Rising senior enjoys time at GPGC

Kathy Barrios has spent the last five summers participating in the Governor’s Program for Gifted Children on the campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles.

“This is my second home,” said Barrios, a rising senior from Houma at LSMSA. “This program has taught me many lessons on friendship and the importance of honesty.

“The academic classes are always new and interesting and the arts classes are challenging and help me to improve on the things that I already do.”

At the GPGC, Barrios serves as the chief justice of the judicial branch of the student government and staff writer on the student newspaper. She is also a member of the musical production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Her favorite part of the program is that everyone is a family.

“We all love and respect each other even if we get mad at each other sometimes,” she said. “We try to keep in touch during the year because our friendships that we make here are life lasting.

“It is amazing to be a part of something that has been around for 59 years.”

While she is enjoying her last summer at GPGC, she is also preparing for her senior year at LSMSA by working on her distinction project.

Her project will tell the story of Apollo 10.

“Apollo 10 is important because without it we would have never landed on the moon, but not many people know anything about it,” she said.

Barrios chose to pursue Graduation with Distinction because she loves history.

“Learning about the space race has been one of my favorite things since I was little,” she said. “This project will help me to guide my learning about the Apollo program even more.”

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Kyle Stephens, an instructor of history at LSMSA.