NORTH COUNTY -- Four years ago, 10 teens from across North County had high school in their wake and college on their horizon.

From Cal State University San Marcos to Northeastern University in Boston, the students fanned out across the country and, in some cases, to stops around the planet in pursuit of their college degrees.

They have toiled in laboratories, on sports fields and in storied halls of learning. For some, the educational voyage has veered to such far-off places as Uganda and Tahiti.

The students come from all kinds of racial and economic backgrounds. Their common thread is that at this time in 2004, they had been nominated for and later received the first-ever North County Times Student of Merit scholarships. The program recognized academic achievement, community service and strength of character with no-strings-attached $500 awards.

This year, the newspaper again has issued applications to high schools across North County, and once again, reviewers expect difficult decisions and lively debate when choosing the 10 award winners.

For anyone wishing to compete for this year's $500 scholarships, time grows short. Applications are due Friday and can be downloaded from the newspaper's Web site, www.nctimes.com/community/student/.

In recent weeks, the North County Times has contacted some of the 2004 recipients and learned where they are now. The details they shared are as diverse as the students themselves.

Anna Phillips, Rancho Bernardo High School

Anna Phillips has made quick work of George Washington University, even though she spent six months in Uganda to develop a soccer program for women and visited Israel to learn Hebrew.

The voyages were part of Phillips' self-designed major in international human rights.

She graduated in December and now works for Care International in the nation's capital, promoting sports for social change. Her time in Uganda last year helped prepare her for the job, she said.

Stationed on that country's border with Sudan, Phillips introduced her program, "Girls Kick It," as a way to rehabilitate women traumatized by war or by the ravages of the AIDS pandemic.

Phillips drew from her own experience as a teen competing in such male-dominated sports as wrestling and rugby.

"Sports has always been an equalizer for me," she said.

Besides competing for Rancho Bernardo's athletic program, she organized blood drives and worked with the Anti-Defamation League to confront bigotry and homophobia.

Phillips said she's heading back to Uganda this summer.

"In the U.S., everyone gets a first chance," Phillips said. "In Uganda, these women have no chances. The things they've been through and their resiliency is unbelievable."

Alif Khalfan, San Pasqual High School

The U.S. economy might be troubled, but Alif Khalfan isn't sweating it.

A senior at Stanford University, Khalfan has worked at several high-tech companies in Silicon Valley as he completes a degree in computer science. He also has spent time studying in Santiago, Chile.

He spent a summer in New York City and worked as a technical adviser for Goldman Sachs, a worldwide investment banking and securities firm, declining the company's offer to return to the big city.

For Khalfan, the near future includes pursuing a master's degree in management science and engineering, which he should complete in less than a year because he's already taking graduate-level courses, he said.

Khalfan says his life is good at Stanford. His intermural soccer team is the defending champion, and he's the university's defending pingpong champ.

A native of Escondido, Khalfan is an adviser to freshman students, and his forays into the workplace are paying for a good share of his education.

"I've been getting some good jobs," Khalfan said. "I'm searching for a job, but I'm not very worried about it right now."

Angela Ortiz, Vista High School

A liberal arts degree is less than three months from the reach of Angela Ortiz, and the excitement is building.

Ortiz -- a soccer player, community volunteer, and the reigning Miss Oceanside Princess -- plans to return to Cal State University San Marcos to earn a teacher's credential.

But first, she and her best friend plan to celebrate their accomplishments with a cruise to Hawaii.

During college, Ortiz has softened the transition for incoming students as a member of the university's orientation team. That made her the first student to come into contact with many of the wide-eyed, new arrivals.

"There's tears sometimes," Ortiz said. "Sometimes they're just overwhelmed."

The demands of college have meant that Ortiz has reduced volunteer duties that have brought her to homeless shelters and to apply coats of paint to homes of the poor.

But she found time to volunteer in the classroom of her own kindergarten teacher at Alamosa Park Elementary School. That work has made her determined to teach young children.

"I want to be there for the first years of education and give them a positive attitude about school so they look forward to education," she said.

Gricelda Alva, Oceanside High School

Alva has stayed right in North County, and that's good news for many high school students.

Alva's in her senior year at Cal State University San Marcos and three short months from completing a major in human development with an emphasis on counseling

"The focus is on how to work with people from different ethnic backgrounds," she said.

