Fans of MTV's reality series "The Paper" might spot a familiar face on campus next year when show star Amanda Lorber arrives at NYU, no longer a reality TV star but a college freshman.

"The Paper" (Mondays, 10:30 p.m., MTV) follows the staff of The Circuit, the award-winning student newspaper at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Fl, focusing on their struggles to get along and get work done.

The series premiere, which aired last month, saw the staff competing for the paper's top job of editor in chief. Lorber won the promotion, and subsequent episodes have focused on power struggles, resentful classmates and the constant pressure of deadlines - all tinged, of course, with the usual cruelty and ruthlessness of high school drama.

Lorber said the Circuit staff first got involved when they responded to an online casting call by MTV. The staff put together an audition tape of their newspaper class, and several months later, production teams arrived with cameras in tow.

"I was always very hyperaware of the cameras being there," Lorber says. "I don't really talk to my dog all that much, that's so that I'm not looking directly at the camera. I didn't want to look like I was talking to myself, so we figured out I could talk to my dog."

The eight-part series (the sixth episode airs Monday night and will focus on the hallowed high school tradition of homecoming) is produced by the same powers that be that delivered MTV's "True Life" and "Diary."

Executive producer Marshall Eisen has said MTV is avoiding the phrase "reality series" with this show; they prefer to think of it as a "docu-series," where they simply found an existing situation and filmed it.

" 'True Life' is fascinating to me because really, 'True Life' is an in-depth feature on different people and certain conditions they have going through life," Lorber said. "It's very serious, and it is a documentary, and I was pleased that the same people that did this series that I admire were going to be doing our show."

And for the most part, Lorber said she's pretty pleased with the final product.

"I think it portrays us the way we are," she said. "We are overly dramatic, we are quite passionate and competitive, and I think all of that shines through on television."

"I mean, there isn't necessarily as much newspaper production shown as we would've liked. It's less journalism, more drama, but that's for TV, obviously," she said.

Lorber also said she wasn't too fazed by her classmates' and colleagues' behavior, which has ranged from friendly to critical to downright nasty.

"It's not surprising," Lorber said. "The show kind of makes it look like I'm oblivious, but I knew exactly what was going on. I chose not to partake in the drama because I wanted to try and remain neutral and above it. So seeing it on televisions has not surprised me in the least; I knew what was coming, I knew what to expect from the show."

But as if being a realty show star wasn't enough, Lorber still had plenty going on outside the newsroom.

"There were a lot of things they didn't cover that I do, and my main concern was being able to devote enough time to the TV show when I split my time in so many different directions," she said.

On top of running the paper, Lorber was also president of the schools Key Club, drama club and starred in the school's musical productions of "Beauty and the Beast," "Cats" and "Grease."

In fact, musical theater was Lorber's first passion, and her interest in attending NYU actually began at Tisch.

"That was my first passion, theater," she said. "I realized, kind of when I entered high school, that the chances of me going to Broadway the way I hoped were slim to none, so I wanted to pick up something more realistic and practical and that I could mold."

"Journalism is such a huge field; there's so many things you can do with writing, so I wanted to do something with that. And I had an affinity for writing since I was younger, too, so it did seem like kind of a natural transition."

Her interest in journalism was actually a fluke.

"I was looking for an elective to take and, believe it or not, Giana [Pacinelli, The Circuit's news editor] suggested it to me because we were very close friends freshman year," she explained. "It was the best accident of my life."

Now, with three episodes left, Lorber said she's glad she chose to do the show and is overwhelmed by the feedback she has received.

"Some students who are already involved in journalism call me inspiring, and there are students who weren't previously involved in journalism and have told me they're joining up," she said. "That was the fun of doing the show in the first place. I really wanted to get other students as interested and as passionate about it as I am."

But with graduation and summer vacation approaching, Lorber is preparing to leave the worlds of high school and reality television behind her as she packs up her bags to attend NYU.

"I'm ready," she said. "I'm a little nervous now because the show has come out, and I kind of don't want to be recognized. I want to have a fresh start, and I want to be kind of a normal student, not a girl that was on an MTV reality show."

But she admits being the star of an MTV reality show could always be worse: "Yeah, I could either be on '[A Shot at Love with] Tila Tequila' or be Tila Tequila, both of which would be terrible."