As all you zealous new GHP nominees rush to your teachers for recommendations, slave over your applications and prepare for your first round of interviews, I cannot help but feel a pang of longing for the summer program that I once called home. I miss my small, cluttered dorm in the rainy, little town called Valdosta, where I shared the most amazing experience of my life with 690 wonderful strangers, who eventually became as close as family. But there is no way to really explain such an incredible experience to all you GHP hopefuls, and despite my jealousy, all I really want is to see you breeze through your interviews and come out on top. I want to know that year after year, Grady students will open their minds to a whole new world of ideas, meet people that will change their lives forever and cry just as hard as I did on the last day. But I suppose the primary reason I want to see you guys accepted is that experiencing GHP for yourselves is the only way that you can truly understand the lasting impact of such an amazing program.

For those who don’t know, the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program or GHP is a summer program designed to give artistically and intellectually gifted students four weeks of advanced education not available during the regular school year. High School sophomores and juniors in Georgia are eligible for nomination in any of 20 majors, and the activities provide each participant with opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become independent, lifelong learners.  Perhaps most importantly, however, GHP is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly and operates at no cost to its participants, giving students everywhere an equal chance to cultivate their knowledge and live alongside Georgia’s best and brightest.

As I unloaded my suitcases full of clothes and memories (I waited almost a full week after arriving home for fear that I would burst into tears), I found everything from my poetry and neo-futurist play ideas, scribbled on napkins and scraps of paper in my Communicative Arts major, to my charcoal and still-life pieces sketched in my Visual Arts minor. Everything was there, but I must have spent hours just sitting on my floor, reliving my favorite moments. Although I treasure what physical remnants of GHP I still possess, the things I cherish most from my GHP experience are the memories that I had safely tucked away. Thinking back, I can still feel the adrenaline as we played Schnaak-ball in the dorm hall, and I can taste the excitement as I was dared to drink ghost pepper sauce, which, unsurprisingly, burned my tongue and throat like nothing I had ever tasted. While at GHP, I met challenges with open arms. Nothing was too dangerous. I was free.

I may be back at Grady, but I’ve found myself strangely homesick. I wish I could go back.

But there is some comfort in knowing that, although I may not be able to venture back to Valdosta, more Grady students will be able to experience the “Magic Square.” As one of my new-found friends, Christina, told me as we grudgingly left Valdosta, “Just continue making people laugh, questioning everything and accepting nothing. You can take the kid away from GHP, but you can’t take GHP out of the kid.” And she is right; I am certainly not the same person I was when I left.

I loved becoming this new person. I loved making lifelong friends and becoming closer to Grady students I already knew. I loved the sense of self and the confidence that came with freedom, the energy that ebbed from the students around me and the students who were as passionate about what they did as I am. I loved the deep-rooted connections I made with people from all across the state, with whom I have more in common than some of my closest friends.

Sure, it only lasted four weeks and those four weeks were over in the blink of an eye, but GHP was packed with a lifetime of experience. I know just how cliché this is, but GHP really has changed my life. At the very least, it changed me.

I suppose this is all just a Communicative Arts major’s convoluted way of saying, if any of you starry-eyed GHP aspirants are reading this, know that I am fairly certain that I speak for myself and the rest of Grady’s GHP alumni when I say that we wish you the best at your interviews. Although I’d love to go back and do it all over again, I’d much rather see a new batch of Grady students live GHP for themselves. I want you to trust that you are good enough and give yourself up to your greatest passions. I challenge you to push yourself and test your limits. What happens next is up to you.