Naptime in Cralle Theatre

By Lauren Tucker
Holmes High School

The lights are on in Cralle Theatre, the cold air always flowing. The rustle of people shuffling in their seats, the clinking of knitting needles and the occasional snore all seem too loud as sports journalist Billy Reed tells his audience about the 30 most important sports events in Kentucky history.
Reed’s audience was the 358 Kentucky high school seniors who were selected by the Governor’s Scholars Program for a five-week course in academic and personal achievement on the Bellarmine University campus. The scholars were polite, of course, but who could blame them for squirming through a long speech about sports history?
Brian Rich can. Entertainment was not the point, according to Rich, who is GSP’s associate campus director at Bellarmine. The convocation speakers provide another opportunity for scholars to expose themselves to a variety of subjects and perspectives, he said and the speakers enhance a lifetime of growing and learning.
“Don’t block yourself off at age 17,” Rich said, adding that it’s the scholars’ own loss if they don’t listen to what the speakers have to say.
GSP is all about growth and learning. Nearly 1,100 students go through the program staying at Bellarmine and two other GSP campuses at Centre College and Murray State University, and for many it is a life-changing in the process. The scholars take field trips around Kentucky, learning about their Focus Areas of study and incidentally gaining new pride in their state. Also, every scholar takes a seminar class where they discuss issues like discrimination, stereotypes, learning how to express their own opinions, while respecting the opinions of others. They practice breaking out of their comfort zones, and building meaningful relationships with other people despite their differences.
Bryan Rich said that learning civility and how to be friendly while discussing different opinions are among the most important skills that scholars learn.
It’s all a part of the GSP Experience that Rich and GSP Executive Director Aris Cedeño emphasize on Opening Day of the scholars’ five-week adventure. It encompasses academics, leadership, personal development, community service, and yes, it includes the convocation speakers.
“A goal of GSP is that every scholar goes home with a role model,” Aris Cedeño said, and many of those role models can come from the speakers.
So Bryan Rich is right. It is the scholars’ loss if they don’t listen to the speakers that GSP brings to the community. The speakers are vital to the GSP experience, and they are carefully chosen to enhance that experience. To be invited, each speaker must have a Kentucky connection and a sense of state pride. They each must be from a different field: science, journalism, college presidents, Kentucky board of education members, and so on. And although the GSP directors don’t look over the speeches, they are expected to contribute something valuable to the scholars’ experience.
This year, the first speaker on all three campuses was Tori Murden McClure, who lived and was educated in Louisville, was the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set the tone for the convocation series, speaking about living life as an adventure. She encouraged scholars to persevere and use their talents to make the world a better place.
The second speaker, former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, was also a favorite. He opened a very candid Q&A with all the scholars. Answering one question, he said that one of the most important things a scholar can learn is that it is okay to be smart and to be yourself.
Billy Reed made the scholars think about some of the great achievements of Kentuckians in the history of sports, especially in the time of civil rights and integration. Aaron Thompson, professor at Eastern Kentucky University and a member of the Council on Post-Secondary Education talked realistically about how far a good education will get you.
Not only do scholars learn from the speeches, Rich said, but they also learn to be patient and experience new things without shutting themselves off from things they might not like.
Brian Rich first heard Tori Murden McClure speak when he was a Governor’s Scholar in 1996. On that day, she became his role model, and she still is. She inspired him when she said that what matters are not your accomplishments, but how you interact with the people in your life.
“The GSP Experience carries over to life outside GSP, he said. “It hasn’t gotten old for me, and it’s Year 14.”