(See exclusive photos of the event at Swell’s Flickr page.

Remember when being elected Homecoming Queen or dance team captain was the coolest accolade a girl could hope for? Nowadays they’re expected to have a video resume polished before Freshman year—just in case CNN or Tyra Banks comes calling. Seriously, today’s teen has aspirations even Hillary would call ambitious. Case in point was last week’s Generation Next design competition hosted by O’Neill and Teen Vogue.

The event was actually a conclusion of months of hard work by O’Neill’s interns (Didn’t know high schoolers could intern. We’re a little scared for our jobs now), who had “shadowed” O’Neill designers for the purpose of creating and competing their own runway looks.

In total, five teams from five rival schools gave it their all by styling professional models in O’Neill’s spring 2009 line, with one lucky girl’s original purse and dress creation judged and scored by a panel of her peers. The teams were even responsible for marketing their involvement, with several groups launching Myspace pages and holding pep rallies.

In the end, San Clemente High’s Rebekka Schuman’s tropical-grunge “Nolita” collection saw the night’s Best Design prize, earning her a $2,000 scholarship, an extended O’Neill internship, O’Neill clothes for her team, a pizza party, and most impressive, coverage in Teen Vogue.

Exclusive photos of the event can be viewed at our Flickr page.