As the entire community of new Governor’s Scholars piled into the gymnasium for the first official community meeting, everyone shared the same nerves, anxiety, and even the grey, assigned GSP t-shirt. Everyone, that is, except for one student.
Some scholars may know him as the guy who lost his GSP t-shirt on the first day, or the kid who was called down by the dean of the program. But Zack Grove just remembers his own fear.
“I was absolutely terrified. Being the first kid called out, it was mind-blowing,” said Grove.
After that first meeting, Grove had to have a talk with Aris Cedeños, Dean of the Governor’s Scholars Program and Director of the Bellarmine University GSP campus. Cedeños may have been using Grove as an example but his lecture about responsibility was serious.
“It wasn’t too big of a deal. I knew he was using me as an example for the rest of the community,” said Grove.
For the first days of GSP, Grove recalls, a lot of people only knew him as the “guy who didn’t have his shirt.”
“It’s a great icebreaker,” said Grove. While some scholars may have seen this as a typical bad first impression, Grove said it has been fantastic in the social aspect of GSP.
The Governor’s Scholars Program is in its 26th year in Kentucky allowing over on
e thousand juniors from high schools around the state have a unique 5-week experience that part prepares them for college and part prepares them for future leadership roles in their state. The students are divided between three campus sites, pre-determined by the staff at GSP.Many of the students apply for GSP because of its reputation of attracting college scholarships for its graduates, but the surprise for most is how attached they become to one another.
By the time the third week of the program, most scholars have introduced themselves to hundreds of other students with the usual name, school, and focus area. With so many new faces and new names, it becomes apparent how important first impressions are in an environment like GSP.
First impressions can be good or bad, and sometimes can even create a campus-wide reputation for a scholar, as is the case with Grove, a junior from Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, Ky.
Considering there are 343 scholars at the Bellarmine campus alone, how a scholar “meets and greets” can set the pace for his GSP experience. Losing a t-shirt may be the stigma attached for the entire 5 weeks.
As for Cedeños, Grove says there are no hard feelings about the first day. “I know it was part of his job, and he doesn’t treat me any differently for it,” said Grove. He has used this negative experience to his advantage, and takes it with a positive outlook.
“It was a negative experience, but it was good for my social life,” said Grove, whose roommate was also called out in the first days of the program for losing a back pack. “We thought about making a band as a joke, and we got to be in the RA update (performance) which was pretty cool.”
Not only was Grove able to be part of the weekly showcase, a GSP talent show, but he was also called out at a Convocation with Secretary of State Trey Grayson. The speaker joked with Grove about losing his t-shirt, since they both attended Dixie High School. Then a week later, Grove entered the GSP spotlight again when he won the Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament, another tradition for the program
Looking back on this experience, Grove says he really wishes he had his original GSP t-shirt. “Now I have the wrong size, and I really feel terrible about losing that shirt,” he said. “But since then, I’ve been extra careful and responsible.”
On the last day of GSP, the day before graduation, Cedeños gave the scholars their marching orders for the event. He reminded all the students to wear their t-shirts and Grove was asked if he had his.
After the laughter subsided, Grove smiled, "I know right where it is!"