Not everyone is in Kansas anymore.

The KU Alumni Association reports that 147,604 former KU graduates still reside in Kansas, but many Jayhawks choose to flock elsewhere. Here are three 2008 graduates who may have moved on, but whose hearts will always be in Lawrence.

Aubrey Ramsey — Traveling the country

Through her job as a leadership consultant for her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, Aubrey Ramsey has done nothing but visit college towns since she graduated last May.

She’s been to the University of Arizona, Villanova University, and Wake Forest University, just to name a few — but none, Ramsey said, compared to Lawrence.

“Lawrence is a completely unique town — I haven’t found another college town like it,” Ramsey said. “I don’t know how to describe it other than Lawrence is a true college town. Everything you need is easily accessible and there is always something to do. Lawrence is so friendly and welcoming to the college students. You don’t find that everywhere.”

Ramsey said she worked a typical college student’s hours — minus the all-nighters. Last semester, she said, she traveled from one Alpha Delta Pi chapter to the next, getting to know the women in the chapters and working with them to be the best sorority chapter on their campus. This semester, Ramsey is at Wake Forest University helping its Alpha Delta Pi colony, a chapter in its early stages, get off the ground.

“Being at a colony is one of the most rewarding parts of my job,” Ramsey said. “I get to see a new group of women build their sisterhood from the ground up.”

Peter Curzon — San Francisco

Peter Curzon imagines that his work buddies are getting pretty sick of his bragging about his alma mater.

Though he puts in long hours as an analyst at an investment bank in San Francisco, his mind is never far from the University and Lawrence. He said that when his parents — both KU alums — visited him in San Francisco last Halloween weekend, they commented that they felt as though they were in a college town, and Curzon agreed. He said he found many similarities between San Francisco and Lawrence.

“San Francisco makes for a pretty smooth transition, actually,” Curzon said. “It has many of Lawrence’s best attributes such as active, interesting people, great nightlife and music scenes and a youthful crowd.”

The biggest difference, he said, was the responsibility of a full-time job.

“I think all of my recently graduated classmates would agree that there is a noticeable step up in expectations after college,” Curzon said. “Whereas 93 percent accuracy garnered an A in college, in the professional world anything less than 100 percent is an F — sounds extreme, but that’s the truth.”

San Francisco is just a temporary home, Curzon said. He said he loves San Francisco, but one day, he would like to own a home with a yard.

Ray Wittlinger — Washington, D.C.

An appreciation of history made Ray Wittlinger, former 2007-2008 student body vice president, especially enjoy his job as an intern at Congresswoman Nancy Boyda’s (D-Kan.) office in Washington, D.C.

Wittlinger spent the summer of 2008 doing constituent services, which included giving daily tours of the Capitol and taking visitors to the National Archives so they could see documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Wittlinger — who lived about a 10-minute walk away from the Georgetown area — walked the National Mall on off days and said he visited as many monuments and memorials as possible.

Life moved faster in D.C. than in Lawrence, Wittlinger said. He said that he missed the feel of a college town and its more relaxed pace.

“In D.C. everything moves quickly and if you don’t keep up you can get honked at, yelled at, left behind, and pushed, literally,” Wittlinger said. “Strangers are so much kinder and courteous to each other walking down Mass. Street or on campus than at the D.C. Metro shops or a crowded corner market.”

Wittlinger is now back in Kansas, working at Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ constituent services office.

— — Edited by Carly Halvorson