Honor Student Henry Selph Uses Life Lessons for Motivation and Inspiration

VALDOSTA - At 4-years-old, Henry Selph watched his mother walk out on his family. In admiration, Selph watched his father take on the responsibility of raising him as a single parent. His father’s resilience and determination motivated Selph to work just as hard in his studies, which has paid off well.

A Lowndes County native, Selph is one of 52 freshmen who entered into Valdosta State University’s Honors College during fall 2012 with honors scholarships awarded by the VSU Foundation. The scholarship was awarded based on ACT/SAT scores and cumulative high school grade-point average.

In addition to the honors scholarship, Selph received the HOPE Scholarship and the Langdale College of Business Administration’s Steele Scholarship. 

“I realized that it would take a lot of money for me to pursue a college degree, so my goal when going into high school was to make really good grades so I could earn scholarships for college,” said Selph. “I never wanted to blame anything that happened to me on the fact that I didn’t have a mom around growing up. I saw my dad take responsibility, so I decided that I would have to take responsibility for my life as well.”

Selph has not only proven to be self-motivated in his studies, as he was approaching his senior year at Lowndes High School, he decided that he wanted to join the marching band’s drum line.

“I had little to no music experience at that time,” said Selph. “I had joined the concert band during the second semester of my junior year and from there decided that I wanted to audition for the drum line. It was much different from concert band, but I had fun with it and actually made it. It made me feel good to accomplish that. My friends said they had never seen anyone go in completely green like that.”

Selph still plays the drum and plans to audition for the VSU Blazin’ Brigade next football season.

After completing his second semester at VSU, Selph continues to adjust to college life and his honors courses.

“The teaching is very different from the teaching at high school,” he said. “There is not as much actual homework, but here is a lot of paper writing and the layout of the tests are different. Nonetheless, I love it. I also enjoy living on campus.”

Selph added that he visits his father every Saturday.

“During football season we normally tried to catch the Falcons games together,” he said.

Selph is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in marketing and international business. Upon graduation, he plans to start his own business and commit his life to philanthropic projects.

 “I would like to open my own music and movie production company and open as many charities as I can,” he said. “I look forward to sharing what I have and will have with those who do not have enough. Sometimes I think in America we focus on material possessions, while there are others out there who focus on how they can help each other. They are not worried about how much money they can make. I think we can learn from them. If I can share what I have with those who do not have enough, then I will feel better.”