Claiming to not be part of the popular group in what she described as a cliquey high school, Shannon was very much involved in most after school activities. Part of the student council executive, Shannon was active in volleyball and cheerleading (which probably came easy to her thanks to her tap and ballet lessons as a child). Her biggest interest during high school, however, was tennis, which she considered doing professionally.

Her life took an unexpected twist in Shannon's senior year when she starred in video that a local band was shooting. The producer thought that Shannon had what it took to become a model, and convinced her and her parents to go to New York to get some photos done.

Once Shannon graduated from high school in 1991, she moved to New York where a modeling agency was waiting for Shannon to graduate and begin her modeling career. While doing some modeling work in New York (where she lived in the NYU dorms), Shannon also worked in countries such as France, Japan, Hong Kong, and Milan.

Although working abroad was an excellent experience, Shannon admits to having been homesick. When she returned to the U.S., she spent a few months in South Beach, Miami before moving to Los Angeles. Ready to start her pursuit of an acting career, she hesitated going to L.A. immediately, recognizing the amount of competition among young budding actresses. When she finally did go to L.A., Shannon signed with the Ford Modeling Agency, figuring that getting some of her pictures done would help her get into acting. She later signed with Elite Model Management.

It didn't take long for Shannon to get her first commercial -for Taco Bell - and she decided to stay in L.A. and joined an acting class. Soon after, the roles came in, both on television and film. She appeared in the television series Hang Time, Pacific Blue, My Generation, Step By Step, Blade Squad, USA High and My Generation.

In 1997, Shannon had a role in the film Jack Frost (where she appeared nude), as well as Dish Dogs soon after. It was her role in last year's summer hit American Pie as Czech foreign exchange student Nadia, that launched Shannon's fame and career.

Shannon presently lives with her lucky boyfriend Joe Reitman, along with her six dogs. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her dogs, going to the gym and doing yoga. A huge fan of Garth Brooks and Prodigy, her favorite actors are Michelle Pfeiffer and Gary Oldman. A recent cover girl for Maxim and Details, Shannon is Enrique Iglesias' love interest in the video for his song, "Be With You". She can soon be seen in this summer's horror movie spoof, Scary Movie, co-starring Carmen Electra. You can catch Shannon later this year in the film Tom Cats, which will certainly not be the last we'll see of Shannon.

credit: AskMen.com