Ashley Dawson is an anime buff, a community volunteer, an amateur singer and a first-year college student.

At 17, the bubbly Brooklyn Park teen has a diverse range of interests.

"She is very well-rounded," said her mother, Debbie Dawson, as the two chatted in the Center for Applied Learning and Technology at Anne Arundel Community College.

"I like to having a lot to do," said Ashley, in her first semester at AACC after being home schooled for a year and a half.

It's a good thing. When she's not going to school or working her part-time job at the Chick-fil-a in the Centre at Glen Burnie, she's often helping her mom,...