Junior Aiden Stay is a dedicated individual with a passion for science and a heart for volunteering. When he’s not studying and helping others in need he’s spending time with friends and family and participating in his favorite hobbies.
His hobbies include skiing, playing the piano, and studying science. Stay participates in many different after school activities. He helped create, and now runs, the Habitat for Humanity club with his close friends Ava Rohleder and Gaby Gallardo.
Mrs. Deanna Dotson, the club faculty advisor, says, “He knows how to motivate the group to do things, he is an amazing leader.” Stay and his fellow officers are hosting a clothing and craft drive for the kids at the St. Vincent’s Behavioral Health Hospital and also card making and other crafts for local organizations.
He was also elected as Vice President of Key Club and has 250 volunteer hours and counting and will be attending DECON, an international Key Club conference in the beginning of April. He is an active member of Art Club, Ski Club, Science Olympiads, Sleepy Sloths, Forever Friends, the National Honors Society, Spanish Honors Society, Math Honors Society, and Natural Helpers.
Last summer he volunteered for summer social skills and he’s planning on volunteering abroad in Costa Rica this summer for medical outreach in underserved communities as well as in local hospitals in Connecticut.
Stay is also a multi-sport athlete. His three sports include, cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. Stay says, “I love running by the beach during cross country season, it’s therapeutic.”
Stay has always been interested in outer space and biology.
Stay says, “I started wanting to be an astronaut when I was really young, probably in early elementary school. Then I later decided that I wanted to be a doctor towards middle school.”
Whether it was exploring outer space or learning about anatomy, he’s always found science extremely fascinating. Stay took Living Earth his freshman year and sophomore year took chemistry, physics, and astronomy, which he was chosen as one of the Astronomy students of the year. This year he is taking both AP Physics and Human Anatomy.
Next year he plans on taking AP Biology as well as participating in the Certified Nurse Assistant Program (CNA).
His teacher Mr. Alan Stern says, “I always appreciate his contributions in class, it really shows that he’s thinking about the material and actively working to apply it and grow from it.”
Stay exemplifies commitment, dedication, and genuinity in all his endeavors. Whether he is spending hours on a cold day volunteering to raise money for a local homeless shelter, or taking time for himself to release stress by running by Gulf Beach, Stay enjoys it all.
