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Governor’s School: A Head Start on College
Updated: Oct 15
Julianne Bagley and friends from Governor’s School display their certificates of completion they received at the end of camp. “It was great to see people from all over the state because these are people that I probably never would have met in my life if it hadn't been for Gov. School,” said Bagley. “The community was so great, and it was an amazing experience.” Photo credits: Julianne Bagley
Amelia Bennett, Staff Writer and Translator for The Powderhorn
Applications, portfolios, and essays mean it’s time for Governor’s School applications. Governor’s School is a four-week summer camp where students are able to fully immerse themselves in a specific area of study such as choral music, math, natural sciences, and more.
“I filled out an interest form and attended the interest meeting. After that, I began the actual application and submitted it,” said Kate Rex, a senior at Watauga who attended Governor’s School on the East campus over the summer. “I received an email that said I was nominated by the school and was moving on to the Governor's School selection round in December.”
Lindsey Gough, a school counselor at Watauga, is one of the coordinators of Governor's School for the high school. The number of spots for Watauga is based on the population of the school’s 10th and 11th grades. After the school has nominated their students, the selection committee at Watauga sends the nominations over to Governor's School and students are chosen from a pool of candidates.
“It's super competitive. Out of the entire state of North Carolina, [Governor’s School] only takes 800 students total,” said Gough. “Sometimes if they don't pick them in the first round, they might have an opening, and they can come back and we select some alternates.”
Julianne Bagley, a senior at Watauga who attended Governor’s School during the summer of 2026, was placed at the West campus at Greensboro College and attended to focus on mathematics.
“I had expected it to be calculus, algebra, that kind of stuff, but my math classes were things I had never done before,” said Bagley. “I had a logic math class and one about prime numbers. Those were all super interesting and things that I hadn’t learned about.”
Visual arts is another area of study for Governor’s School. Sofia McEvoy, a senior at Watauga, took that path while at camp. McEvoy was also placed at the West campus over the summer.
“Everyone had their different things that they were good at, or their different styles,” said McEvoy. “The prompts for the projects were very different. You had to define drawing in your own words and then you had to make something that would fall within your definition of drawing.”
Students in the quad of Meredith College, the East campus for Governor’s School.“This did give me a college-like experience because I got to live on an actual college campus in the dorms,” said Rex. Photo credits: Kate Rex
While students focus on their specific area of study at camp, there are many other opportunities for exploration opened up by Governor’s School’s optional seminars.
“We went to one on dancing, juggling, and there was one about conspiracy theories,” said Bagley. “They'd have events almost every night like trivia night, line dancing, and they had a murder mystery night, which was super fun.”
Each area has a final capstone project during their time at Governor’s School. These projects are in all areas of study ranging from performing arts like music, choir, and theater, to core subjects like math and science.
“Halfway through the month we had an art gallery,” said McEvoy. “We displayed all of the pieces we had for the first half and everyone could go around and look at everyone's pieces.”
Students attending must be internally and academically driven in order to fully immerse in the Governor’s School experience.
“The amount of effort you put into it, it's up to you,” said Bagley. “If you're not being graded for something, there's a temptation to not try or not give your best effort, but everyone there was working so hard.”
“I was really nervous going to Gov. School because it's scary to not know what to expect,” said Bagley. “But I found it so easy to talk to everybody there, because we're all there for the same reason. We're all a little nervous, a little excited.”
Many students find that Governor’s School is a helpful transition between high school and college life and getting used to a new environment. Families are allowed to visit on Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., providing students with a sense of comfort every week, while also nurturing independence.
“I got that sense of independence, which I think was really nice knowing I'm going to college next year,” said Bagley. “I think that gives me more confidence going forward. The fact that I got to experience that was great.”
With applications open and Watauga’s November 16 deadline quickly approaching, finding out how to write interesting essays that demonstrate your abilities can be difficult.
“Whatever the prompts are, just completely open up and be yourself and use your English teachers. Definitely have people proofread,” said Gough. “Any student that's interested in Governor’s School can just send me an email, pop in my office, and I'm happy to email them the application to get a good look at it.”
Last year's attendees who experienced the process of applications advise current applicants to focus on a trait or interest specific to each person. Some essays might require the student to open up about a struggle that they dealt with and many people find this difficult to do since it requires a lot of vulnerability.
“For the application itself, write about what interests you. I would not want to write about something that I just wasn't passionate about at all because it's not true to me. I think that's what helped me write a better essay,” said McEvoy. “If you do get in, just make the most of it, talk to people, learn, eat the ice cream at the dining hall and smash it with cookies.”
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