Every year Virginia hosts the Virginia Governor’s Schools, opportunities for juniors and seniors in high school to stay at a college campus and focus on one subject for three weeks. Students can apply for programs ranging from humanities to foreign languages. This past summer, several Saints had the opportunity to attend these schools.
Jackson Sipple-Asher-Latin
Governor’s Latin Academy was, sine dubio, one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I am so glad I got the opportunity to go! We all stayed at Randolph-Macon College, where we spent our time going to interesting classes, making strong friendships, translating Ovid for Province Cup Points, and doing fun activities such as art projects and Latina Loquenda, an hour of practicing spoken Latin. We were subdivided into provinces, each named after a province of the Roman empire, and competed against each other by doing translations or other cool Latin feats the whole three weeks. My province, Achaea (Greece), came in at a strong second, only just behind Britannia’s group (who are now all close friends of mine). Every day we would have classes and an afternoon activity, of which Latina Loquenda was my favorite. The feeling of progression in being able to speak Latin by the end of it was absolutely thrilling, and one of my favorite memories of the whole experience was holding a genuine conversation with one of the counselors in Latin. That conversation took place at one of our togate events, where we would all dress up in togas and speak Latin for an activity, such as Thermopolium (which functioned as a mock-Roman forum) or Bellum Mercium (a Civilization-esque board game of diplomacy and war based on Latin-based trade dialogue). I even got elected to the position of Aedile during my time there, which meant that I (and another friend I made there) would have to write the blog to the outside world every night. Overall, Governor’s Latin Academy was one of my favorite experiences, and I would highly recommend every Latin student go for it. You wouldn’t want to miss it! Valete
Kaia Corens-Spanish
I loved the Spanish academy so much. Not only did I meet some of my best friends, but I also fell in love with the language. I remember that when I left the academy I couldn’t speak any English whatsoever. I understood everything, but speaking? That was a struggle. Even today I think in Spanish every once in a while. The academy did an amazing job of truly immersing the students in the language through art, conversation, studies, and music. One of the most valuable things I gained was confidence in the language. I can not recommend the experience enough to everyone I know interested in learning a language. So many people working at the academy and people that have gone told me that the bonds you make there last a lifetime and I never really believed them till I went.
Ramtulai Jalloh- Humanities
Going to Gov school was a very cool and fun experience. I liked meeting new people from around the state. It was especially interesting to listen to what other students had to say during classes and keynote presentations since everything they said was really thoughtful. It was also a good thing to have had people from school there with me so that I at least knew a couple of people when arriving there. I would say that my favorite part of gov school was watching the talent shows at the end of every week. It was fun to see just how talented everyone was.
Charlotte Secrist- Humanities
Gov School was such a fun and unique experience. It was so fun to be around people who loved learning and discussing issues. I loved my classes and attending the various lectures, but the most fun part of the whole experience was the people. I made friends I think I will have for life, and got to meet people from all different backgrounds. Some of my favorite memories were watching shows after dinner or playing Uno in the common room late at night. Humanities also gave me the opportunity to do a research project on a so-called “wicked problem,” basically a problem that needs to be solved. This project really helped me improve my research skills, as well as allowing me to work on my presenting. I had such a great time, and those three weeks were regrettably short!
