Jen’s Journey

Written by: Lilia Compton and Kyeler Bakaric

After years of not only being a scholar, but also working within the Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP), Dr. Jen Price proudly took on the role of executive director. With her new role in the program, Jen took on a lot of responsibility welcoming roughly 1,000 students into the GSP. Through her years of experience Jen has learned how to both work with and prepare scholars for a successful future. While starting this role may seem like a daunting task, Jen took on the position with ease: “It has been fun planning for this summer, and seeing it actually happen is like a real feeling of satisfaction,” said Jen. Travelling from campus to campus, Jen is able to interact with staff and scholars in every session. 

This year, Jen gave the Murray State University scholars the opportunity to attend a Science and Art of Stress Management course as she shared in-depth strategies for dealing with anxiety and the tribulations of being a student. Even after the presentation, several scholars stayed back to ask more questions. Jen has an extensive background in emotional regulation as a certified clinical psychologist, and that knowledge has been very helpful to her while working at the GSP. She indicates that her education has taught her how to talk to people, listen to people, and navigate conflict. Through this, she is able to use her passion as a doctor to maneuver through difficult situations. 

Unlike any other current staff, Jen has been active in every role at the GSP at some point. From being a scholar herself to now being executive director, Jen has been a quintessential part of the Governor’s Scholars Program for many years. Of all of the roles that she has performed in, Jen definitely has her favorites: “I think being a GSP RA is the best job in the world.” Jen speaks very highly of being an RA following her year as a scholar. She mentions how being an RA allows you to leave a positive impact on the scholars while still being involved in the fun activities. 

To conclude our interview, Jen shared pieces of wisdom for any current and future scholars. It’s easy for scholars to want to plan out their entire lives in advance, but Jen stresses the importance of keeping an open mind while completing high school. She states, “Most of those things will change, they just don’t know it yet. And that’s good, that’s healthy.” The future is a daunting topic, but Jen encourages scholars to always have options and accept change when it needs to come.