Visions of diplomas are dancing in the heads of graduating UA seniors, along with the anticipation of gifts from family and friends, as they prepare to say goodbye to their home of the past several years.

"It's really over," said Meaghan Finnerty, a communication senior who is moving to New York City after graduation. "I am really going to miss school and Tucson and everything about the UA."

As a graduation gift, Finnerty's parents are paying for her to live in an apartment in Manhattan for three months, worth approximately $5,000, while she interns at Major League Baseball Productions, Finnerty said.

"They want to make sure that I'm getting started off on a good foot," she said. "They want to help me be successful, and since they have the means to do it they want to help me out."

Other students' families are treating them with trips to exotic locations.

"It's a good time to go and figure out yourself while you have no responsibilities," said Erin Arnold, a UA elementary education senior whose aunt is sending her backpacking in Europe. "It's going to be my last big thing before the real world."

Fifth-year wildlife science and agriculture technology management senior Amanda Cansler is excited about the prospect of picking a location for a getaway before grad school.

"My parents said, ÎWe want to send you on a trip; where do you want to go?'" Cansler said. "They're just glad I'm finally graduating!"

She is planning on spending a week with a friend in New York to see a Broadway show, tour museums and see the sights of the city ÷ things she said she has dreamed about since she was a child.

With marriage on his horizon, Nick Abdy, a finance senior, is going to take his future wife to Maui for their honeymoon, thanks to his parents.

"I think it's important to give appreciation for all the hard work students have given, and just to celebrate it," said Abdy.

Money is the most popular graduation gift for 2003, according to the Hallmark Corporation Web site.

"Some find it difficult to shop for graduates because they often don't know the graduate well," the Web site stated. "But they know that starting life as an adult, graduates can use money."

Money is what Marla Scanzello, a nutritional sciences senior, plans and hopes to receive from her family.

"I think I'll use it to buy a new wardrobe for Boston," said Scanzello, who will be attending graduate school at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Kevin Daniels, a media arts senior, is waiting to see if he will get a new car from his parents, although he won't be too disappointed if he doesn't get one.

"I don't think any gift is bad," Daniels said, echoing an age-old philosophy: "It's the thought that counts."