BY MARY KATHRYN CARPENTER

NATCHEZ — Seth Blattner is one of few students that enjoy going to summer school.

However, this is no ordinary summer school.

The soon-to-be Trinity freshman attended a three-week camp during the summer offered through the Duke University Talent Identification Program.

Duke TIP identifies students who score high on standardized testing, allows them to take the ACT in seventh grade and, based on their score, allows them to attend a three-week class session at one of about a dozen colleges nationwide.

Attending the program for the second summer in a row was one of Seth’s favorite parts of the summer.

“I had a really good time,” Seth said. “I have a lot of fun with it and plan to go next year.”

Students attending the program, this year at Rice University in Houston, Texas, got to pick a course to take part in, and Seth picked “The Politics of Power.”

The course, taught by Lisa Dishongh, is a political science course.

“I picked it because I want to change the world someday,” Seth said. “We talked about historical political events and political figures; why the were bad or why they were good. We talked about Vlad the Impaler, Queen Elizabeth and people like that.”

Seth took the course because he believed it would be something he found fascinating and was not disappointed. The class took part in debates and witnessed a mock trial.

“I took the political science course to see if it was something I would be interested in,” Seth said. “I had the most fun with the debates.”

The program is available for student to attend for up to four years, and Seth plans on attending every time he gets the chance.

“You have a lot of fun and meet people you will be friends with forever,” Seth said. “People regret not going all four years.”

Seth’s mother, Sharon, believes part of Seth’s interest in history can be attributed to his education at Trinity.

“(Seth) loves Mrs. (Millie) Bourke, a history teacher at trinity,” Sharon said. “She has been a wonderful encouragement to him. He’s also looking forward to have Mrs. (Linda) Rodriguez in the high school. We are just thankful that all the teachers at Trinity really encourage and support him.”

Seth’s other interests include literature, English and piano, which he has been playing for seven years.

Seth is the son of Sharon and Michael Blattner.