RELEASED: July 28, 2005

DANVILLE, KY—This week the 2005 Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program at Centre College concludes. The scholars are wrapping up courses and saying goodbye to new friends. But as they pack their bags, they're taking a lot more home with them than just book knowledge and a few Centre t-shirts.

Michael Barnett from Lexington found that his initial thoughts about the five-week program for Kentucky's highest achieving high school seniors were completely wrong.

"I thought GSP would be a total nerd camp," he says. "But a lot of the other students are like yourself and are a lot cooler than you imagine."

He says he will try to incorporate much of what he learned into his daily activities. "At GSP, we're always doing fun things and everyone has an active and energetic attitude. Before GSP I was very apathetic. I want to take the active lifestyle back."

Miranda Curl from Louisville says that a class called Historical Analysis taught her to be more open-minded. "There are so many different people," Curl says. "I want to go back to my high school and teach about open-mindedness. There's a state, a world and a lot of things that are bigger than us."

Elizabeth Riley from Hopkinsville says her course in creative writing helped her learn to appreciate poetry. She says her favorite parts of GSP were the friends that she made and experiences she had. Her only disappointment with GSP, she says, was that, "you only have five weeks and that's really short when you think about it."

Karass Sydnor says she'll take back leadership skills when she returns to her Louisville high school. "I'm going to take part in more activities."

Like Sydnor, Whitney Kelly, also of Louisville, plans to take her newly found leadership skills to another level.

"I'm going to start a gay/straight alliance at my high school because people always pick on gay people," Kelly says. "I've always known that picking on them was wrong, but I never knew what to do about it. Now I know what to do."

Jesse Montgomery from Berea says he enjoyed meeting other gifted students his age. "I enjoyed learning how to interact in a group and community," he says. "My experience will make me more independent in my academic endeavors. I'm a big film person and we've had an incredible series with films from different nationalities and we had great discussions. This experience will encourage me to keep up with film study."

All scholars seem to agree they will miss new friends they've made and forever cherish the memories they have of the Governor's Scholars Program at Centre.

The 2005 scholars have the opportunity to reunite on Saturday, October 1 for GSP Day on Centre's campus. For more information, contact the admission office at admission@centre.edu or 800-423-6236.

For more Governor's Scholars news:

Jamming, canning, and churning with GSP July 14, 2005 Full story.
Congressman Chandler announces internships for Centre students Full story.

Ed McClanahan holds court with Governor’s Scholars July 14, 2005 Full story.

GSP scholars dig Shaker history July 7, 2005 Full story.
From Frisbees to fish, Governor’s Scholars are catching it all June 30, 2005 Full story.
Governor’s Scholars flock back to Centre campus June 23, 2005 Full story.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

Back to News and Events Home Page