Liz Delaney arrived at the Bellarmine Campus for the 2009 Governor’s Scholar Program from her small city of Falmouth in Pendleton County, Kentucky. It was a big change for her, coming from a small farming community to Louisville, a city with over a million people.
On opening day of GSP, Delaney confidently walked into her dorm room, and introduced herself to Jenny Tan, her roommate for the next 5 weeks.
“We hit it off,” said Delaney, “ we have the same tastes in books and movies, and a good sense of humor and we like to laugh. And she wakes me up in the morning, which is a good thing!”
The Governor’s Scholar Program is in its 26th year of allowing high school juniors a chance to experience a taste of college life, trying new clubs and classes, and, of course, earning scholarships. However, it is the experience of meeting new people that many scholars will treasure the most.
It was a large goal for Delaney who was looking forward to expanding her knowledge, but also her friendships.
“You know the same people from kindergarten to the time you graduate, and the only ones that change are the ones that move away,” said Delaney of her small town.
Students at GSP are from all parts of Kentucky and are puposefully paired with other students with different backgrounds as roommates. These pairings are predetermined and given a great deal of thought by the staff at GSP. The mission for the scholars is that during the five weeks they are on a GSP campus there is a process of discovery that takes them out of their comfort zone. Part of this experience will be living with a roommate for the first time. These roommates have different experiences with each other—some that end with graduation from GSP, and so
me that go on to last a lifetime.Yet, while the good relationship between Delaney and Tan is ideal for Governor’s Scholars, it is not always the case. In 2002 near the end of the program at the Eastern Kentucky University campus, a girl reported to the campus director that her roommate had alcohol. Normally this would be ground for dismissal and the girl would be sent home, however the director gave her a second chance. This left the two teens facing each other for three more nights with a strained relationship at best.
The only time GSP has allowed roommates to switch rooms came in 2003 on the Northern Kentucky Campus when two girls differed so much on issues that they were in constant arguments. But of the thousand-plus scholars picked to join GSP on one of three campuses, Delaney and Tan are the norm. Some roommates go on to board at college together. A few roommates have been the maids of honor at each other’s weddings.
When asked if they and their roommate would keep in touch after GSP, another student replied, “I think we’ll keep in contact, especially through Facebook, but we’re probably not going to be best friends either.”
These different types of relationships have been present every year at GSP, and will continue as long as GSP gets its funding to fuel young minds. Most students feel that being assigned a roommate has better prepared them for college, as well as helping them find new friends from other parts of the state. The experience allowed Delaney to meet her goal of finding new friends; one happens to share her room.