Georgia Magden - University of Mississippi
2025
In 2025, I finished the latter half of my gap year. I spent it living with my grandmother in northern Mississippi. We had great fun together and I am so glad she lives close to my college campus so I can continue to visit her. Her community was so welcoming and lovely to me, and when it came time to move into college it felt very much like coming home again. This fall I began my first semester at the University of Mississippi. I had an enormous amount of fun and really enjoyed all of the classes I took. I got to go to many incredible sporting events, make lots of new friends and of course, tailgate. I am so excited for what next semester has in store for me! I am really looking forward to the classes I will be taking this upcoming semester- I am hopeful that they will really challenge me academically. Transitioning to college was difficult, as any big change is, but I am so grateful that I was able to take a gap year. I would not have had the same wonderful experience that I had this semester if I had not. I felt so comfortable coming back in the fall, and so eager to see people I had met during my gap year and make new friends as well. I don’t think I would have had the confidence to take this gap year without the insurance and support that MVYouth provided me, and for that I will be forever grateful.
2024
I am currently on a gap year before I attend the University of Mississippi and so far it has been marvelous. During the month of September I continued my job at Vineyard Pilates & Bodywork and “helped” Annie Ollen (2015 MVYouth recipient) coach girls JV soccer (I think I did very little in the way of actually coaching). After that, I went down to northern Mississippi and have been gallivanting around with my grandmother ever since. My grandmother grew up and spent the majority of her life in the University of Mississippi’s college town and she has happily shown me all that this state has to offer. I’ve met influential Mississippi politicians, joined a Political Action Committee, gone to the royal ballet, met the former chancellor of the University, read a lot, attended Ole Miss athletics and music performances, helped my grandmother clean out her garage (no small feat let me tell you) and built a community I am excited to use during my time in college. Personally, taking a gap year has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has only reaffirmed my desire to attend this school and it has given me the opportunity to build relationships with people separate from the school community. It has also allowed me to recuperate from an incredibly draining senior year and ensure that I will be able to give my best once I actually get to college. I am incredibly grateful that MVYouth has allowed me to take this time off and the peace of mind scholarship affords cannot be overstated.