Category: ARTICLES

On July 24th, just a few days before move out time, a few of Bella Ezumah’s journalism and mass media class had the honor of attending the Music Theory and Performance focus area’s musical called the “GSParody”. This group of hardworking scholars pulled together a great show for the rest of the community to watch. …

Have you ever wondered about a popular religion in the most populated country of the world? Scholars from Bella’s and Eka’s general studies took a walk to the Islamic Center of Murray to learn about the Islam religion which is popular in India. Once they got to the center, the scholars removed their footwear out…

Written by Aisahnvi, Khushi, and Lana On Wednesday July 24th, Breanna’s film studies class had their very own film festival. Scholars filed into every seat and began filling the floor, waiting excitedly to watch all the short films. The crowd’s reactions were spot on. The room burst into laughter, or ached with fear depending how…

Here at Murray GSP, Dr. Iin Hadayani teaches the Agribusiness & Biotechnology focus area. Today in Dr. Iin’s class, scholars got to experience what it is like to be in a college course. They were visited by Dr. Ken Sulvic, a statistics professor, and discussed the basic ideas in elementary statistics and how they are…

The Governor’s Scholars are college ready, but we don’t exactly feel ready. There are many emotions associated with choosing our future college, the most common is frustration. There are thousands of colleges to choose from, but here at the Murray Campus a college fair was hosted for us on July 23rd to help narrow down…

Led by Brenna Sherrill, the Film Studies focus area creates an exciting and engaging environment. The class has learned about various aspects of film including, genre, lighting, cinematography, and characterization. Upon my arrival several costumes and props were being pulled out of what can only be described as a Mary Poppins bag. From cowboy hats…

Photo Credit: https://sugarspunrun.com/funnel-cake-recipe/ After a rainy week, everyone’s mood was boosted when it was announced that GSP would be hosting a carnival. After General Studies, many scholars were excited to head to Winslow. Walking through sparkling curtains of streamers, the students were met with a large array of food and entertainment. Not only were there…

On the march from Franklin Hall to the CFSB Center, three hundred and fifty scholars filed into the building for one of our last convocations at Murray State. Presenting this convocation was the President of Murray State University, Dr. Bob Jackson.   His speech encompassed the meaning of community in relation to our responsibilities as Governor’s…

On Sunday June 23rd, 350 of the top incoming-seniors in Kentucky moved into their temporary home for the Summer, Murray State University. Nobody knew anyone and no one knew what to expect. Many scholars, like myself, had never left home for this long. This would be a completely new experience for all scholars across the…

The GSP Jam Band welcomes all musicians! Led by the RA Ben, this band has guitar players, a bass player, a pianist, some percussion, a singer, and even a trombone. Everyone is welcome to attend Jam Band, even if you go to only one meeting. Together, this band jams out every Saturday for an hour…

The Volleyball Club welcomes any level of skills to play together at the Wellness Center! From scholars currently playing on their school team to scholars who are playing for the first time, the volleyball club builds a community by playing together. RA Monica leads the club, ensuring a referee is there for the matches played.…

How do you describe something that changes in every second of its existence? The answer is that you let it speak for itself. “Improv” is the shortened version of “Improvised Acting.” Like the name suggests, improv is just acting in the moment rather than the traditional scripted scenes we are familiar with from movies, television…

Wednesday’s are especially long-winded for a GSP scholar; a total of 5 and a half hours of intense class time and not a lot of break in between makes for a long day. By 4:30, students are exhausted mentally and can’t wait to waste some time doing literally anything that helps them get their mind…

GSP has had a variety of activities throughout the past few weeks, but one has stayed constant; regardless of where you are or what time it is, you’ll see scholars occupied with thread. Friendship bracelets have been taking up the free time of the students here, and it has been a great way for scholars…

On July 11th, Ekambaram (Eka) Elumalai’s general studies class set out to the Sri Ganesha Temple (Hindu Cultural Center of Tennessee) with the guiding question “What is Hinduism and what is its importance in Indian culture?” Eka’s class core is to learn about India from movies, dances and religions. Sarah’s general studies class about boredom…

The Tier List Club at Murray GSP has been one of the most popular clubs this summer. Led by RA Jacob, each Thursday afternoon, scholars had the opportunity to express their opinions on how they rank various topics. The topics so far have been; fast food, candy, disney pixar movies, and disney princesses. In a…

On Thursday at 1 PM, Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman gave an inspiring convocation at the Johnson Theater. Because of Andy Beshear’s trip to South Korea and Japan, Coleman visited GSP Murray and shared her perspective on being a high-ranking state government official. Coleman stated that in order to be successful, one should find something they…

On July 9th, 2024, students in Scott Takacs Business, Accounting, & Entrepreneurship class enjoyed an intense game of Monopoly to learn the evils of fraud and how to handle cash control. The students were divided up in teams with different jobs within the game. Some teams were given direction to play monopoly the traditional way.…

How do you say common words? Why do you say common words? These two seemingly simple questions were attempted to be answered by John Kincaid, a 1990 Governor’s Scholar at Centre College with a PhD & MA in English from University of Texas (Austin). Kincaid spoke to the scholars on Wednesday the 10th in Johnson…

Healthcare Industry is a course taught by Tate Renzenbrink, it focuses on the various fields of study dealing with health issues from a broad range of perspectives, e.g. medicine, insurance, disabilities, physical therapy, etc. This day, they were focused on the medicine part of the course, delving into the effects that World War II had…

The political and legal issues focus area is one of deep discussion and extreme intellectual thinking. The students and their great teacher, Drew, both explained that most days were spent reading from aPlato’s republic. However the day I was in the class it was mostly an open discussion on modern politics, the ideas behind them…

