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In the hillside enclave of Los Feliz in central Los Angeles the playground and classrooms of Immaculate Heart High School are abuzz with chatter about the upcoming royal wedding.
One of their alumni — Meghan Markle — is about to become the newest member of the British royal family.
"It gives us a role model to follow," 18-year-old Sabrina Nagy said.
"To teach us to go out into the world and do the best you can to help others just like Meghan Markle is doing, and find romance along the way," she says giggling.
There is a lot of talk about how 36-year-old Ms Markle epitomises the school's values, to be a woman of "great heart and right conscience".
"It is really exciting for me especially because this is the first time the royal family has ever welcomed an African American person in their family," student Maya Matthews said.
The biracial, American divorcee is an untraditional addition to the royal family but comes prepared for a life in the spotlight.
For the past seven years the actress has starred in the popular US TV drama Suits.
Her final episode aired last month, in which her character, Rachel Zane, gets married.
The daughter of a white father and African American mother, Ms Markle has written about the challenges of being biracial.
She's described having people think her mother was her nanny and the frustration of being "ethnically ambiguous" in the film and TV industry.
Since her relationship with Prince Harry became public, racist attacks in the press and on social media have escalated.
"She was articulate and elegant and quite sophisticated in her thinking about what biraciality means as a 21-year-old and since then she has been an outspoken and passionate advocate for having conversations about what race means in society," said Harvey Young, who taught a Race and Theatre class at Northwestern University which Ms Markle took in 2003.
"I couldn't imagine a better ... person in the spotlight to inform us about these issues," Dr Young told the ABC.
The UK tabloids have not only seized on her racial background but also her personal life.
Her estranged half sister and brother have criticised the actress for not inviting them to the wedding, and the UK press have picked over her 2013 divorce from her husband of two years, Trevor Engelson.
"Meghan has been around, she has made her mistakes, she has lived her life, she knows what she wants, and I think Harry respects that," Markle's former high school teacher Christine Knudsen said.
Since she was a teen Ms Markle has had a passion for charity and advocacy.
At a UN Women forum in 2015, she talked about how as an 11-year-old she convinced a major soap manufacturer to change the wording of their ads to be less sexist.
Both she and her former theology teacher, Maria Pollia, recalled a conversation they had in high school about helping the homeless.
Ms Pollia says after class one day Ms Markle approached her and said she wanted to volunteer at a soup kitchen in LA's famous homeless area, Skid Row, but was too scared.
After the pair spoke, Ms Pollia says Ms Markle overcame her fears and ended up volunteering there throughout her senior year.
"She became very involved with the homeless community there, she knew everyone's names, she knew their stories she greeted everyone. She was part of the community at that time at that particular part of Skid Row and she was completely comfortable with everyone," Ms Pollia said.
"I think Meghan's biggest achievement is the consistency with which she has kept her heart open to the suffering of others."
Markle swaps role with UN for Royal Foundation
Ms Markle is giving up her advocacy work with the UN and role as a World Vision ambassador and instead will take on new causes as through the Royal Foundation.
Alongside her husband, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, she will become the fourth patron of the organisation.
The group's websites say the Royals aim to use their "passion and unique influence to change mindsets to make a lasting difference on the issues that matter to us and to society".
Ms Markle is expected to focus her efforts on women's empowerment in the UK and the Commonwealth, and the Palace says she is working towards becoming a British citizen.
Back in the grounds of Immaculate Heart High School, lacking a royal family of their own, talk turns to the type of princess Americans are more familiar with.
"Disney Princesses you see being saved by men but personally I feel the Prince chose [Markle] not because of her beauty but because of her intelligence, her independence, everything in general," Megan Sabocor, 14, said.
"In normal princess scenarios the princess is a damsel in distress, (Markle) is her own person," classmate Catherine Alejo added.
"She doesn't need to be saved".
Topics: race-relations, marriage, community-and-society, television, united-states, united-kingdom