When we kicked off our Stressed Out series, we thought of everything. We had some fantastic, educational books, an increasingly interactive Web site with contests, polls, and stories, a MySpace page, and a cute, little mascot to go with it all. And we named that mascot . . . Oops! That's what we forgot! So, we asked for your help. You responded with a variety of witty (sometimes even funny) names for our cartoon nurse. And the winner (drum roll, please) is Sara Leikam of LaGrange College in Georgia. Her choice: Fran (short for Frantic).

We caught up with Leikam, 21, a senior at LaGrange, late last week and got inside her creative mind for a few minutes.

The first thing we wanted to know was where she came up with the name. "Well," Leikam says, "I was just trying to think of some words that could be synonymous with stressed out and could be shortened into a name." And frantic? "When the contest was up [on the Web site], I was in my hardest semester so I was kind of frantic at the time," Leikam says. "And, she/he/it looks kind of frantic."

Then there was the tougher question concerning Fran's gender. Leikam was quick to make a final decision: "It's a girl's name," she says of Fran with a chuckle. "It just kind of looks like a girl to me for some reason."

Leikam has used her quick decision-making ability and her creativity to get through nearly four years of school at the small, private school on the west coast of Georgia. She's resided in the state for about 15 years after living in Missouri, Illinois, and Florida. Somewhere in her travels through her early years, she decided she wanted to be a nurse. "I guess I just always liked caring for people," she says. "Nursing seemed like the perfect way to do it."

She enjoyed doing just that this past summer, completing an externship at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She spent half the summer working 40-hour weeks then switched to the dreaded three, 12-hour shifts. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Leikam says. "I thought I would be exhausted by the end of the day, but I enjoyed it so much so it wasn't so bad."

Children's is one the hospitals Leikam has applied to in Georgia. She's hoping to work in pediatrics after she graduates (May 19) and passes the boards.

In preparation for these big tests of life, we gave Leikam a quick, little test of our own before we handed over the $50 Spa Finder gift certificate. You know, just so we can be sure she can think on her feet:

• Favorite nursing movie? Nurse Betty.
• Age you knew you wanted to be a nurse? 8.
• Inspiration? My mom. She's not a nurse, but she's a teacher, so it's kind of close.
• In your CD player right now? Jars of Clay.
• Pick to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament? (laughing) I don't follow it. I don't have time to follow anything.

That earns a passing mark from us. Congratulations, Sara. And welcome, Fran.