intermediate program summer site : conversations : first session



	harris from new york (7/4) Harris, an aspiring film director, is a residental student and rising 8th-grader from New York. This is Harris' fourth year at Exploration and he's looking forward to learning more about film, meeting new friends, and even trying yoga! So this is your fourth year and at the end of the summer you’ll have done eight sessions! What keeps you coming back to Explo? It’s that there’s always something new. . .and I really like everything here and everything that’s going on. Was your class this morning something new? Well, my first class is “Explo Entrepreneur” and then “Pitching the Pilot.” What’s that? It’s about TV writing. We’re going to make a TV show in groups. Today we watched a pilot episode, so we have an idea about what our pilot should be like. We talked about different elements of a show: the characters, the plot. And the entrepreneurial class, what’s that like? We are going to make a business and sell stuff. We’re going to decide what to sell next week. I think we should sell water bottles. Instead of them saying “Poland Spring” or something, we’d get them to say “Explo”— we’ll sell Explo stuff. Did you enjoy your first day of mini-courses yesterday? I did movie making with my RA, Andres, and cooking. Sounds like you enjoy film and TV a lot. . . Yeah I do. I like movies. . .that’s my favorite interest. Is that something you want to do as a career? Yeah. I want to be a movie director. Explo is giving me giving me the chance to prepare for that a bit. What’s your favorite movie? I like classic movies; "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Ben Hurr" are my favorites. Are your activities today movie related? No, today I'm going to try Yoga, which I've never gone to. . .so I'm going to try something new. Why yoga? I wanted to try something new, and relax a bit too. So how is this year different from other years for you? Well, this is a different campus, so that’s a change. . .and I used to know all the staff members from previous years. Luckily, it’s still easy to make friends here. It’s different from the Junior Program, but only because I don’t know as many people from before. What’s your favorite thing about being a residential student? The community. The whole feeling of Explo and being able to be here every single second. It’s like college. It’s just like college, only I think this has more fun courses. What are you looking to get out of Explo this summer? I want to. . .let me think. . .I want to meet new people, try new things. I’ve been meeting a lot of new people. What advice would you give someone coming to Explo for the first time? Use your time wisely; time will go really fast. Take in all your courses. Try new things. Meet new people. Do the best trips. Just have as much fun as you can! Had anything surprised you about being at the Intermediate Program? Just the independence. You can [sign out and] walk into the Vil. You go to your room and can unlock your door. It’s just like college and I'm surprised about that. Why did you choose Explo over other programs? Well, it’s a place for people who like to learn, for intellectual kids who are excited to try new things and just learn, like I do. It’s unique that we don’t, like, sit at a campfire. Most camps you’re in bunks in a cabin. This is just different and unique. . . If Explo had a mascot, what would it be? It would be a smiling bird that’s all crazy, 'cuz we get to be ourselves and have fun, but learn new things we want to learn about and do new things we want to try. Fantastic. Anything else? Oh, yeah. The only thing I don’t like is that we have to do our own laundry. But at the same time, I mean, doing your laundry. . .you’re learning. It’s a life lesson, so, good to learn now rather than later. . . more conversations > first session \| second session