A Bermudian teen who dreams of delivering babies has won a $5,000 fraternity scholarship.

Zaren Bennett, 17, of The Bermuda Institute won Alpha Phi Alpha’s Beautillion on Sunday at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts.

“I want to be an obstetrician,” Mr Bennett said. “Obstetrics deals with the basis of life. They deal first hand with the future of the world. I think that is pretty amazing.”

He has always loved science, and can’t even remember when he made the decision to become a doctor.

“I am really fascinated by the sciences and learning about different aspects of life,” he said. “And I love children.”

He has volunteered at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital shadowing nurses and doctors, and he has also volunteered with children in after-school and preschool programmes.

As part of the Beautillion, he and six other competitors demonstrated a talent and gave a speech.

For the talent portion, Mr Bennett played Oh Happy Day with the piano, steel pans and trombone.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work,” he said. “I didn’t play the instruments all at the same time, but transitioning between them was a challenge.”

He had a great reaction from the crowd when he played his song.

“I had a lot of nerves that night, but I was excited to show what I could,” he said.

He has had a lifelong passion for music and plays six different instruments.

“I took lessons in piano and trombone, but not anymore,” he said. “I am largely self taught. In guitar, I am entirely self taught. Music just comes naturally to me.”

In university, he hopes to take music as a minor.

For the speech portion of the competition he was asked to discuss the value of education in a declining economy.

It was a topic that hit home for him, as his mother, Beverley, lost her job last year.

“My parents were wondering how they were going to pay for my education,” he said. “Luckily, she did find another job.”

Still the scholarship was much appreciated.

“My parents were pretty proud,” said Mr Bennett.

The competition was the culmination of a six-month programme that involved speech classes, networking with community leaders and volunteering.

“The Beautillion was a good experience,” said Mr Bennett. “I built up my speaking skills and enjoyed getting to know my Alpha brothers. It was a lot of fun competing against the other beaux.

“I was surprised I won, because I had some pretty tight competition. The other guys had amazing talents, just like I did.”

He was recently nominated for Teen Services’ Outstanding Teen Awards in community service and spiritual leadership. “Spirituality is very important to me,” he said.

He attends the St George’s Seventh-day Adventist Church where he is the youth ministry leader and a youth deacon.

At the Beautillion, Tariq Brown from Impact Mentoring Academy won the $3,000 second prize, and Tahj Cox from Saltus Grammar School won the $2,000 third prize.

David Darrell of Warwick Academy, Marcus Henschke of The Berkeley Institute, Evin Mosley of Mount Saint Agnes Academy and Dylan Wilson of CedarBridge Academy received $1,000.