Teen-ager writes essay of her life

BURBANK, Ill. -- Every night before she goes to bed, Michele Metych writes down her next day's to-do list.

She always starts the list with the same three morning rituals -- a reminder to get dressed, eat and grab her backpack for school -- just in case she may forget. Metych has a larger list as well, a "life's to-do list" of things she wants to accomplish.

At 15 years old, she's been able to cross off her list some of those goals, such as dyeing her hair blond and publishing some of her poetry. She is still waiting to travel to Paris and New Hampshire, get married and have children.

But she recently crossed "being on television" off the list.

Metych, a high school sophomore, was one of six winners in a national essay contest on what it is like to be a 15-year-old. She was featured on ABC's "Good Morning America" and "World News Tonight." She said she wrote the essay in about five minutes -- only three days after her 15th birthday.

To Metych, a 15-year-old spends time with her family. She is an only child and lives with her parents, Adrienne and Michael, three cats, one bird and some fish. A 15-year-old also balances time between friends and boyfriends, school and sports. But most of all, it's a time for being happy and having fun, she says.

"If you aren't happy, you aren't really living," she wrote in her essay. "People say you should judge whether or not you're alive by whether or not you're breathing, but I disagree with that. I think, in order to judge if you are truly alive, you must look at the moments in your life that have taken your breath away."

Despite her fame, Metych would be the first to say she really is just a normal girl. "I am called stubborn, idealistic, organized, free-spirited and completely unique."