The Governor's Scholar program, or “GSP,” was founded in 1983 and has been running ever since. The mission of the program is to give “bright” students in Kentucky a chance to explore different career fields and connect with other students all around the state. The program gives students 5 weeks to interact with new content, teachers, and, of course, other scholars. Students get a chance to feel their way around a college campus and start to make some choices about their futures that are approaching. Campuses such as Centre College, Morehead State University, Northern Kentucky University, and others have been hosts of the program. With its long history, GSP had gained a huge reputation around Kentucky, making the program pretty selective.
When I first really heard about GSP, a friend of mine named Misa had just come home from Morehead in 2022, and immediately told me I needed to apply. She told me that the experience was genuinely life-changing. Her and I had always kind of clicked due to our similar interests both academically and recreationally (we were on our high school dance team together and now I work with her). I even made her a mentor in my life because of how alike we are. It also helped that at the time, she had a lot of knowledge regarding opportunities in and out of school. So, when she told me that I needed to apply, I decided that was something I had to do. Even though I had decided I wanted to do that, I had barely heard of the program itself. How would I apply for something I knew basically nothing about?
Over a year later, I made the choice to apply to GSP. Reading the requirements for the application, I was fully sure that I would not be making it in. Despite being a good student in school, I worried about my extracurricular and service activities along with test scores that were all needed to get into the program. Filling out the application brought about a lot of self doubt. I was concerned about friends of mine making it in and having the time of their lives without me. And most of all, I was scared that I wouldn’t be good enough to get the opportunity of a lifetime. Months after my application was sent in, I received my acceptance letter, with the focus area I wanted, and I cried. Sappy, I know. But in that moment all of the fears I had about myself kind of went away.
Even though the acceptance letter made me proud of myself, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it for 5 whole weeks away from my family. I had barely spent a week away from them, so the independence that would come with GSP was unheard of for me. After a few days of thinking, I decided that I needed to take the jump and attend the program. Despite building up the courage to make that choice, I was still me, worrying about what would happen once I was actually on campus. Move-in day approached quickly and before I knew it I was unpacking my bags into my dorm room. By that point I decided I needed to stop being so scared. I met my roommate, Searcy, and we clicked almost immediately. After setting up my room, I met up with my focus area for the first time, Journalism and Mass Media. There I got to talk to Hayley, my teacher for the first time and I soon learned that I would love getting the opportunity to take a class of hers. At dinner, I would meet one of my best friends from GSP. Lily and I sat next to each other, and would end up bonding over the little things, music, humor, and most importantly our excitement for the Classic Film Series that was going to be held at the program. Both of us agreed that we wanted to attend as many movies as possible, and I am proud to say that we did that. We would go to the first and last movie played together, and I can happily say that we are already planning the next time we see each other when GSP is over.
The next day, I attended my first General Studies class, “If You Build It.” I met Marie, who would be teaching the class. She told us that the class would contain engineering and problem-solving, not on the top of my interest list by any means. Despite that, I tried to immerse myself in the content. I ended up having a much better time than I ever would’ve expected. I got the chance to build a mini suspension bridge, a mousetrap car, and even built a life-sized boat out of cardboard and packing tape. Even though only some of these projects counted as real successes, I enjoyed it, which was not something I was expecting. The people in that class made it a whole lot more fun of course. No matter the struggle we faced trying to make our cars move or our boats float, we had a good time doing it. The people in this class were also a part of my Leadership Seminar, led by our RA, Tate. This seminar gave us the chance to bond about our fears for college and helped me learn more about being a leader(thanks Tate).
Outside of class is where I met the group of people I would surround myself with the most. Although I’m not 100% sure how we actually became a group, I vividly remember the first time we hung out. Searcy and I had joined in on a spikeball game with them and lost miserably. From then on, Emery and Maggie became a part of my life at GSP. We started going to breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. And from there we would go back to our roots and play spikeball in the quad. Meeting Emery and Maggie led to my other friends, Cassidy and Anna. We would eventually do everything together for the remainder of the 5 weeks. We would go on to win a game of Family Feud together against 12 other teams and would attend every “GSDance” together. When I performed at the last showcase, all of my friends held up a sign for me, showing me the most support I had ever seen.
Overall, GSP has given me an opportunity to explore my future, learn about a new career path, and most importantly has helped me to find the right people. And for that I am beyond grateful. In just 5 weeks I have been able to make friendships that have the possibility to last a lifetime. I have gotten to have experiences that I could’ve never imagined. And when I get home, I will be purchasing a spikeball net!
Thank you, GSP. I give you 5 stars.