Great grads: Kate Herzlin, South Side High School

As Kate Herzlin, 18, watched the play she wrote being professionally produced on stage in Los Angeles earlier this month, she spent as much time studying the audience as she did the stage.

"That's actually the best part, seeing the audience reaction," she said.

This is the third year she has won a national competition, the Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwrights Festival, which produces the winning plays. Herzlin was one of 12 winners.

She's been writing plays since she was 10, mostly dramatic comedies - "dramedies" - that she pens in two nights, then revises over several days or weeks.

She also volunteers at Sunrise Day Camp, a program for children with cancer and their siblings. Herzlin herself was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when she was 10 and has been in remission from the disease for eight years.

At Sunrise, she works as a counselor, a fundraiser and a member of the advisory board.

Her plans: To study English at the University of Pennsylvania.

In her words: "I love the fact that I get to sort of do both things - funding research and patient services. It's sort of like I'm trying to beat cancer in both ways and get my revenge."

The view from the guidance office: Herzlin is "wise beyond her years," said guidance counselor Joanna Zweben.