If you've walked within a five block radius of Fordham's Lincoln Center campus, chances are you've seen Hilarie Burton's face plastered on cabs, buses and billboards advertising her new WB series, "One Tree Hill." But before she was the star of a new sitcom and MTV's favorite VJ, Burton started her career as a freshman at Fordham in 2000. Between reading scripts and flying up and down the eastern seaboard between jobs, she had time to reflect on her life since Fordham.

The Observer: How do your siblings handle your fame?
Hilarie Burton: They’re the best, totally supportive and great.

What are some of your hobbies when you're not filming "One Tree Hill" and "TRL"?
Well, I love to read and the upside to my schedule is that all of the time I’m spending on planes gives me a chance to catch up and read. I also give a lot of my time to an organization called Camp Kindle, the only camp for kids affected by HIV/AIDS in the Midwest. Look them at www.campkindle.org.

How did your experience at Fordham help you in accomplishing what you have so far?
Um. Probably the setting and city - being in such a great location, you have the city at your fingertips.

Do you plan to go back to school?
I’m enrolled at NYU because they were so great with my schedule and are giving me credit for some of the work I am doing on the shows. I work six days a week in Wilmington taping "OTH," and when things slow down a bit, I’ll be back in classes.

Who's a better kisser — Chad Michael Murray or James Lafferty?
James!!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully doing film — that’s the main reason I came to New York. My character on "OTH" was too great to pass up!

"OTH" has been compared to "Dawson's Creek." Do you see the similarities? Differences?
Our characters are complex on the show, like people are in real life. I think that we are more honest about situations that really happen in high school and how people react. A lot of people are cruel as teenagers and we don’t shy away from that or sugarcoat it.

Who are your role models?
Angelina Jolie is incredible. She is an amazing person and a talented actress, but she’s also having fun.

Was it hard to get into character to play a high school student?
Not too hard. I reread my old journals from high school to help get me back in that place, and that was definitely helpful. Peyton, my character, is also very similar to how I was in high school, realizing that things like being popular or head cheerleader are really not that important. It also helped that the town where we film, Wilmington, isn’t too different from the hometown where I grew up in Virginia. Both [are] small towns where high school sports played a big part.

If you weren't acting, what would you be doing?
Hmm. I can’t imagine doing anything else! Maybe writing.

What's the greatest lesson you've learned from fame thus far?
To remain grounded about it all. Fame is a fleeting thing and not something that you should put a lot of stock in. The best thing fame has given me is the ability to do something with it, like Camp Kindle. I was lucky to have been asked to be a part of that organization and it is really gratifying to work with them.