The Governor's Program for Gifted Children

GPGC 2024 | JUNE 9 – JULY 20

Dorm Life

For most students, GPGC is the first time they have been away from home for an extended period of time. After the first day or two, even some of the youngest and most sheltered students in the program find themselves far too busy to be homesick.

In the dorms, GPGC students learn about responsibility and self-reliance. With the help and guidance of counselors and staff, students do their own housekeeping, learn to manage the competing demands of class assignments and social life and generally learn to direct their own lives.

Dorm life includes just about every hour of students’ days that are not taken up by classes. They are supervised by counselors, all college age adults, most of whom are former students of GPGC who understand what the experience is like and who are uniquely qualified to provide support to those students who need it. Counselors make sure the dorm does not turn into a total zoo, and try and remind students of their responsibilities (like getting to class on time).

Counselors are also tasked with providing activities for the students’ free time. TVs and video games are NOT allowed in the students’ rooms (though there is a TV in the lobby for students’ viewing pleasure) so the counselors work hard to make sure no one is bored. Weekends are the time that the students have the opportunities to go off campus, to the mall, the movies, Putt-Putt, bowling, etc. All of these activities are well supervised by the staff. There are also several dances throughout the summer, including the popular Costume Ball, and the teary final dance of the GPGC, the Formal.

Students also have access to McNeese State University’s Recreation Complex which includes a pool, basketball courts, an indoor track, and racquetball courts.

Most GPGC counselors, all college-age adults, are former GPGC students themselves. They understand what the experience is like and are uniquely qualified to provide support for those students who occasionally need it.

Dorm life is the students’ social life, and most students attest that this is the most rewarding aspect of the GPGC for them, for the friendships they make here last a lifetime.

GPGC gave me a sense of community,


a place where being smart was acceptable, where bullying was not the norm, and where creativity was welcomed.


– Cashman P., Alumnus