2019-2020 Avatar: Maggie Gossage

Hi friends! My name is Maggie Gossage, and I am from Russell Springs. My pre-Gatton experience was a unique one. I grew up with educators dispersed throughout my family, so education has always been a priority. Deciding to go to Gatton was a difficult choice because that meant leaving the best principal in the world, my dad, behind at my home high school. I wanted more than what the walls of Russell County High School could offer, and Gatton was just the place for me.

The Gatton Academy has allowed me to take classes in a range of departments and helped me find what I am passionate about. I entered Gatton with a firm plan to pursue psychology in every way possible. But after taking biopsychology with the charismatic Dr. Leslie Baylis second semester, I fell in love with neuroscience and biology. Psychology, though, has still been a major component of my Gatton Academy experience. Over this summer, I got the opportunity to conduct my own research project with Dr. Rick Grieve through the Gatton Academy Research Internship Grant, or RIG as the Gattonites call it. I spent my summer in the Clinical and Applied Research lab researching male body image and action figures physiques. This was a meaningful experience, as I got to write my first research paper that I plan to submit to the Regeneron Science Talent Search.

Sports and clubs were an integral part of my identity at my sending school. Although I don’t get to run 8 400-meter sprints back-to-back at track practice anymore (sarcasm very much intended), I still have the opportunity to participate in all of my old clubs from my sending school. This past year at Gatton, I was a member of Student Y, GALE (Gatton Academy Leaders in Education), Yearbook, Tennis Club, and Bollywood Movie Club. 

One of the best things about going to Gatton, in my opinion, has to be getting the opportunity to study abroad. This summer, I will be traveling across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom for my English Literature class. I am thrilled that my first experience abroad will be with all of my closest friends!

The Gatton Academy has been my home for the past year, literally, because I reside there, but also figuratively. Gatton has introduced me to some of the best people I have ever met. The students are so helpful in every way and, well, I can say the same about the staff. I never go a day without feeling appreciated, and everyone makes it their priority to make everyone around them feel special. Whenever I step foot through the doors of Florence Schneider Hall, I am back where I need to be. 

I cannot wait to see what my senior year has in store for me and for Gatton as a whole!

Maggie