Carpentry student. Future doctor. JFK Make a Difference Award winner. Lacrosse player. Sunday school teacher. Fundraiser for cancer research.

Elana Sargent might only be in high school, but it seems like she's lived as many lives as a cat.

The Old Colony student has been raising money to combat a rare brain cancer, glioblastoma, since she was nine years old. She lost her father, John, to the same cancer at age 11. Sargent has developed her own method of raising money— she makes bracelets.

Selling the bracelets she made, she was able to donate $2000 to Lahey Health Clinic, where her father was treated.

After Sargent donated money to Lahey Health, she started donating to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Since she started making bracelets, she has raised close to $10,000 in donations overall. She reported that she generally donates $1,000 per month to Mass General.

For all her charity work, Sargent has earned the JFK Make a Difference Award. The award is given every year by the Kennedy Library in Boston, to students who have made significant contributions to their town or community.

Fundraising, though, is only part of Sargent's varied life.

She might be studying carpentry at Old Colony, but her future goal? Becoming a doctor. Already, she said, she has been accepted to several colleges.

Top student, cancer battle fundraiser? You'd think that might take up one life, but Sargent is also an athlete. She plays lacrosse for the Old Colony Cougars, a starter on the varsity team since freshman year. She was a team captain her sophomore year, and is again as a senior.

Sargent is also a teacher; for the past four years, she's taught Sunday School at her church in Lakeville.

[Zachary McMahon is a sophomore student at Old Colony Regional Technical Vocational High School.]