DNA, crime scenes, and more! The Forensic Science pathway at GSP is a very interesting class taught by Dr Abul Yarali. Abdul is a professor in Cyber Security here at Murray State University. I had the opportunity to observe the Forensic Science class on the evening of July 9th, and I was interested to see…

Anne Justice, who was a scholar on the GSP Murray Campus in 2011, introduces the concepts of Cultural Anthropology to a group of 19 scholars.  Cultural Anthropology is defined as “anthropology that deals with human culture especially with respect to social structure, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology” (Merriam Webster). Anne, on the…

In the morning of July 17th, the Scholars of the Journalism and Mass Media Focus Area had the privilege to take an on campus field trip to Murray State’s local NPR station, WKMS.  The station is a non-profit FM station which had been licensed to Murray State University as of May 1970. It will celebrate…

This year, journalism isn’t the only class taking on a big project; the music theory and performance focus area also has a big gift in store for the rest of the scholars. Their gift is a musical performed at the final group showcase. I was lucky enough to sit in on the class this past…

On July 9th, 2024, I got the honor to visit my general studies teacher Ekambaram (Eka) Elumala for his Biological & Environmental Issues Focus Area. Eka is a biology teacher from Mercer County Senior high School, Harrodsburg, and had previously taught in India, Republic of Maldives and Malaysia. The class started by visiting their compost…

After living in Japan for over a decade, John Clayton is using his mastery of Japanese to teach the next generation of Kentucky Governor’s Scholars the spoken and written aspects of this language. Scholars in the Japanese Language and Culture focus area have spent the last two weeks learning Hiragana, one of the three writing…

On Thursday, John Clayton’s General Studies class took a field trip to the Kentucky Center for School Safety building here on Murray’s campus. While there, they got to serve the local community and Kentucky as a whole by putting together emergency preparedness bags. These bags – containing basic items like first aid kits, flashlights, water…

Photographer: Preslee Decker For the past two weeks, the Astronomy focus area has been taught by Rico Tyler and Travis Oliver, but this week they welcomed special guest Bob Summerfield to both Tyler’s focus area and his general studies class.   Bob Summerfield has appeared on numerous television programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Discovery Channel…

Photographer: Foster Thompson First subject: what caused the decrease in cigarette usage in the US? The increased hassle, or increased awareness in the population? The opening leads straight into the discussion of the psychology scholars. Led by Jodi Treadway, the class goes into a discussion on the cause of this behavior change, and how it…

Photographer: Anabelle Price On the evening of July 9th, Sarah Beach started her class with an engaging question: “What is your favorite GSP story told this summer?” Sarah Beach is the instructor for the Philosophy focus area here at Murray during the duration of the Governor’s Scholars Program. During the school year Sarah is a…

Photographer: Hao You Ever wondered why the twin spirals are even there at Churchill Downs? Turns out, it is just to “add pizzazz” as Max Longmeyer from the Architectural Design focus area said in his presentation on the building. The class taught by Zach Standley, recent Architectural Design graduate, has been working on a slideshow…

Photographer: Khushi Patel Lauren Hines, is a real estate agent and active learner at Murray, who advocates for traveling and learning languages around the world teaches this class and provides students with information such that the world is more than it may seem but less than they may think.  During Tuesday’s meeting students emphasized how…

Many communities across the country celebrate the fourth of July with things such as fireworks, parades and unique traditions. The city of Murray is no different. Their unique tradition, though, is a marching kazoo band. The participants of this important tradition were our very own governor’s scholars. They marched through the city of Murray with…

Photographer: Ella Chuppe Matthew Woodward teaches the scholars in the Historical Analysis focus area to do more than just view the perspectives of historical figures this year. Instead, he encourages them to discuss history from a modern, ordinary lens in order to fulfill the GSP objective of expanding scholars’ mindsets. Woodward utilizes the novel Hidden…

Photographer: Grace Conley Last night, the journalism class had the honor to go and observe the physical science focus area. The Physical Science focus area has 18 students and is taught by Kenny Barrese. He is professor of mathematics at Brescia University in Owensboro. He received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and philosophy before earning…

Photographer: Anabelle Price Held on July 8th at 7:00 pm Johnson Theatre slowly filled up as scholars came to watch and participate in this GSParody of Family Feud! This Murray GSP ‘24 event filled the dreary and damp night with joy and excitement as all those in attendance watched with glee as our friends answered…

Photo Credit: Travis Oliver On July 2nd, at exactly 1:45 pm, students in Rico Tyler’s general studies course “Same Topic, Different Perspective” were able to capture the Tiangong Chinese space station orbit across the sun. This station is very similar to our very own International Space Station, just about half the size. Tiangong’s main goal is…

Throughout GSP, students will have the opportunity to watch multiple films as part of the Classic Film Series. This week featured two movie days, including one double musical installment. Do the Right Thing was screened Wednesday evening of the first week, and scholars had the choice between Singin’ in the Rain and Rent for that…

Tori Murden McClure arrived to speak to the scholars of the Murray State campus on June 24th to speak about her success as an adventurer. The first convocation in Johnson Theatre was encompassed by the idea of “first building a life, then making a living.” Murden McClure addressed the scholars by introducing herself, along with…

As scholars met outside Franklin Hall to prepare for the Olympics, the excitement was clear as day. Scholars gathered with their Leadership Seminar to paint faces, chant, and get group photos before the event began. Each team of scholars chose their own unique theme filling the crowd with bright and unique colors. When the time…

Last night, on July 1st, 2024, the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program had the honor of welcoming former president of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU) to their Murray campus. After graduating from Louisville, OJ Oleka continued his academic career at Bellarmine, earning his MBA and Ph.D. Oleka ran for Kentucky State Treasurer…