MARIETTA - When Vice Admiral Regina Benjamin is sworn in as the 18th surgeon general of the United States on today in Washington, D.C., attendees will include prominent politicians, former colleagues, family members and an old friend, Marietta's 17-year-old Chandler Commerce.

"I'm very excited and honored she thought of me. I can't believe I'll get to witness history and to see someone get this who definitely deserves it," Commerce said.

The senior at Pebblebrook High School met Benjamin almost six years ago when she spent a week at her clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., during the summer of 2004.

"I had read about her and all of the really kind things she was doing at her clinic for those in need, so I just wrote her expressing interest," Commerce said. "She was allowing some of her patients to pay in shrimp or vegetables and really just seemed to have a strong concern for others, so I was thrilled when she invited me to spend a week with her as she said she could always use help."

So Commerce's mother, Gayle, took her down to the tiny south Alabama town and Commerce, 13 at the time, helped with paperwork and assisted in any way she was needed.

"It was one of the best weeks in my life," she said. "It really opened my eyes to the difference doctors can make when they reach out to their patients on a personal level. She would make house calls after the clinic closed, and was never afraid to get her hands dirty to help others."

Before leaving her weeklong apprenticeship, Commerce drew a picture of the clinic that Benjamin framed and hung on a wall in the clinic. Commerce said Benjamin later told her that when Hurricane Katrina completely destroyed her clinic, one of the few items Benjamin was able to save was her picture.

For the past five and a half years, Commerce and Benjamin have kept in touch through e-mails, phone calls and letters. Benjamin even went to the Macy's Day Parade in 2005 to watch Commerce as she participated in the Camp Broadway float.

"I was very excited to get the invitation in the mail last month, and I've been telling all of my teachers and friends and they're excited for me to," she said. "It's really such an honor and I can't believe she invited me to attend out of so many people that she could have."

But this will not be Commerce's first trip to Washington, D.C. She began a national fitness initiative called Athletics Plus Kids Equals Academics in sixth grade, which launched her into several addresses to key policymakers, both locally and nationally. She was a keynote speaker at the 2007 National Summit on Obesity Policy alongside television's Dr. Mehmet Oz, where she addressed Congress with her concerns on schools' physical education programs and vending machine foods and drinks. She also gave testimony to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities in May 2007 and will be a featured panelist at the Georgia Wellness and Academic Success Summit in March, conducted by the University of Georgia.

"I am extremely proud of her," her mother Gayle said. "She has an innate ability to see a need and take positive action. She becomes passionate about people and causes, yet has always been mature enough to keep a level head, despite all of the travel and meetings. She has never had any fear of discussing her views intelligently with adults, no matter who they are. She really believes that one person - even a child - can make a positive difference."

Pebblebrook High School Principal Zinta Perkins agreed.

"She is a great student, and was very business-like and prepared when she approached me about starting up a program called Fit Falcons, which offers fun physical activities to students before school begins," Perkins said. "The program has been great, and we are most definitely proud of her."

Commerce said she hopes to major in political science in college, and is waiting to hear back from the dozens of colleges she applied to last fall. She has lofty goals, as she said she would like to be president of the United States one day. And her visit to D.C. today will no doubt keep those dreams alive.

"Dr. Benjamin knows I'm coming, so I certainly hope I'm able to see her before or after she is sworn in," Commerce said. "To be fortunate to have her as an inspiration is just incredible."