Forget working after college. A few days after she crosses the graduation stage, Camille Blackerby will join her fellow senior and golf teammate in Sweden for a week. But, when she runs out of money, the mechanical engineering major has a job lined up with a small engineering firm in Dallas starting June 18.

Purdy-McGuire Inc. has 40 members on staff, but Blackerby said that’s the way she likes it–small is her style.

A self-professed small-town girl, Blackerby hails from Breckenridge, a town just east of Fort Worth with a population less than 6,000.

Elin Emanuelsson, Blackerby ‘s travel mate who is actually from Sweden, said Blackerby will probably go into culture shock in Europe.

“Camille loves chicken-fried steak, ranch and pizza,” Emanuelsson said. “We don’t have any of that in Sweden.

But Blackerby said that small-town mentality is part of what attracted her to play golf at TCU.

“Where I grew up is small, and TCU’s small,” Blackerby said. “That’s what I’m used to.”

Blackerby is one of four seniors on the women’s golf team, which she said is one of the largest senior classes.

“Our team’s amazing,” Blackerby said. “We’re all really close, especially the four seniors.”

Blackerby has managed to consistently come out on top for her team in tournaments. In 2005-06, she recorded top-15 finishes in five of six spring tournaments.

And, in fall 2006, Blackerby posted TCU’s second-best score in three of five tournaments.

The women’s golf head coach, Angie Ravaioli-Larkin, said Blackerby is committed to the golf program day-in and day-out, and has evolved into the type of leader every sports team would want.

“Anything she goes into, she comes out as a natural leader,” Ravaioli-Larkin said.

But golf isn’t the only thing Blackerby has come out on top of.

Ravaioli-Larkin said Blackerby is one of the key components to the golf team’s No. 1 sports team GPA at TCU, and she’s done it all by majoring in mechanical engineering.

In high school, Blackerby was the valedictorian and student body president, and she was named an Academic All-American her first two years at TCU.

“I’m a big nerd,” she said. “I love my time in school and at golf.”

A 12-hour day is nothing unusual for Blackerby.

Twice a week, Blackerby hits the gym at 5:30 a.m. with her team, then attends her morning classes before heading out to the golf course to practice until 2 p.m., mostly by herself. Her day isn’t done until after her lab from 2 to 5 p.m.

Blackerby’s class schedule is opposite her team’s practice schedule, so she typically has to practice her game by herself. But she said she revels in the chance to practice alone.

“I’m kind of a loner when it comes to golf,” Blackerby said. “Sometimes it’s nice to have your whole team around you, but it can also be very distracting.”

Blackerby said the small-town atmosphere she finds so appealing has translated into the engineering department as well.

“All the teachers know who I am,” said Blackerby, of her student-athlete status. “They all know I’m going to play golf and be gone,where in other schools, the teachers might not know who you are. Here they’re trying to help you,” she said.

Emanuelsson said Blackerby continually sets a good example for the younger girls on the team.

“On airplanes on the way home from tournaments, when everyone’s sleeping, she’s up studying,” Emanuelsson said. “And it’s never been an issue where she’s missed practice to go home and study.”

With three tournaments to go in her collegiate golfing career, Blackerby said she has high ambitions, like getting a hole in one or winning a tournament.

“I’ve had some good rounds, but no hole in one yet,” she said.

But Blackerby said she would really like to lead her team to Nationals, which starts May 10 after Conference and Regionals.

A team has to place in the top eight in its region to move onto Nationals, held in Daytona Beach, Fla. TCU hasn’t made it to Nationals since the 2000 season.

“We’ve gotten 12th once, so we’re close,” Blackerby said, who said this year is the best squad to make it because of the seniority on the team.

“Everyone wants to be remembered at their school. You want to be that one team that breaks that mold,” Blackerby said.

Ravaioli-Larkin said no matter what happens this post-season, Blackerby will be an irreplaceable part of the team.

“If you could have ten Camille’s on the team, you’d be No. 1 in the country,” she said.