Having already been accepted into three renowned American universities, one of Berkeley Institute's star students is well on his way to a bright future.

Archer Hill is only 18, yet he has the confidence of someone twice his age. He says he attributes his confidence to they way he was raised. He said his parents encouraged him to try new things and get out of his comfort zone – like debating.

"I am back on the debate team for the end of the year," said Archer. "It wasn't something that I got into right away, my parents kind of had to push me into it and I started to love it. It is experiences like that and learning about my abilities that have helped me build confidence."

Through the Centre for Talented Youth, an organisation associated with Johns Hopkins University, Archer was able spend part of his summer studying at one of the most highly respected universities in the world – Princeton University in New Jersey.

"Going to Princeton was really an amazing experience and it helped me prepare for college life and things like living in a dorm."

He added: "I want to study international relations. I want to get out of my comfort zone and try new things in new and different countries and places."

But Archer isn't all work and no play. He is a huge sports fan and says that he enjoys to play nearly all of them.

Music, he says, is also very important to him and reading is another hobby he enjoys.

Archer says that he is concerned for the Island that he lives on and the path that many of his peers have chosen.

"Gang violence has really gotten out of control," he said. "To help solve this issue I think that we need to start with the young ones. They are at the root of the problem which is when they are children coming up in this atmosphere of gang violence. No one goes 18 and says 'oh I want to be in a gang' they are brought up like this and their role models are negative role models to follow."

He added: "If maybe myself and other people can be there as positive role models for them from a young age then maybe we can curb this problem."

Archer also had some thoughts about the current world economic climate.

"I think that if we can go to the young people and make them aware that they are the tomorrow, they are what we are relying on," he said. "You can't just go to the problem and try and chop it down – because it is just going to grow right back like a weed. It has to be rooted out. To root it out we need to influence this next generation to think differently about issues and about economics and those sort of things."