NATCHEZ — Trinity Episcopal Day School senior Alex Miller said hard work pays off.

Miller, 17, has been selected as Trinity’s 2014-15 STAR student for maintaining an unweighted GPA of 4.0, a weighted GPA of 4.2 and scoring a 32 on the ACT.

“Seeing people get the STAR student my entire life and finally being the one who gets it is kind of a satisfactory moment,” Miller said.

STAR is an acronym for Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition, a Mississippi title given to the student who excels academically in the classroom and earns the highest ACT score at his or her school.

Only one student from each school is selected.

“It took a little bit of brains and a little bit of luck,” Miller said. “ACT is all about knowledge, but it takes a little bit of luck to pull off a high score. You don’t know everything.”

Because of his success, Miller has earned a full academic scholarship to the University of Mississippi’s Honors College, where he will study accounting.

But this feat also came with a new car, per an arrangement with his parents.

“Everything I’ve been doing is paying off,” Miller said. “I’m finally seeing the results of my efforts.”

Miller, as the STAR student, gets to choose a teacher who had the greatest influence on their education.

Miller chose math and science teacher Christina Bauerle as the school’s STAR teacher.

Bauerle has been teaching 32 years of teaching math and science in both public and private schools.

Miller and Bauerle will join more than 500 STAR students and teachers from around the state to be recognized in Jackson Thursday.

“The name STAR pretty much describes it,” Bauerle said. “You feel like you hit the top. The fact that it’s a nomination the comes from a student makes it that more special.”

Bauerle said Miller is respectful in the classroom, assisting students who need additional help.

“Alex is a wonderful student,” she said. “He’s the kind of student every teacher wants to teach. I even call him Professor Miller sometimes.”

Aside from his duties as a player for Trinity’s varsity tennis team, Miller also played football this school year and works at The Castle Restaurant at Dunleith Plantation.

But Miller said being a STAR student means one has to stay on top of their game.

“You just have to stay on top of things,” he said. “You can’t let yourself get behind. I worked hard. I guess it’s time to sit back and watch the fruit of my efforts come to me.”

Miller recently built a tennis backboard at Duncan Park, which will earn him the rank of an Eagle Scout.

He is the son of Mark and Kala Miller.