BETHANY - High school students presently attending the Governors Honors Academy at Bethany College got advice from the governor himself Wednesday.
"You have to have passion for what you do," Gov. Joe Manchin told the nearly 200 scholars from across the state. "I'm as excited about being governor now as I was in 2004. If you can find a job like that - take it."
He pointed them toward public service.
"Pick something you're passionate about," Manchin said. "Gandhi once said that if you're trying to find yourself, sometimes you have to lose yourself in service to others."
The Governor's Schools of West Virginia are three-week summer sessions for academically and artistically talented students from across West Virginia, and there are three of them - the Governors Honors Academy in session at Bethany College until July 20; the Governors School for Arts at West Liberty State College until July 18; and the Governors School for Math Science, which is set for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va., later this month and in August.
Students attend workshops, classes, and events during the three-week sessions. The program is entirely free for students who are accepted, and is administered by the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts.
Manchin took questions from the young scholars at Bethany College who will be high school juniors this fall.
He asked how many of them felt they were being challenged in school, and no hands were raised.
"You are more the experts in education than anyone," he said. "You've been in the system going on 11 years. You can evaluate it. What would you do to make it better or more challenging for you if you ran the institution?"