Boyd County Class President Megan Slater Has a Bright Future Ahead
Gary Newman
The Ashland Beacon
When Boyd County High School’s Megan Slater begins classes again in the fall, she will take on the Marshall University colors and begin a whole new adventure where she’ll compile all she’s learned and become to put it all to work in order to make her exactly what she was meant to be.
“Freshman year, that’s obviously when COVID started, I was so shy because I’d just moved back from Holy Family after there were just eight kids in my class to 200 (at Boyd County),” Slater recalled, “I didn’t really talk to a lot of people. I still had my group of people that I went to elementary school with, and then COVID hit. I didn’t talk to anybody and was just in my room for two years. Junior year, we finally went back. It started to get more normal, but I was still really shy.”
What’s a shy girl to do? How about run for Class President?! Disappointed there was only one name on the ballot, she knew she had to do something. “Just before my senior year, I had decided I wanted to run for Senior President. I’ve got to get out of my shell more if I want to do that. That required a bunch of public speaking. I had to give my speech in front of the whole class, and I’d never done anything like that,” Slater remembered, “I wanted to run to give people the opportunity to vote because nobody else was going to run.” With only one person running, any election would have been a formality, and there would have been no process. “Everybody was just going to get their position instead of having a speech and voting for it. I was like, that’s boring! OK, here’s your officers; deal with it.”
She won. “I got to be Senior Class President.” This led to running for office in smaller clubs and possibly opening doors to a future run for political office. “I’ve already been told I’m going to be the governor of Kentucky.”
Her leadership skills have proven to be a force, but there are also all the emotions of closure to high school education and the future of all that’s to come on the horizon. Leadership is just a part, though. Slater has finished 3 pathways a Boyd County (Phlebotomy, Culinary, and Nurse Aid).
She remembered fondly a few senior year highlights. “In my nurse aid class, we had to go to a nursing home and do clinicals there for 16 hours. Throughout it, it was really fun to be with all those people all day for a couple of days.” Slater also recalled, “Right before Christmas week is our spirit week. I love those spirit weeks—just having our hot chocolate, our movie, and all that with the class.”
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” Slater considered, “I think it’s going to be a while before it hits me, but I’m ready. I know I’m not going to see most of these people again and obviously the teachers. I’ve gotten really close to some of the teachers, and I’ll miss them. There may be a couple of tears.”
Slater is headed off to Marshall University in a few short months to study computer engineering. Her bill will be a little lighter as she’s the recipient of the elite John Marshall Scholarship. She quickly pointed out, “I get to stay home that way!” That’s not all…at least three others from her class will be studying in Huntington in the fall, as well as her best friend from pre-school.
Staying home is a huge advantage for the recent graduate, who credits her parents for their consistent support. “My parents are great. For essays, if I need an editor or a thesaurus, I go to them always. They always help make it way better, and it’s like that with everything,” Megan stated.
You can’t help but wonder what this young lady will do with her summer before beginning college with all the academic achievements piling up, political aspirations looming ahead, and a brilliant future as an engineer. Slater responded, “Baseball.” “I gotta be somewhere. I don’t want to stay home all day. All three brothers play. My brother has a travel team in Cincinnati, so I’ll be up there every week.”
Slater also plans to create art. “I love to paint; it’s more so painting for people. Most of the time, if I see something that I like, like a sunset, I’ll take a picture of it, and go back and paint it later.”
With so much talent and so many skills, there’s no limit to the future Megan Slater can aspire. She still hopes her legacy isn’t noted for her success or achievements. Slater commented, “I hope it’s just to be kind to everybody. I hope that’s what people think about me. I would always talk to everybody; I would never just walk by somebody and not say anything.” You certainly can’t go wrong with that!
