She came here a little over four years ago on a whim, straight out of a stint in rehab and two months in a halfway house. And when she arrived she had no desire to go to school or to make Penn State a better place, just a longing to get away from Northampton, the small town where she grew up and endured some painful years of self-destructive behavior.

Jennifer Storm, the 27-year-old activist who has helped give Penn State's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied (LGBTA) community a voice in her four years as a student, said she was actually uninformed, uneducated and unsure of herself when she followed a friend to State College.

It was a time, she said, that now seems like a lifetime ago.

"I was just your typical white, female, heterosexual, clueless person," Storm said. "I really didn't have a clue."

How things have changed.

In May, Storm became her family's first college graduate, and in three weeks she'll leave State College behind for Harrisburg. Once there, she'll move into her office as the coordinator of the Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition (SPARC), and she and her partner Danaca Clark will start to prepare for their March commitment ceremony.

"She really has been through a tremendous amount in her life," said her brother, Brian Storm. "From a little over four years ago until now, the change has been incredible. It's like an after-school special. That's really what it reminds me of."

But even though her experience may seem made-for-TV, it has all been incredibly real, Storm said. Her life spun completely out of control when her mother died in her arms exactly five years ago this week, and she dealt with her grief by using drugs and alcohol.

This eventually led her to an Allenwood rehabilitation facility, which she said was her saving grace, and she soon found herself in State College -- sober and ready for some self-discovery. Although she came out as a bisexual at about the age of 18, she said it wasn't until she stopped partying and enrolled at Penn State that she was able to truly deal with her sexual identity.

"I think it was a little easier to be more open with it because I didn't know as many people," she said. "But I'm also a very, very strong person, and it was such a strong realization that I don't think it would have changed because of where I was."

However, one thing at Penn State that did change her, she said, is Sociology 119 (Race and Ethnic Relations). Storm said the class -- for which she has since served as a teaching assistant three times -- opened her eyes to racism and "all the other 'isms.' "

It also made her more comfortable with herself and guided her into her activist lifestyle. She started off by attending meetings, but her organizational skills and leadership abilities propelled her to a variety of positions throughout her college career, including Undergraduate Student Government LGBTA Affairs director and Lambda Student Alliance (LSA) political co-director. Storm also started the Family Flag Project, a traveling visual piece that tells the stories of members of the LGBTA community.

"Probably one of her biggest skills is her organization skills," LSA adviser Sue Rankin said. "It's her ability to have a lot of balls in the air at one time and not have any one of them drop."

Chris Brown, Storm's fellow LSA political co-director, said Storm will be remembered for her success in breaking down barriers between student groups. He said one of her greatest contributions to Penn State was the alliance she facilitated between LSA and Black Caucus.

Kamillah Cole (sophomore-journalism) will take over Storm's position in the fall, which is something she knows will not be easy to do.

"I think maybe the first time I met her, I was just in awe," Cole said. "I had heard so much about what she was doing here on campus. I just thought, 'Wow, this is the famous Jen Storm.' "

But being the "famous Jen Storm" isn't always easy. Even though she has built a reputation as an outspoken leader, Storm said she still feels like she's going to throw up every time she gets up in front of a crowd. And then there are the weird looks, which she said started after she shaved her head as part of her post-coming-out "transitional phase." But even more disturbing, Storm said, was one instance of outright hate.

On what was a bittersweet day in April -- she had just learned about the SPARC job -- Storm became one of four Penn State students to receive an e-mail death threat after her information appeared on a white supremacist group Web site.

But instead of getting scared, Storm got angry. She put the America Online user on her buddy list and confronted him when he signed on, and the ensuing conversation eventually led police to a 17-year-old boy in New Jersey.

Storm, who Brown said can "find the silver lining in every cloud ... even in the worst of situations," looks at the experience as an opportunity.

"If anything, I would have no problem sitting down and talking to the kid," Storm said. "I mean, I would love to try to educate him. ... I have seen what it takes. It takes meeting another human being and kind of just putting a face to all that crap you have learned."

Storm knows. She's been there once -- young, lost, ignorant and uneducated.

And, as her friends and family say over and over again, she's come a long, long way.