Special Appearance : Reseda High Scribe Will Join Show-Biz Press Corps at the Oscars

Romina Atayan will ask Tom Hanks what it feels like to be so famous. And the 17-year-old Reseda High School senior plans to print the answer in high school newspapers across the country.

Romina is going to the Academy Awards. Thanks to a nudge from her teacher and a sudden burst of cheek, she asked such a good question at a student news conference held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last month that she was asked to be the first student journalist to cover the Oscars.

“I asked why they didn’t hold a (student) writing contest and whoever wins goes to the Oscars,” said Romina, who is co-editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, the Regent Review. A few minutes later, Academy officials decided to do just that for next year’s ceremonies, and invited Romina to attend this year.

“I was in shock--I didn’t believe it,” said the earnest honor student, who was born in Lebanon and is so shy that she ducks her head when talking to a stranger. “I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance like that in my life.”

Academy officials started the student news conferences last year, in part to encourage more young people to watch the televised awards ceremony, said organizer Leslie Unger.

“Traditionally, the ratings of the show do not include a lot of young viewers,” Unger said.

On Wednesday, Romina, clad in black but for a speck of a white collar at her throat and wearing a green-and-gold crucifix, briefed classmates on her latest Oscar escapades.

Romina has been asked to cover the awards for USA Today. She has been invited to appear on the “Leeza” talk show and “Good Morning America.” “Entertainment Tonight” has asked her to participate in its Oscar coverage, but Academy officials have not yet decided whether to allow that. High school newspapers across the country plan to print her account.

“I’m preparing my questions for the celebrities,” said Romina, who speaks three languages and has set her sights on UCLA. “I hope I can be as strong as the professional journalists.”

The teen-ager has a pretty good idea of what to do: “I have to be motivated and bring myself out to be like them when they jump out and yell their questions.”

Romina’s teacher, Beth Bleiberg, will also be attending the Oscars. The two have permission to leave school early for the March 27 ceremonies. And they will definitely need to leave early--there’s usually such a crush of press, fans and stars that attendees must get to the Shrine Auditorium hours before the 6 p.m. ceremonies start in order to get to their places.

The whole class is working on questions, although the only one certain to be asked so far is Romina’s query about what it’s like to be famous.

Although the awards are less than three weeks away, Romina is still looking for the perfect little black dress, “long, maybe, but not too flashy.”

She wants to meet David Letterman. She thinks Tom Hanks is going to be named best actor for “Forrest Gump.”

She no longer wants to be a doctor.

Romina admits the whole thing makes her a little nervous. It’s a far cry from her first story for the Regent Review just a few months ago, about crime in the school’s student parking lot.

“I don’t have experience for something like this,” she said. “So I have to be prepared. I have to be like a real journalist.”