A native of Mexico, Alva tutored and mentored her peers when she was in high school. As a college student, that hasn't changed. She gives presentations at high schools to motivate students to pursue college degrees. She also has formed a campus support group for illegal immigrant students "to make them feel like they're not alone."

Alva graduated second in her class of 405 students at Oceanside High School. She's planning to get a master's degree in art therapy or marriage and family therapy.

Kara Stafford, Torrey Pines High School

College has taken Kara Stafford to Pacific islands near and far by way of Northeastern University in Massachusetts.

As a member of the school's East-West Program, Stafford's marine biology fieldwork led her to Catalina Island and Tahiti. She found adventure in both places.

On Catalina last May, a 400-acre wildfire erupted, and the research team had to evacuate.

Earlier, in Tahiti, she and a friend split from the group to visit a beach where local residents swung from a lofty palm tree into the sea. Stafford tried unsuccessfully to make her way up the slender trunk.

"The locals came around and patted me on the back for trying," she said.

The tropical island was a long way from wintry Boston, where Stafford is completing degrees in education and biology.

And the housing projects and racial and economic diversity of Boston are a world apart from the homogenous suburbs of Carmel Valley, she said.

"I've been doing amazing things," Stafford said. "Northeastern really is the perfect place for me. It's different in a very good way."

Karina Gonzalez, San Marcos High School

You can find San Marcos High School graduate Karina Gonzalez right across town, in the laboratory of Cal State University San Marcos, where she's studying marine algae and remains determined to win the Nobel Prize.

She's come a long way from Guatemala, the country of her birth, from which she emigrated as a grade-schooler without speaking a word of English.

Today, a bachelor's degree in biology is within three months of her reach. So is the American Society for Microbiology Conference, where she plans to present her research on June 1.

Then it's right back to the lab to complete a master's degree and, she hopes, a doctorate, she said.

The lab work places plenty of demands on her time, but Gonzalez continues to volunteer as a tutor and mentor at San Marcos High School.

She said she's also made a difference when she spoke at San Marcos Middle School.

"I felt like I really told my story and told students to follow their dreams," she said. "I try to motivate."

James Rhoades, Ramona High School

Graduating in June from UCLA will be just the beginning of an ambitious future for James Rhoades.

After returning to San Diego this summer, the philosophy major hopes to land a position with the San Diego Police Department. He hopes to advance from there to become an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

While pursuing his law enforcement duties, Rhoades has every intention of attending law school.

"I would go to law school during the day and work at night," he said. "I'm already handling a pretty full day with track and school here. That wouldn't be anything new."

Rhoades, a track star at Ramona, has battled injuries during his years at UCLA. Highlights have included being named All-American as a sophomore as part of the 4x400 relay team that broke the school record. The 400-meter specialist has competed in Pacific 10 and Western Regionals and is hoping to reach the outdoor national championships later this spring.

When not competing or studying, Rhoades spent one summer running a track camp for kids at UCLA. He also took a trip to Italy and France, failing in an effort to learn Italian.

"All the amazing experiences and opportunities college presents are almost astounding," he said.

Jesse Laks, La Costa Canyon High School

When in high school, Jesse Laks filled his time with a variety of activities, and that hasn't changed during his four years at the University of Southern California.

The technologically gifted Laks has worked at several campus and community theaters as a sound designer and projections designer. He is the chief engineer for the university radio station KSDR-AM, making sure the station streams over airwaves and the Internet 24 hours a day.

With the Office of Campus Activities, Laks has helped plan the school's annual pep rallies held before the football showdown with archrival UCLA, last fall chairing the pep rally committee.

"It was all very exciting. Like planning any live event, stuff happens at the last minute. That's the stuff I dig about putting on a live event," he said.

Laks is also the undergraduate representative to the university's Honorary Degrees Committee, and has worked his way up at the Bovard Auditorium in Los Angeles from stagehand to stage manager, possibly finding a career path along the way.

He'll graduate in May with a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering and computer science and hopes to mingle that with what he loves.

"Something that combines the thrill of live entertainment with the sort of mind-set engineers have," he said.

Before that, he dreams of a yearlong road trip with friends to all 50 states, getting to know people across the United States and putting their adventures on YouTube.

"It's a dream now, but we're putting effort to it. It's a goal more than a dream," he said.