Lt. Gov. Coleman urges GSA students to ‘find your passion’
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 17, 2024) — Kentucky’s Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman spoke to students June 14 during her visit to the Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) at Singletary Center for the Arts.
Coleman congratulated the students on their achievements, talked about the work she and Gov. Andy Beshear are doing to ensure the arts remain funded in Kentucky schools and told the story of her path to public service.
The lieutenant governor challenged GSA students to take the experiences back to their communities and make a difference there.
“Find your passion. Get involved. Take the lead,” she told the crowd of more than 250 GSA students, faculty and staff members.
When asked by one of the students, “What if you don’t know what your passion is yet?” Coleman said to “keep an open door” to new ideas.
“‘Be curious, not judgmental,’” she said, quoting the eponymous character from the television series “Ted Lasso.”
GSA is in its sixth year on UK’s campus. The program, which began in 1987, is an intensive mountaintop experience for Kentucky high school students who show a passion and talent for the visual or performing arts. GSA will conduct two three-week sessions. The first session will run through June 29 and the second is July 7-27.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.