The Georgia Governor's Honors Program (GHP) is a four-week summer program for gifted and talented high school students in the state of Georgia. Ms. Gray nominated me last year and selected me as a finalist in the Software Development—Engineering field. The following is a retrospective of my experience at GHP.

This blog is written on the last day of my GHP, with tears and joy. I want to express my gratitude to the Georgia Department of Education for hosting this wonderful event, for all the friends that I met, and for the amazing experience I had.

Terminology

• Free time. GHP does not have free time. You are realistically allowed to attend lectures and activities, socialize, and perform arbitrary activities of your choice during your free time.
• Hall. GHP groups around 16 people living along a continuous segment of a hallway as a hall.
• Hall Check. There will be a resident assistant (RA) in the hall who will host a conference with members of the hall every night, called hall check. The RA will check the attendance of the hall members, give out announcements, and perform activities if there is any time left.

GHP Life

Schedule

The regular day at GHP is very intense. GHP has three different schedules for each day of the week:

• Monday through Friday:

• Saturday (equiv. Monday to Friday schedule without elective)

• Sunday (free day)

In summary, a typical day at GHP consists of 5 hours of lecture on the chosen major and 2 hours of lecture on the chosen minor, followed by free time with intermittent hall checks.

Instructional Time

GHP allows students to choose a major nominated by their teacher and a separate minor of their choice. The minor is designed as an introductory course that requires no prior knowledge.

• Major: Engineering—Software development. The other two fields in the engineering major are mechanical design and electrical engineering.
• Minor: Counseling

Major

My honest opinion on my major is that it is not very well organized, nor is the content sufficiently challenging. Such feedback can generally be seen in other fields of engineering as well; natural science majors, such as biology, physics, and chemistry, suffer similarly, as the course content primarily consists of AP-level materials, with the addition of more hands-on experiments. However, it is understood that the reader might gauge the level of difficulty differently, and I will try to be as objective as possible.

Instructor

The course instructor, Anupam Goli, is a high school engineering and AP CSP teacher. He is also an FRC coach who led a team to the world competition during the 2022-2023 season. He graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and will pursue a Master's degree in Intelligent Robotic Systems Engineering at Kennesaw State University.

Course content

The syllabus of the course is not completed until the first week of the GHP is over, but for the sake of reference, the following is the syllabus of the course:

• Unit 1: Introductions, ice breakers, and Getting to know you
• Unit 2: Introduction to Python
• Unit 3: The basics of Computer Vision and OpenCV
• Unit 4: Classical Computer Vision
• Unit 5: Object Detection and Tracking
• Unit 6: Embedded vision systems
• Unit 7: Introduction to sensors and control
• Unit 8: Embedded Systems

Daily Summary

And the following is a day-by-day summary of the course:

• Week 1
• • Day 1: Ice breakers, introduction to the course, introduction to Python, and pygame module. A research presentation/TED Talk project is also introduced.
  • Day 2: Continued study of the pygame Module by reading the quick start guide and the Chimp game. Modification of the game is assigned as homework (which is not graded, so people rarely do it). Matrice is also introduced in a freestyle manner, and the instructor is so unprepared that he has to look up how to perform matrix multiplication on Google. The research proposal is also due.
  • Day 3: opencv-python is introduced, along with an example to create a threshold-based object-segmenter/tracker. A simple project to team up and make a game using pygame is also assigned, which is due the next Monday (Day 7).
  • Day 4: continue on the object tracking project from yesterday (with little addition of cv.bitwise_or and cv.bitwise_and to support multi-color threshold. The majority of classes are used for research and pygame projects.
  • Day 5: Convolution is introduced, along with Gaussian blur, Median blur, and morphological operations. A visit to Eagle Motorsports is also arranged, where students are introduced to the design process of Baja/Formula SAE cars & some advice from the president of the club.
  • Day 6: working on research and pygame project & watching the egg drop challenge from the mechanical design major. The game project was supposed to be presented on this day, but since nobody completed it, the instructor decided to postpone it to next Monday (Day 14).
• Week 2
• • Day 7: Complete the pygame A project and a detailed outline of the TED talk. JeVois smart vision camera is also introduced, but coding is not covered, and students are asked to read the example code.
  • Day 8: Presenting a pygame project to the mechanical design field students. Further, students are asked to prepare a presentation on the usage of the camera and present it to the class tomorrow. A hackathon on solving inconveniences at GHP is introduced.
  • Day 9: Students are asked to present the JeVois smart vision camera and the module they studied in class (and they are also given some time to finish that project in class).
  • Day 10: The instructor gives a 1-hour tutorial on how to call the API using requests in Python, and the rest of the class time is for students to work on the project. Here is what we made for the project.
  • Day 11: A visit to the foundry is arranged, where we spent the entire class time casting metals and making molds.
  • Day 12: Finish the hackathon project. The last 1 hour of class is used to introduce the final project, which can be anything related to engineering and use at most $150 of the budget. Teams are pre-assigned, but you don't need to follow that assignment. Since the team selection is due on that night, that is the single most hectic hour when everyone is picking their team. I end up working with Anish G. & Ian O. to make a robotic hand that can act out ASL, accepting voice input and performing the corresponding gesture.
• Week 3:
• • Day 13: I am required (like everyone else) to pitch the project to the instructors. This is extremely challenging, as the instructors gave comprehensive critiques of every aspect of the project, with a focus on the feasibility of the project. We worked until 10:00 PM at that day to successfully convince Kai, an expert in CS & professor from GT, that this project is feasible and thus obtained approval. The parts ordering is also due on that day, and we spent the rest of the day working on the parts list.
  • Rest of the week is spent working on the final project. We come to the office hours hosted after the major session every day, which necessarily means having little to no social activity with other students. That turned out to be my biggest regret of GHP.
• Week 4:
• • Monday - Wednesday: working on the final project
  • Thursday: final project presentation
  • Friday: clean up the Engineering room for the entire major session. After lunch, we spent 1 hour in minor, and the rest of the day is for packing up, cleaning up the dorm, and signing shirts for the final dance before we left.

