As a sixth grader at Fairview Elementary, in a what-advice-would-you-give-President Clinton essay contest, she was the winner and took home a $15 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble bookstore.

She got her picture in the paper.

At Parkside Junior High, she remained a good student, described by classmates as "smart, creative, quiet and shy." As part of a feature story on the last day of school, she got her picture in the paper.

At Normal West, it was more of the same. She was "bright, attentive, quiet and shy."

She got her picture in the school paper several more times.

"Those were the days," says Melissa. "And life has taken me so many more places since then ..."

Like the cover of Playboy magazine.

Yes, just the other day, the now 25-year-old professional model had her picture published again.

Except for - well - any clothes.

Her flowing black hair is her best covering.

Yup, there on the cover of Playboy's Nudes, a publication the famed men's magazine includes as a special insert (that's a photo of Melissa on the April/May cover), is the quiet, demure ex-NCWHS student with an ability to write a really good essay.

She doesn't appear to be shy anymore.

"I never really expressed that I wanted to be a model back in school in Normal," says Melissa, who asked that her last name not be published here; it's also not published in Playboy. "I am sure it will surprise those who knew me. I hope it does! My life has been anything but normal. And I wouldn't change a thing."

It was in 2005, urged by friends who had noticed her 5-foot-9, 125-pound figure, that Melissa ventured into modeling. "I met a photographer (in Arizona). We began shooting nearly every day, from fashion to glamour to figure studies. We began a portfolio."

Within a year, she was a calendar girl for the Bohemian Men's Club in San Francisco.

The next year, she was featured in several car calendars, then Surfer Magazine Online, and then another small-time publication.

Then came a phone call a year ago.

It was in May.

It was an important one.

It was Playboy.

"They had me in awkward glamour poses I didn't even know existed. The most difficult ones, of course, turned out to also be the most stunning."

Then came word that her face - and, well, everything else -was going to be on the cover.

"It's a huge accomplishment," she says. "My modeling career has taken off since. I'm getting a lot of commercial and fashion work now, too, and I'm happy about that."

Or, as Playboy promotes it, "Melissa Jean" is their "special edition stimulus package."

"I'm basically the same person I was (in Normal), only more wise, mature and well-traveled," she says.

Yes, Melissa was back in Barnes & Noble the other day. This time, though, it wasn't to use a winning $15 gift certificate for an essay contest.

She's on the newsstands now instead.

Contact Bill Flick at flick@pantagraph.com.