Tawana Flood, 19 years old and in love with life, grins as she fans out the colour photographs, each one illuminating a different highlight of the last five months. Each one setting off wave upon wave of memories.

From milking cows at dawn to teaching American youngsters about Bermuda, from cleaning zoos to singing before thousands -- Tawana's life of late has resembled a Disney World carousel.

It has whirled the talented Bermudian across the States, taking in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

And in the New Year it will whisk her away to Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

Has she enjoyed the ride? "Why yes, of course!'' she beams, leaning forward in her chair, glancing at the photos.

Not that the ride has been easy. For on the Up With People programme you must work hard to make the carousel turn; You are the engine.

"You really get out of it what you put into it, and I can honestly say I've put 100 percent into it,'' stresses Tawana, back in Bermuda for a Christmas break.

Hear Tawana talk and it comes as no surprise to learn she is one of the stars on the programme.

Founded in 1965, Up With People pulls together students from all over the globe, giving them a chance to learn about other cultures, do community service and perform in a travelling musical.

Split up into five casts, the students spend 11 months in different countries.

Tawana, of Scenic Heights Pass, Southampton, joined the Colorado-based programme after a fierce fund-raising campaign dotted with anxious moments when she despaired of ever reaching her $12,000 target.

Then followed five weeks of nerve-jangling auditions and training for the Up With People musical, The Festival -- a two-hour epic reminiscent of West Side Story.

Tawana fidgets as she recalls the singing auditions.

"Some of the people were opera singers and classically trained singers, and I thought they were very good.

"Here was little me, fresh out of Bermuda College. I was 19, while other students were as old as 28, but I was determined to do my best, and I couldn't believe it when they gave me a leading role.

"I was so excited that I rang home to tell my parents. I was amazed.'' Tawana won the role of a news vendor, one of five main characters in a cast of 171 people, including 21 technical staff.

It involves narrating and singing four songs -- Looking' for Something, Everybody's Everybody, Last Embrace and The Day The People Came Together.

"All the songs have meaning. One of them is about Sarajevo, which is a mellow soul-type song,'' she says.

"It is hard to sing because you have to be aware of what is going on in Sarajevo.

"Otherwise it is impossible to sing it with expression and feeling.'' Tawana describes her songs as "pop'', while others in the musical range from rap, reggae and rhythm and blues, to soul and rock.

"I don't really have any favourite song, I just love to sing them all.'' She adds: "As well as singing you also learn about the production side of things, how to hold a mike and present yourself on stage.

"I also had experience of performing in huge auditoriums before thousands of people.

"I've never known anything like it. It's a very long day beginning at 8 a.m.

and going on to 1 a.m.

"When we have a show we have to put up all the equipment and then clean the place afterwards.'' If the auditions were daunting, Tawana's most nerve-wracking moments on stage were to come.

"My family, including my auntie and brother, came out to see me in Florida.

That made me more nervous than anything. Fortunately the show went very well.'' For every performance, the Up With People students do two days of community service.

The challenges are varied: On one occasion Tawana rolled up her sleeves to paint homes in Houston's Hispanic community, while on another she took part in karaoke at a Florida nursing home.

Sometimes she found herself making food boxes for the homeless, sometimes just listening to old folk talk.

"One of the things I did was make presentations in schools about Bermuda,'' Tawana recalls with a smile.

"Whenever I mentioned Bermuda people said `Oh yeah, that's in the Caribbean isn't it?'. Nobody seemed to know where Bermuda was.

"I would show children a film about Bermuda from the Department of Tourism, and everybody said they would love to come to Bermuda.'' Tawana adds: "When I went to schools I encouraged children to take a stand and address the problems in the community.

"I asked one group of 13-year-olds in Texas to make a list of what was positive and negative.

"Naturally the list of negative things was much longer. One of the complaints of the children was that there was nothing to do.

"I helped them write a letter to the Mayor about what they wanted.

Unfortunately I left before I found out what happened.'' Tawana also spoke to troubled teenagers and young adults in detention centres.

"I didn't go there to preach, but I tried to give them guidance. Some of the teenagers were on drugs, others were there because they had tried to kill their step-mothers.'' Tawana pauses and shifts the focus.

She talks warmly about the 20-odd host families she stayed with during her tour of the States.

"I stayed with all different types of people -- from the middle class to the working class and from the religious to the non-religious.

"At one stage I lived on a farm and on another I stayed in a barn.'' Tawana's eyes light up at a memory.

"It was interesting how food varied among the different families. In the South, for instance, they seemed to love corn bread and mashed potatoes!'' She adds: "In some homes apparently the husbands never really smiled before our arrival. I think we brought life to their homes.'' Despite the busy schedule, students somehow found time to develop personal and career skills.

In Tawana's case she was responsible for recording all the Up With People activities -- one of her photos shows her tapping the details into a laptop computer.

"Everything I recorded went back to Colorado,'' she explains.

Tawana rejoins the Up With People programme on January 3 when she flies to Belgium, via Boston.

What has she learned so far? "When I joined the programme I did not know anybody. I've learned how to be flexible, more patient and more tolerant. I've learned to adapt to different environments.

"I have more friends now and more appreciation of other cultures. I've also learned to appreciate my own culture more.'' PERFORMANCE OF NOTE -- Tawana Flood pulls out the stops during a Colorado show.