And here is the final project we made. It was a robotic hand that could act out ASL, accepting voice input and performing the corresponding gesture. The project is primarily limited by time, and we are unable to construct a hand that can act out real ASL, but rather, are merely able to take a finger-spelling approach.

Minor

The minor is an introductory course that must not be related to the major, for it would be too basic for the students.

GHP counseling is not a psychology course, but it is more organized than my major class. The teachers lead fun activities such as icebreakers, blind marathons, and telephone games, as well as topics on boundaries, trust, and self-recognition. This course raised my awareness of my toxic habits and solved many confusions in my relationships, but I would not share those details as it's necessary for me to respect the privacy of others in my class.

Personally, this class is the most memorable part of my GHP. However, picking this class in your minor selection almost guarantees that you will get into that class, as this class is not very popular.

Residential Life

So, the above is a summary of my academic life at GHP. However, it is very important to understand that GHP is far beyond academics, or, to a certain extent, academics are not the main focus of GHP, which can be observed from the following exit survey, where social life questions and interpersonal relationship questions are the most important ones.

Social Life

One of the biggest buzzwords at GHP is GHMagic, i.e., GHP has a magical power that fundamentally changed their life. The quote below precisely conveys my understanding of GHMagic:

There is no magic present inherently in the GHP. You can't just sit there and expect the magic to happen. It is all those people that you meet, and most importantly, yourself, that make the magic happen.

And I hope, my dear reader, you would not regret that you realized this trick to have the magical experience at GHP too late.

Friendships

I have made many friends at GHP, and I am very grateful for that. However, I would not share the details of my friendships, as it is necessary for me to respect the privacy of others.

Seminars

Every day in the GHP, there will be seminars and activities held during free time. Here is a sample of the activities from July 11:

• Water Balloon Battle w/ RA Cath & RA Natasha—meet outside of Lakeside–7:00 PM
• Ultimate Frisbee Pt. 2 w/ RAAdam—CP Quad–7:45 PM
• Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament w/ RA Alex N.—Eagle's Call Rotunda–7:45 PM
• Lemonade Mouth w/ RA Logan S.—IAB 1020–7:15 PM
• Vibes in the Quad w/DJ Technicolour Beats—CP Quad–9:00 PM
• Design A Marching Band Show w/RA Isaac—CP2 Computer Lab–9:00 PM
• The Taylor Swift Tour We Never Got w/ RA Kaya—Union Rotunda–9:00 PM
• The Monkey Seminar w/ RA Alan—CP2 Commons–9:10 PM
• So You Want To Be A Music Major? w/ RA Avery—CP4 Lobby–9:15 PM
• GHP Trivia Night w/ RA Alex G.—IAB 1020–9:2 0 PM

All those activities (a.k.a. seminars) are hosted by RAs, and you are free to attend any of them.

Since I also had an internship during the GHP, I was not able to attend most of the seminars, and that's one of the biggest regrets I have about GHP. I sincerely advise the reader to attend as many seminars as possible, for they are the most memorable part of GHP, and you won't make many friends otherwise.

Transportation

As outlined in the GHP student handbook:

Students are not permitted to have any type of vehicle on the Georgia Southern campus (car, motorcycle, scooter, etc.). Bicycles, skateboards, hoverboards, rollerblades, electric scooters, skates, drones, and/or similar items (including but not limited to rental scooters on campus) are also prohibited. Violation of this rule may result in dismissal.

