intermediate program summer site : conversations : first session



	vinnie from massachusetts (7/9) Vinnie is a day student and rising 8th grader. He moved to Massachusetts from Italy when he was five but continues to practice and use Italian on a daily basis. He is a track and field star with a 6’27” mile-time. When he’s not on the racetrack, he’s editing videos and hanging out with friends and his brother. What classes are you taking? “Mission to Mars” and “Reporting Live at the Scene”. What are you doing in those classes? "Mission to Mars"...We do a lot of stuff. We blow a lot of stuff up. Well, what did you blow up today? Chocolate. Yeah, we’ve also put flour and cocoa in a big box and then dropped big giant bouncy balls into it. Then, you could take the ball out and see the big crater in it, and then we measured the diameter. Was that supposed to mock something in outer space? Yeah, meteors crashing into Mars. The higher we dropped it, the bigger the crater. What about "Reporting Live at the Scene"? I’m doing sports with Kevin. So far we’ve been writing stuff. What have you been writing? I have the script in my bag, but we have basketball and stuff. We have all the top popular sports, like this curb-ball tournament. Someone’s recording and we'll show clips of it. Have you learned to do anything in the class? Is this something new for you? Uh, no, I have an editing program at home that I’ve used a lot. It's pretty cool just to do. I like editing stuff. What about "Mission to Mars"? What made you choose to take that class? I dunno. I was just interested to learn about Mars. It's way cool, though. Very different from other classes I've had. What mini-course are you taking? I’m doing digital photography and track and field. What are you doing in those? Track and field is pretty much what you'd expect. I just like running, so... Do you run for your school? Yeah, I run a lot. What’s your event? The mile. Why did you choose Explo over other programs? I just told my mom, “I want to go to a summer program.” She asked which one, and I said, "A good one.” So she chose this and then I got to choose what courses I wanted to take online. How have you found meeting people here? Is it easy to make friends? Yeah, it’s really easy. Yeah. Have you met anyone that you can see yourself keeping in touch with -- anyone who's stood out? I’ve met a lot of people named Alex. And a lot of other people, I guess. And then I met these girls from Italy that I was talking to in Italian. And then I met a teacher here that speaks Italian and she didn’t think I could speak Italian and then I spoke Italian, so she gave me twenty E-bucks. So, yeah, that was pretty cool. Do you like the food here? Yeah, it's okay. The sandwiches are really good. Has anything about Explo surprised you? The amount of students that fly over from different countries. This kid came from Australia and I was talking to him. What is something new you want to try at Explo? Oh...um...what was it? It was so fun. I think it's like Israeli dodge ball or something? Oh, Ga Ga? You stand in a circle arena, stand against the walls, hit it around, and it bounces from wall to wall, so it’s harder. If Explo had a mascot, what would it be? Who’s the guy looking for the golden freezie pop [the prize for Explo’s upcoming Film Festival]?...Oh, Cornelius Cornelius, the British guy. more conversations > first session \| second session