Land of the GHPhree: Senior Copy Editor Valeria Garcia-Pozo poses with the girls from her residence hall at the Governor’s Honors Program on July 4. Garcia-Pozo attended GHP, a four-week residential program hosted at Berry College, as a Communicative Arts major from June 17 to July 14.
Land of the GHPhree: Senior Copy Editor Valeria Garcia-Pozo poses with the girls from her residence hall at the Governor’s Honors Program on July 4. Garcia-Pozo attended GHP, a four-week residential program hosted at Berry College, as a Communicative Arts major from June 17 to July 14.
On June 17, I moved into a dorm at Berry College and unpacked my things, wished my father a happy Father’s Day and eagerly shooed him away, as my adventure — the one I had been training all year to experience, the one I did countless bouts of interview prep and essay-revising for — was about to begin. This adventure was my four weeks at the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program, where I was accepted as a Communicative Arts major.
I was ecstatic to be joined by 75 other people in my major who shared my passion for words, media and writing. I consider myself an extrovert — I love talking to people and making new friends, and I was thrilled to be in a setting where I wasn’t tied down with any preconceived notions people had of me at school. I was surrounded by 650 potential new friends.
As it turns out, however, being surrounded by so many amazing people was extremely intimidating. On the first day, the girls in my residence hall and I were slammed with general body meeting after meeting, and we were fed testimony after testimony from GHP alumni and staff urging us to make the most of what would be the best time of our lives.
I had never experienced any degree of social anxiety before, but the amount of options for me — seminars I could go to, everyone around me socializing with one another and making new friends, the dreaded mealtimes when I didn’t know who to sit with — overwhelmed me. I spent the first week battling the constant fear of missing out, of not making the most of my GHP experience.
As time went on, though, the frequent hall meetings with the 25 other girls I would eventually call my best friends assured me I would have a safe space to be who I was. There was a bounty of organized social activities to attend, but going to these events — while enriching — wasn’t what made my GHP experience fulfilling.
The most impactful part of GHP was the time I spent with the friends I made without putting in too much effort. Sitting and studying together, texting the girls I met to get lunch, walking together to class — those were the little things that cultivated my relationships at GHP, and helped me make friendships I will keep with me forever.
