counselors or teachers will recommend the program to students and encourage them to apply. The application process consists of many different essays, two recommendation letters and additional requirements depending on what subject you are attending for. 

“I applied for dance, so I had to submit a video of me dancing and they gave me a video to follow by,” Firnhaber said. “Then I had a written portion which consisted of specific questions I had to answer in less than 500 words.” 

     During the four week summer program, there are many different classes and activities offered with the goal of better preparing high school students for college. All students are kept busy with academics, extracurricular activities and opportunities for social events during the day.  

     “It's something that I can do during the summer," Patel said. “It definitely allows me to gain experience on what I want to do when I grow up and graduate from school.”

     NCGS offers more advanced courses than the average high school, so students are challenged with higher levels of rigor similar to a college class.

     One of the main purposes of attending Governor's School is to develop new skills and explore new ideas. This starts the process of considering what a student might want to do later in life when choosing a profession. All the skills developed while at Governor's school are helpful to students when making these types of decisions. 

     “I’ll gain more first hand knowledge and learn what I'm very interested about and see if that’s something I wanna do later on in my professional career,” Patel said.   

     Students also meet many new other highly motivated students from across the state they will collaborate with. Governor's School encourages students to work in diverse groups to learn how to problem solve with others. Similar to college, this opens them up to discussion work and being comfortable with working in teams.