Molly Deis

Personal: Molly Deis is a senior at El Molino High School. She lives in Sebastopol with her mom, Marilyn, and little sister, Faith. The family shares their home with a dog named Oliver, a cat named Luna and a rabbit called Little Brother.

Good Times: Her happiest times are spent with her friends. If they aren't at her house to watch "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, they are meeting up at Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park to bowl. She taught herself to knit five years ago and enjoys knitting simple scarves for friends.

Now that a couple of her friends are interested in culinary arts, she is too.

"Now that we all have cars, it's a lot of fun. We also like to get together and make dinner for 20 people. We put out a big table and use the good china and have a nice dinner together," she said.

Summer Sisters: Last summer, Deis participated in the Sebastopol Sister Cities program, traveling to Washington, D.C. for a weeklong conference and then spending three weeks living in Ukraine with a host family.

"There were five of us students. The people in Ukraine are so amazing. Everyone was really hospitable. Oh, my gosh, there was so much food. We each gained 10 pounds even though we walked everywhere," she recalled.

This summer a teenage girl from her host family will be visiting her Sebastopol home.

"I want to show her what living in America is really like. Just how we live, what we eat. We'll go to Sacramento one day and to San Francisco. I'm sure driving across the Golden Gate Bridge will be a highlight for her," Deis said.

What's a B?: She comes from a family of teachers. Her mom is a teacher. All her uncles are teachers. Her aunt and a cousin are teachers. So, while there is an unspoken expectation that she may considering teaching as a career, Deis is making sure that she considers all professional possibilities.

Her least likely profession?

"NASCAR race car driver," she said giggling.

With a 4.67 grade point average, she hopes to attend UC Berkeley or Stanford.

"I dabble in everything to see what I'm interested in. I like science, but I love history. I'm thinking about archeology, too," she said.

Just back from a summer trip to England, history is calling her. For years she's participated in school plays and dance productions, working last year as stage manager at El Molino. So, theater is calling her too.

"I like being backstage because so many of my friends are actors. I like knowing that I'm helping out," she said.

Time Management: Her secret to good grades and a diverse lineup of fun things to do requires tackling homework in class and scheduling outings with friends. This summer she's working part time at the cafe in the Union Hotel in Occidental.

"We have great apricot-raspberry turnovers. I work behind the counter, kind of like a barista. I get to know a lot of people who live here, and we serve the tourists heading to the coast," she said. Her paychecks help out with gas and car expenses and pay for her movie habit.

People Passion: She said her heroes are her mother and sister. She says they are as close as they can be and enjoy each other's company. She also looks up to anyone who is passionate about what they do.

"I admire people like that because I want to be like that, passionate about what I do," she said.

-- Rayne Wolfe