Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a teen who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a friend, and a son or a daughter. Above all, the Teen of the Month is dedicated to making a positive mark on the planet. Rich or poor, famous or not, the Teen of the Month shines as an example of what today's teens have to offer.

October's Teen of the Month is 19-year-old Christy Carlson Romano, the voice of Disney's Kim Possible.

Brains, beauty and talent. Christy Carlson Romano, definitely possesses each of those qualities in equal amounts. Although she's best known for her work as the voice of Disney's Kim Possible on the animated television series of the same name, Romano is also busy with other acting projects as well as taking on the responsibilities of a full-time college student at Barnard College in New York City.

With her career heating up, Romano could certainly be forgiven for putting her college studies on the back burner – especially since many of her acting opportunities are on the West Coast while being committed to a daily class schedule 2,000 miles away. The travel is wearing; on the day we spoke with her, she was fighting a sinus infection. But Romano says her education and what it will bring to her in the future is equally as important as her current career.

"School is a life-changing event, and I wanted to experience it at the same age as everyone else does," says Romano. "Julia Roberts is one of my role models, and one thing that really stays with me is when in an interview she said that her one big regret is that she didn't go to college. I don't want to look back and have those regrets."

Looking Back
So far, Romano doesn't have much to regret. Now 19, she began acting at age 7 in an Atlanta production of Annie. Her extensive theatrical work includes roles in Night of the Hunter, Just One World and Broadway Kids Sing Broadway, in which she was a featured soloist, as well as in the role of Mary Phagan in Hal Prince's Parade at Lincoln Center. She also appeared in the national tours of The Will Rogers Follies as Mary Rogers opposite Keith Carradine and Mac Davis (and directed by Tommy Tune) and in The Sound of Music, in which she played Marta to Marie Osmond's Maria.

According to Romano, as a child, acting was a way for her to be involved in an activity that fit her personality. "It's really just a personality thing," says Romano. "When you're 7 and you have a lot of energy, you need to find an outlet for that energy. For some people it's sports; for me it was acting, singing and dancing. I was just lucky that I seemed to have a real gift for it."

From her theater roles, Romano went on to have success in feature films, appearing in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You, Looking for an Echo, co-starring Armand Assante, and Goosed, opposite Jennifer Tilly and Robert Klein.

This year, in addition to her work in Kim Possible, Romano starred in two other Disney Channel projects. She played Ren Stevens, the main character in the series Even Stevens, and co-starred in the feature film Cadet Kelly with Hilary Duff.

And did we mention she dances and sings? Romano has studied dance at The School of American Ballet in New York and was enrolled at The Professional Children's School as a youngster. Her song Say the Word is currently featured on the Kim Possible soundtrack.

"If I absolutely had to choose, my preference right now would be to build my acting career, but I would never want to have to make that choice," says Romano. "Singing is my first love, dancing goes along with performing, and acting gives you an outlet for all your talents. I'm looking for opportunities to excel in each of those disciplines."

Looking Forward
This well-rounded teen probably won't ever have to make that choice. In August, Rolling Stone Magazine named her as "One to Watch," and there are rumors of a live-action Kim Possible movie in the works. If it worked out, odds are the lead role would go to Romano. She's also working to create a new show about Washington interns that would take a look at the real work interns do, albeit with an amusing spin. She also would like the opportunity to take the taint off internships that the Monica Lewinsky scandal brought.

The reason she is so interested in this particular project? Because this past summer, instead of taking a well-deserved break or pounding the hot Los Angeles pavement furthering her career, Romano served as an intern for Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. She's a political science major and is passionately interested in international human rights.

"Being an intern was an amazing experience," says Romano. "It led me to take a speechwriting class this semester and really gave me a deeper understanding of how our country works. Some of the drama that has gone on with a very few interns over the past few years has taken away from the fact that the internship program is incredibly interesting."

Romano would recommend the internship program to any teen interested in doing something worthwhile, but regardless of what any young person decides to do in life, she says it's important to do it with integrity.

"Teenagers today are very ambitious, but they're also realistic about their goals and what they can achieve," says Romano. "It's important to live your life the way you want to live it and be happy with what you're doing. If you act with integrity, you'll have respect from everyone, but more importantly from yourself."

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