This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to audition for North Carolina’s Governor’s School and was selected to be a part of their choral music program. I remember, a few years ago, my mom and I were writing out what we thought should be my goals/to-do list for my high school career and my mom mentioned Governor’s School. She was really passionate about me going because she is an alumni and loved every minute of it. At first I was a little skeptical about being away from home for 6 weeks, but I decided I should audition anyway and we could decide after the fact. When it came time to audition, I was very nervous. The song I had prepared was unlike any song I had sung before. It was a classical piece that was very operatic that my vocal teacher helped me pick out since she was also a governor’s school alumni for choral music. I was also stressed out because I needed to sight-sing for the audition but surprisingly I got through the audition and was super excited when I got the call from my school that I was accepted.
When I got there, I had a very open mind. I found out that I didn’t have a roommate and I didn’t exactly know how to feel about being all by myself. But eventually I loved being independent and having a dorm all to myself. I was also very lucky because I was put in the only dorm that had air conditioning! After my parents helped me to load my furniture in and we said our goodbyes, there was a giant assembly in the auditorium of Salem College. They explained our classes and we met our TAC’s which were our supervisors our “camp counselors” that were assigned to our dorm. The schedule went like this: Monday-Saturday you have classes. They start at around 9:00 and then end at around 3:00. On A days I had 4 classes and on B day I had 3. You eat your breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining hall and in the afternoons there are optional seminars that are really interesting! (My favorite seminar was called “SSDGM” which stood for stay sexy, don’t get murdered. It was a seminar on interesting murder stories that were presented in a comical way so you weren’t completely freaked out.) You have an area 1 class which was the one you apply for. For me this was choral music so I spent most of my days in the chorus room with my instructors. Then you have a class called area 2 which is where you talk about mind boggling stuff like existence. And lastly area 3 which consisted of discussing opinions about current events, and problems with the world. Throughout the program you would have mandatory assemblies and speakers which are MOSTLY really cool.
In my free time, I would hang out in the Babcock basement which was the boys dorm but the basement was co-ed. Mostly we would just chat on the couches, play Mario kart on the Wii, or have pool/ping pong championships. There is also an indoor pool that I would occasionally spend the afternoon with friends diving. I loved being at the Salem campus because you’re right in the middle of Old Salem and it is the coolest place to explore and filled with history. There are dances and movies and karaoke nights and games and it’s the best! I met some really amazing people and new friends! I also learned a lot about the art of choral music that I thought I would never be interested in. We worked a lot with sight reading and we even learned about semi-tones which were pitches in between the tones on the piano.
On the last night, everyone stayed up all night to watch the sunset on the tennis court. I will never forget the laughs shared and the memories made at Governor’s School and would recommend it to anyone! I told myself that I wouldn’t cry, but I failed and my friends and I hugged until we all went our separate ways. Governor’s School helped me realize I love being more independent and that I CANNOT WAIT for college!