BARDWELL — Amanda Smith used to describe herself as shy. She stopped using that descriptor when she got to high school, got a job and got involved in every club Carlisle County High School offers.

"I like people looking up to me," she said. "I like knowing that I'm being there for somebody, that they're counting on me. It means a lot to me."

She's the president of the Future Business Leaders of America and the secretary for her school's Future Farmers of America chapter. Smith also looks forward to her part-time job at Youngblood's True Value Homecenter in Mayfield and keeps up a 4.0 grade-point average. It's all a challenge, and she doesn't shy away from a challenge.

"It takes every part for me to succeed, and I'm willing to do that every day," Smith said.

Smith has filled various business roles in her high school career. She used to work at Taco John's, where she improved her people skills. Before that, she worked for S & S Cleaning Services, honing her love of hard work. At her current job, Smith enjoys the relationships she's formed with local contractors and construction workers. It makes her more professional, she said.

Amanda Smith, daughter of Royce and Marlana Smith, is the Mid-Continent University Teen of the Week. Each Monday, the Sun features a different MCU Teen of the Week selected from nominees that high school guidance counselors throughout western Kentucky and southern Illinois submit to the Sun. Mid-Continent University will provide each Teen of the Week with a $2,500 annual scholarship to its university, which is renewable for four years. In the spring, a Teen of the Year will be chosen from the weekly winners and will receive a full four-year scholarship to Mid-Continent University, currently valued at up to $55,000, or a cash reward of $2,500 paid through the Paducah Sun if the student selects another college to attend.

Smith's confidence will carry her through the end of her senior year and into an undergraduate degree at Murray State University. She wants to study business education and go on to get her master's degree in school counseling. Smith will continue her avid school involvement as a Racer. Everyone knows who she is at Carlisle County High School, and she hopes to have the same reputation after college.

"(It's like) everybody knows that Amanda Smith went to Murray State," Smith said. "And she made a difference while she was there."

She has a sound idea of what college will be like, because she's already completed college courses. Smith will graduate high school with 30 hours of college credit, making her a sophomore in her first year.

"I'm just very hard working," she said. "I would do anything to succeed and achieve my goals, and nothing is going to stop me."

Call Rebecca Feldhaus, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8651.