Amy's mother Kim is very proud of her daughter's achievements thus far.

"It is outstanding effort for Amy to be nominated, her teachers in America were very impressed and I think she would quite like to head back to Michigan after school," she said.

Amy said it was all a bit of a shock.

"I found out three days before I came back to Australia that I had been nominated and I was so excited and surprised, it took a while to sink in," she said.

However, Amy maintains a relaxed attitude and said she was not putting any unnecessary pressure on herself.

"I will try and keep my grades up but I'm trying not to focus on it," she said.

The year 11 student, who enjoys playing soccer and lists her favourite subjects as English and Biology, said one of the strangest aspects of her time away was some of the nicknames she received.

"Because I was from Australia, they would call me foreigner or Miss Australia and lots of people would come up to me and say crikey," she said.

As Amy continues her studies over the next two years she will aim to complete a scholarship book that is sent out to her from America. The book will compile her academic, sporting and social achievements in order to be in the running for one of the $10,000 study grants.