calvin College senior David Vander Vliet knows that his graduation in May 2000 will be bittersweet. The business major from Jenison, Michigan, loves to learn and says he would be content to stay at Calvin and continue to be a student. 

But he also knows that his transition from academic life to "the real world" is necessary and he's taking steps to make that transition less painful. 

This year, for example, Vander Vliet is the president of Calvin Business Forum, a student-run organization which has as its mission to bring together members of the Calvin community and members of the local business community. 

The Calvin Business Forum also "emphasizes practical business applications and strives to develop perspectives for Christian business people through the coordination of lectures and events." 

Recently, Vander Vliet helped organize the Autumn Calvin Business Forum dinner, which featured a speech by Amway's Dick DeVos. 

The philosophy behind the Business Forum is that you can't learn everything from a book or a class, says VanderVliet. The group connects students with business leaders in the community. The interaction, Vander Vliet hopes, will help Calvin students be better prepared for the "real world." The Calvin Business Forum, he adds, is trying to make a difference in the lives of Calvin students. 

And next spring VanderVliet hopes to find a career in which he can make a diference. He can see himself working for a non-profit organization or, perhaps, being an elementary school teacher. He also wouldn't mind a job at Calvin College's Development office, where he has worked for four years as a student caller for fundraising efforts. That job, he says, helped him learn that people really care about the Calvin community. 

"I realized that people at Calvin really care about students," he said. "Like the professors really cared about me." 

Another part of Vander Vliet's Calvin experience was living with the Mosaic Community for a year. Mosaic is a floor in the residence halls that promotes multiculturalism at Calvin. Students take a one-credit course in order to look more closely at cultural diversity, racism and issues with which college students from diverse backgrounds struggle. 

Vander Vliet, who is Hispanic, was adopted into a Dutch Christian Reformed family. Nonetheless, he sees himself as "different" in the eyes of many Calvin students. "The Mosaic Community is a pretty cool part of Calvin, and I'm glad I got a chance to be apart of it," he said.