If you think your course load is rough, meet BRENDA SONG. The real-life "London Tipton" from "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" (Disney Channel) hopes to one day attend Pepperdine University (Malibu,CA).

"I love my career, but you never know what's going to happen," confesses the 17-year-old actress. "With college and education, the sky's the limit ... Knowledge is something you'll have forever. No one can take that from you."

Like most teens, Brenda is going through a transition. With her high school studies complete, she's planning for college and apartment hunting. Add an intense shooting schedule to the mix and she's up for a unique challenge. No matter, she says -- she's dedicated. "When you're in high school, there are all these things you have to do to graduate. Now, you get to pick your path. That's how I look at college: 'This is where I want to be, but it's up to me how to get there.'"

Brenda plans to take general education classes through University of California-Berkeley's online program before transferring to Pepperdine as a psychology major. She developed that interest after a teacher recommended she take criminal justice, psych, and sociology classes. "I don't know if I'll become a psychologist, but all the case files and learning what triggers people really interests me," she explains.

She believes the curriculum will help her with acting, too. "Psychology teaches you human behavior and how the brain works," she says. "I can get in the mind of my characters and see how they feel or how they look upon things."

The determined starlet knows she has her work cut out for her, but divulges, "I always thought I wanted to be a kid forever, but [now that] I'm growing up, I love it. For the first time, my life is in my hands. I can really take control of how I want to pursue it."

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