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Future Nighthawk Grayson Ludington attended Ascend: A Summer Honors Experience in 2024. His experience was so positive that he will return to campus in fall 2025 as a freshman at the University of North Georgia (´óÏó´«Ã½).

"I've chosen ´óÏó´«Ã½ for a multitude of reasons, though I'd be remiss to not cite Ascend as a main factor," he said. "Over the course of the program, it was the experiences of on-campus life, class time with professors, and even the surrounding area of Dahlonega that truly made my decision an easy one. Ascend is a true gift. From exploring academics, to scaling a mountain, to making connections with amazing people, the Ascend program is everything I wanted and more."

This year's Ascend is scheduled for June 1-13 and is open to rising high school seniors with a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale. The event centers on academics, leadership, and team building through college courses and high and low rope course challenges paired with intentional introspection. Participants also receive an introduction to college life and ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Dahlonega campus to help them prepare for the transition to college.

The program costs $1,750 per camper. Students from the below school districts may be eligible for full-scholarship funding from their school districts.  

• Banks County
• Dawson County
• Fannin County
• Franklin County
• Gilmer County
• Hall County
• Hart County
• Lumpkin County
• Pickens County
• Stephens County
• White County
• Whitfield County

While at Ascend: A Summer Honors Experience, Ludington earned the Most Outstanding Student Award by excelling in leadership and academics, authentically engaging in every challenge, and maintaining exemplary integrity throughout the intensive program, Kelly West, director of the Summer Honors Experience, said.

Ludington is a Jasper, Georgia native, planning to pursue a degree in management with a concentration in entrepreneurship.

"A main element of this choice, for me, was the ability to actually sit down with the head of this pathway and talk in detail about not only what the course looks like now, but his plans to evolve it in the future. Ascend also opened my eyes to a vast variety of subjects. I am now considering a minor in entrepreneurship, thanks to the assortment of classes we took with professors from various fields," he said.