Jay Stanton is driven.

The Columbia High School junior wants to pursue a career as a marine biologist.

He credits some of this interest to his academic pursuits at Columbia High School.

Stanton won first place in Biology at the State Beta Convention in Greensboro this year.

“I think the reason that I have been able to do so well is that I have been taking AP Bio with Mr. Bill Manning. He is a fantastic teacher. Without his help, I do not think that I would have been able to do it,” said Stanton.

The Beta Convention has a variety of academic competitions.

Stanton took a fifty question for the biology competition.

“It was mostly genetics. It was a fifty question test and I did it in thirteen minutes,” said Stanton.

Stanton estimated between 40 and 50 people competed in the Biology competition at the Beta Convention.

New Beta presidents and officers are elected each year at the State Convention.

“It is really fun to do because they have to give all these crazy skits and speeches to get everyone to vote for them,” said Stanton.

Stanton has also had some hands-on experience volunteering at the Roanoke Island Aquarium.

Stanton is with the Junior Diver Program at the Aquarium.

“We scrub the tanks and keep them clean. But we also work on different skills pertaining to diving. We get to search the shark’s tank everyday for shark’s teeth and we can bring home whatever we find,” said Stanton.

Stanton is hoping he will be accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for college.

He noted that the Tyrrell County school system has some exceptional teachers even though it is based in a small town.

“My mom has always been telling that we have really, really good teachers around here. That is something unique about this area and I really like that,” said Stanton.

Stanton competes on the cross-country team and takes part in the Columbia High School FFA Chapter.

He was born in Edenton but has lived in Columbia for his entire life.

Stanton has one sibling; his brother Daniel who is 14 years old.

His parents Wendy and Jon work as biologists in Columbia.