Therefore, the only mode of transportation at GHP is walking. However, the GHP campus is quite large: it takes at least 13 minutes to walk from the dormitory to the engineering building and at least 7 minutes to walk from the dormitory to the LakeSide dining hall. This experience may not be pleasant due to the weather and the buddy system (see below).

Weather

The weather at GSU is very hot and humid, and it rains frequently. Therefore, you will have to bring an umbrella with you every day, and most coats/long-shirt the cloth will be too hot to wear. The following is the weather data from July 3 to July 9, 2021, at GSU.

Buddy System

However, the weather is not the only problem. It's further complicated by the fact that GHP requires a buddy system, as outlined:

GHP students will be required to adhere to a “buddy system” at times, in that during these instances, they will be required to always travel in groups of two to three and MUST attend mandatory hall checks each evening and during the afternoons on weekends.

Therefore, you will have to pair up with some random "strangers" just so that you can follow the buddy system. Further, understand that the precise definition of buddy varies depending on the context of the rule, so you may, or may not, have to break your comfortable personal space to follow the buddy system.

Contraband

The following items are prohibited (not a comprehensive list):

• Sharp objects: knives, scissors, etc. However, multi-blade shavers are allowed.
• Drugs: alcohol, marijuana, etc. This includes isopropyl alcohol, even as a disinfectant.
• Electronics that produce heat: hairdryers, hair straighteners, electronic kettles that have visible heating elements, etc.
• Medicine: this includes OTC, such as Advil, Vitamins, etc. All medicine must be given to the nurse, and you will need to wait in the medicine line to get your medicine every time you are prescribed to take it, so that they can make sure you are taking the medicine.
• For more details, check the GHP student handbook.

Notice that RA will be able to check your room at any time. However, if you submit your contraband in the amnesty bag, which will be given out on the first day of GHP, you will not be punished for having it.

All the amnesty bags will be returned to the students on the last day of GHP.

Food

The food at GHP, in my opinion, is world-class, and I enjoyed it a lot. We are served at LakeSide Common every day, and the food is free. The food is served buffet style, and there are many options to choose from. There are also many restaurants on campus, such as Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, etc., and you can use your GHP card (a.k.a. EagleExpress) to pay for them.

Dorm

Everyone will have a roommate; depending on how fortunate you are, you may:

1. Have individual bedrooms, including a bed, desk, and closet in your room, and you need to share a bathroom with your roommate (most common).
2. Have a shared bedroom, which means two beds, desks, and closets are located in the same room, and you need to share a bathroom with your roommate.
3. Have three or more people in the same room, and in such a case, all of you would have individual bedrooms, and you will share a very big living room with your roommates (rare).

For me, I got the second option, and I am very fortunate to have a very nice roommate.

Laundry

Laundry is free at GHP; for the first 2 weeks, you may do your laundry at any time. The rule was changed, however, for a period of 3-4 weeks, during which only the designated floor may use the washer/dryer at a time. The laundry room is located in the basement of the dormitory.

If you put your clothes in the dryer/washer while it has been finished, then if there are other users waiting, they may/remove your clothes to use the machine. Those clothes are put in the trash, and you will have to dig through the trash to find your clothes.

Hall Check

Hall check is a mandatory meeting that is held every night at 7:00 PM & 10:30 PM. You will meet with your hallmates and RA, and the RA will check the attendance of the hallmates. The primary purpose of the hall check is to announce activities and seminars that are held during free time, and if there is time left, the RA will perform some activities with the hallmates.

Advice

1. Make friends. Understand that it is all those friendships that make GHP memorable.
2. Don't come to GHP expecting academics only. Academically, GHP is not the most challenging field in the world; most natural science and engineering majors find it too easy. However, GHP is not about academics; rather, it is about the people you meet and the experiences you have.
3. Come to GHP with an open mind. Understand that what I said here doesn't necessarily mean what you should expect. Come to GHP with no expectation, but the expectation to get out of your comfort zone and try new things.

Application

The application process for GHP is pretty competitive. However, I would say that to get into any of those majors, your expertise in the field is not the most important factor, but rather, your passion for the field is the most important factor. This is so evident from my description of the course content, where the content itself requires little to no prior knowledge.

For the portfolio, I made nine projects along with this website. Here is my portfolio:

Conclusion

GHP is a magical experience that I will never forget. I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend GHP, and I would like to thank all the people who made my GHP life enjoyable:

• My friends. GHP would not be the same without you.
• My parents. Thank you for supporting me.
• Ms. Gray, my math teacher, nominated me for GHP.
• Mr. Goli, Mr. Craig, Ms. Crossfield, and Mr. Kai. Your criticisms made my GHP project possible.
• Ms. Ronda & Mr. Alex. It's your efforts that made my residential life amazing.

I would also like to thank the reader for reading this blog. I hope this reading gives you a better idea about GHP, and I wish you the best of luck in your GHP journey.