Graduating senior Andy Post joins an august group of individuals as he is the 2010 recipient of the Carlson School's Tomato Can Loving Cup Award. Post is the 81st winner of the award that, since 1929, has gone to a graduating Carlson School undergraduate who has exemplified high performance and outstanding service.

Post received this honor at commencement ceremonies on May 17. "I was very surprised to hear my name announced as the winner of the award," he says. "My initial thought was that our graduating class has so many qualified individuals who are deserving of this award. Service has been increasingly important to people of our generation and I wish we could recognize all of those who helped out our school and our communities alongside me for the past four years."

As a student, Post was very involved with the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. In his junior year, he served as president of Business Week and became a consultant for it as a senior. He was also the student representative on the Undergraduate Faculty Advisory Committee, the vice president of Business Board, and contributed a lot of time to various political campaigns.

To Post, winning the Tomato Can shows him that the Carlson School values the hard work that individuals put in throughout their entire collegiate experience. "This is an indication to me that work both inside and outside of the classroom matters, and having done so much outside of the classroom, it is very rewarding to know people appreciate and value it." He added that this award is one of recognizing balance. "Today's graduates will have to face tough challenges in their careers, but one will certainly be balancing personal life, school, work, family, hobbies, and other passions," he says. "People my age are extremely passionate for things far beyond the scope of academia, and we should encourage every student to pursue these to the maximum."

Since graduation, Post says he has been spending his time networking with contacts in hopes of finding an opportunity in government relations, public relations, marketing, or consulting. "For six months leading up to graduation, I was working full-time in the political arena in addition to class, so I wasn't able to do a thorough job search until that was over," he says. "I do plan on returning to graduate school within a few years - most likely law school or a joint JD/MBA program."

Post says he appreciates all the opportunities the Carlson School has presented him throughout his collegiate career, starting with the first week of freshman year. "Had I not made the contacts I made during that first year, everything about my college experience would be different," he says.