Fifteen-year-old Hannah Ellison says it is family values.

"It's all in the family. The family affects what happens to the kids when they grow up,'' she says.

"There's a lot of violence and drugs in Bermuda now, but if the family would get back together it wouldn't be so bad.'' Hannah said she was grateful for the good relationship she has with her mom, but says there are a lot of kids who have dysfunctional families and "have a hard time growing up because they don't have anyone to look up to.'' A fifth-year student at Bermuda High School For Girls, the teen enjoys reading and playing hockey.

She says she also loves sports, especially team sports, because she can run around and have fun.

Hannah plays hockey for Cardinals and and is also a member of Bermuda's Under-21 squad.

She recently returned from Vancouver, Canada, where she took part in a training tour with the under-21s.

She plans to attend Saltus Grammar School's senior year after she leaves BHS, and hopes to go on to study toward a career in the medical field.

Describing herself as somewhat of a loner, Hannah says she is quite shy especially around strangers, but is open and frank with friends.

She says she wishes to be successful in whatever she chooses and to live her life for God.

The one person Hannah says she would like to meet is Jesus Christ.

"He had an interesting life and died on the cross for the whole world. It would be awesome to meet him,'' she adds.

Hannah, who attends the Radnor Road Christian Fellowship Church in Hamilton Parish, also believes that her faith in God is what gets her through the rough spots in life.

"If I wasn't a Christian I would have had a hard time,'' she says. "It's just my mom and me, and she has told me to trust in God for as long as I can remember. That is what has got me through all the hard times.'' Asked if there was anything about Bermuda she would like to change, Hannah reflects and says, despite all its problems, she likes Bermuda just the way it is.

INTERVIEW BY KRISTY WARREN