Baylor Traveler Wins Free Trip

By Meg Cullar

What could be better than taking a European vacation after graduation? Well, getting to go for free would be better, and that's exactly what senior Peter Lasater will be doing. Lasater signed up for the Graduation Tour European Odyssey, sponsored by the Baylor Alumni Association, and paid his deposit by December 31 in order to be entered in a nationwide drawing. As the winner, he will receive the land portion of his trip for free—a value of more than $3,000.

Lasater signed up for the tour under the influence of his girlfriend, Lindsey Weems, who is also graduating, he said. Weems's sister took the trip a few years ago and highly recommended it. The trip includes sites in London, Paris, Munich, Salzburg, Venice, Tuscany, and Rome.

And, yes, Lasater's girlfriend was a bit jealous when he won, he said, "but not as much when she found out I would be using the money to take an MCAT preparation course." Lasater, an economics pre-med major from Grand Rapids, Michigan, will take the medical school entrance test on May 1 and depart on the European Odyssey on May 22.

Lasater and the other Baylor graduates going will join graduates from other universities on the trip, which is a great way to meet new people, said Bob Anne McMullen Senter '63, the alumni association's travel coordinator. The trip has been offered by the alumni association for several years and is a popular graduation gift, she said. "It’s a great way to get an overview of Europe," she noted.