SALEMBURG — In the future, Seth Davis would like to travel the world searching for the remains of prehistoric plants and animals.
“It’s really uncommon, but I want to be a paleontologist,” Davis said about the form of science that puts a focus on fossils and evolution of life over time.
A recent conference may have given the teenager more inspiration toward his goal. During the summer, Davis represented Lakewood High School and the state of North Carolina when he traveled to the Boston area for the Congress of Future Science & Technology Leaders. The event held at the University of Massachusetts Lowell gave students from all over the United States to be mentored by influential scientists. Some of the leaders involved in the conference included Dr. Robert Metcalfe, inventor of the Ethernet, and Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.
“It placed a lot of emphasis on getting to know the people around you, because you’ll end up working with them when you get deeper in science and technology,” Davis said about the event. “It placed a lot of emphasis on learning.”
After attending the conference, Davis learned that the educational process is ongoing.
“I really learned that you never know enough,” Davis said. “You have to keep going and I really learned about what I need to do on my part to keep succeeding.”
That’s something the junior plans to continue during the rest of his days at LHS. Some of his college choices include the University of California-Berkeley; University of Chicago, Duke University, Virginia Tech and Michigan. After earning his degrees, Davis wants to dig up fossils. That goal began when Davis was a child and read a huge book about dinosaurs.
“I read it like 20 times, from cover to cover,” Davis said.
While developing a love for dinosaurs, he learned about the scientist responsible for finding the skeletons.
“That’s my career goal,” he said. “I want to be a gravedigger.”
Currently, Davis plays basketball, and is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, participates in the Science Club and is representative for the Student Government Association.
Teachers at Lakewood recommended Davis for the trip. In September, Davis received an Award of Excellence from the National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists for participating in the national conference. He was recently recognized by the Sampson County Schools Board of Education. Assistant Principal Jennifer Naylor said he’s grown a lot and stepped out of his comfort zone and is becoming more of leader through the Peer Group Connection (PGC) program.
“Anytime a student can go and do anything extracurricular to better themselves as an individual, obviously that’s a great thing,” Naylor said. “It shines light on our school in a positive way. We have great students here and lot of opportunities for them to get recognized. It’s great that he had this opportunity.”