Nicole Sherman will be starting her sophomore year of high school next month and already she has accomplished so much - she recently raised funds for the Long Island Chapter of the Scoliosis Association and spent the summer traveling through Europe after being selected for the People to People Student Ambassador Program, which is the nation's leading overseas experience for middle school and high school students.

Sherman, who is now 15 years old, first got involved with Scoliosis Association about five years ago. "I have always been grateful to the association because they always helped me through hard times," said Sherman who has scoliosis, a spinal disease that affects 10 percent of all children and teenagers and one of the few diseases that does not have a national fundraiser.

Knowing that the association was in need of money, Sherman held a fundraiser to raise funds for the research of scoliosis and hopefully to find a cure. "There is nothing better I could do than to raise money for them," she said.

Sherman held a candy sale and a bake sale to raise finds and in those two fundraisers she has raised approximately $700 for the Scoliosis Association. She was responsible for publicizing the event and actually carrying it out, which consisted of writing letters, making and posting fliers and making announcements at school.

"The association was so thankful," said proud mom Nancy Sherman. "Nicole does the fundraising as a way of giving back each year around her birthday."

Believe it or not Sherman does have free time and this summer that time was spent traveling around Europe. After being nominated by many of her teachers, Sherman was chosen to be a student ambassador for the People to People program, which was started in 1956 by Dwight D. Eisenhower and eight U.S. presidents have since served as Honorary Chairmen.

People to People Student Ambassadors travel overseas during the summer to learn, share, and represent their communities and schools. Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that if people could visit each other's homes, attend their schools, and see their places of worship, then the misunderstandings, misperceptions, and resulting suspicions would disappear. He wanted people to know and understand that while we are all very different, our values, goals, and day-to-day issues are very much the same.

The program encourages meaningful exchanges between young people of different cultures, through official meetings, educational site visits, and homestays, all of which create deep cultural understanding, probe a nation's history, and launch long-lasting friendships.

"It was an amazing situation to be with people from all over the world," said Sherman. "The trip was amazing. Meeting other cultures and doing things to get to know their cultures and sharing our cultures was great. I was proud to represent America."