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Stringing Together Friendships

  • Journalists
  • Jul 24, 2019
  • 2 min read

By: Jaley Adkins


Crafting friendship bracelets is a longstanding tradition of the Governor’s Scholars Program. I was very excited to learn how to weave string to create intricately designed bracelets. As ready as I was to make them, I soon registered how hard it was. From this realization, I learned a lot about life, friendships, and GSP.

For my first bracelet, I chose several shades of pink which faded into white. I had the first knot tied and was eagerly anticipating completing the rest of the bracelet. It did not take long for me to get frustrated with myself. It seems pretty ridiculous, but I was so hard on myself for making a bracelet that was less than perfect. I kept thinking, I can sew and quilt so why is this so difficult for me?

At the time, I didn’t realize that these thoughts were taking away from the purpose of making friendship bracelets- making them with your friends. It was when I stopped and looked around at the people I was sitting with that I realized how nonsensical it was for me to be worrying about how bad or good my bracelet was. It was the people and the relationships the bracelet represents that mattered.

The bracelets are a reminder and symbol of the people you crafted the bracelets with, or that made the bracelet for you. I recently got a letter from my friend at Centre’s GSP. The letter was heartfelt and sweet. It was accompanied in the envelope by a friendship bracelet.

Knowing the amount of time that goes into making one, I appreciated the sentiment even more and mailed her one the next day. I love that these bracelets allowed us to connect to each other, even though we are far apart.

To me, the bracelets also represented the phrase “good things take time”. I am very slow at making them, but seeing the end product makes all the time devoted to making bracelets worth it. Additionally, it showed me that not everything in life will come easily. Friendship bracelets also confirmed for me that sometimes you have to undo some knots to create the beautiful life you deserve.

This is a very deep approach a simple craft, but I believe it is important to take time to look at everything from a perspective that allows you to see things in this light. I have always been an advocate of looking past the surface of things because that is where you learn and grow. As I continue to string together bracelets and friendships while at GSP, I will always keep in mind what I have learned from them.

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Faculty

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Jennifer Price grew up in Hopkins County, Kentucky and attended South Hopkins High School. She was a Governor’s Scholar at Murray State University in 1992, and was assigned the Social and Political Theory focus area. After high school, she attended Transylvania University and pursued a degree in Psychology. She finished her bachelor’s degree and then decided to complete graduate school at the University of Arkansas, where she received a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. She has been a member of the GSP faculty and staff for many years, ranging from 1994 to present. She has done every job available except be a focus area instructor. Jen was recently encouraged by her friends to begin running and even completed a half marathon last may. Jen is a wife to Pete, and a mother to two children, Jacob (15) and Eli (12).

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Josh Woodward was a 1992 scholar at Murray State University. After completing undergraduate school at the University of Kentucky, Josh obtained a Masters in Water Resources from Minnesota and a Masters in Teaching from Cornell University. Outside of the program, Josh teaches a variety of science classes at Berea Community High School. When asked about his favorite part of the program, Josh responded with, “My favorite part is the notion that the five weeks is not really the program. It is everything after.” Nearly thirty years later, Josh and his fellow scholars are still close friends. 

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Helen Heines grew up in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, which is in Bullitt County. She attended North Bullitt High School where she applied and was accepted to attend GSP at Murray State University in 2010. Upon graduation in 2011, she continued her education at Western Kentucky University with a degree in elementary education. Currently, Helen is a 5th grade social studies teacher in Louisville, and spends her summers deeply involved in the GSP community. She began working as a Resident Advisor (RA) at Bellarmine University in 2015. She began moving up the ranks to become head RA and then later she obtained the title of Assistant Campus Director, a title that she still holds. 

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