Great grads: Alexa Rivadeneira, Locust Valley High School

Alexa Rivadeneira, 18, enjoyed writing as a hobby and, after completing three manuscripts, published a novel, "Confessions from the Heart of a Teenage Girl," in 2007, at the age of 14. The book's protagonist is a high school girl who falls into drinking and drugs before a car accident wipes away her long-term memory. "Basically, her whole high school slate is erased," Rivadeneira said. She has finished another book, "A Blessing in Disguise," and is working with other authors and literary agents to have it published.

Her plans: Attending the University of Delaware to study sociology, with minors in journalism and Spanish.

In her words: "I think [writing is] a good way to express yourself and express a point. A lot of the books I've written always have a meaning. Ever since I was little I would read, and it would take me into a whole new world. That's what I kind of want to be able to share with somebody else."

The view from the guidance office: "Writing will always be an outlet for this exemplary young lady who clearly has so much to say," said guidance counselor Jillian Celli