17 year-old Ember McQuirter stretches our definition of a Neighbourhood Hero.

We define a Neighbourhood Hero as an average person who has done simple things that any other average person could also do, things that have made a positive difference in their own life or the lives of others.

Although Ember would qualify as an "average teenager" in many ways, she's definitely a person who pushes herself to achieve much more than average results, something she's watched her mother do as long as she can remember.

Ember McQuirter's mother is a Neighbourhood Heroes too (Cindy Kask, Daily News, March 2, 2001).

You may remember Cindy's story. Almost over night, at the age of 25, she became blind. Then, three months later, discovered she was pregnant and, within months, had to learn to care not only for herself but also a newborn baby.

That "baby" is now 17. "My Mom's my role model," Ember says. "She works hard and she does whatever she wants. I think I can do the same."

For the purpose of this column, Ember's story starts when she was fourteen and unable to find a summer job because of her age.

When her horse had a foal later that summer, she started looking for the horse equivalent to the human tradition of handing out cigars. Horse cookies were her answer and the horses loved them.

Faster than you could say, "Where should I invest this money?" Embie's Happy Horse Cookies were being marketed all around Nanaimo. And yes, most of the profits were invested in bonds and mutual funds to help pay for her post-secondary education.

That venture led to Ember being named "Youth Entrepreneur of the Year" by Community Futures and gigs that paid good money to speak at the BC Business Summit and the Vancouver Island Business Summit. This money too was invested in bonds and mutual funds.

So now you know that Ember is an entrepreneur.

You should also know that as a student, she maintains a 4.0 Grade Point Average, has received awards of excellence in English and Social Studies, the Nanaimo Daily News Student Volunteer of the Year award and the Godwin Award for Excellence in Fine Arts.

She has also played on the school soccer and basketball teams, been a member of the student council, participated in the school leadership program, and attended numerous leadership conferences. Her volunteer work includes being president of the Nanaimo 4-H Club as well as work with the Nanaimo Youth Services Association and Four All Seasons Retirement Lodge.

During the school year, and summers too, Ember works 5 evenings a week at the Keg Steakhouse busing tables -- You have to be 19 to get the big bucks as a server -- and for the last two summers, she has taken a second job. This year she works six days a week packing cheese at Paradise Island Foods.

The money earned from the second job goes to pay back the loan she got from her parents to buy a car. She has a beautiful little 1987 BMW.

So when does this super star student find time to have fun?

"It's called time management," she says. "I schedule things. If I have an hour, I won't just sit and watch TV."

Yesterday was a good example. Ember's cheese packing shift ended at 3:00 and her Keg shift started at 5:00. Since she had to cross the Nanaimo River to get from one job to the other, she arranged to meet friends for a quick swim. "It just takes planning," she reaffirmed.

There is no doubt that Ember McQuirter is an amazing young woman but if you checked around, you would be surprised to learn just how many of today's students, even the "average" ones, are performing at a level way beyond what most of us adults ever dreamt about when we were in school.