junior program summer site : conversations : first session



	Vanessa from Florida (7/7) Going into 7th grade, it's Vanessa's first summer at Explo. While at first she was a little nervous about going so far away from home, everything has been "cool." So what were this weekend's trips like? I went to the Flying Trapeze and the Stone Zoo. The Flying Trapeze was kind of scary, because it was like three stories high and it was just this bar. You had to stand at the edge and they would swing you off. I tried to do a flip but it didn't really work out. It was a lot of fun, though. I'd never done something like that before. And what was the Stone Zoo like? It was cool. We got to pet a goat. We also were able to see some wolves and foxes. What classes are you taking? I'm taking “Get Out Alive!” and “Garage Band.” They're both really cool. “Get Out Alive” is like a wilderness survival type class. Right now we're role-playing a situation where we're supposedly stuck out in a desert, and we have to get water and purify it. How do you do that? Well, last class we went outside and collected the water from some grass and some bubbles. Before that, we'd made a filter out of some tubes and other stuff that we used to purify it. And what's “Garage Band” like? It's cool. We have to make a song with rhythm and beats with this program. At the end we'll all have our own song. So what makes Explo classes different from the classes at school? There's different stuff at Explo too. There's a lot of fun stuff that we get to do. What are the teachers like? They're really nice and they help you a lot. They can explain everything in the classes to you, and if you need help they can always just answer your questions. What would you say is the one thing you're most excited about for the summer? I like meeting new people. It was pretty easy meeting people, even as a new student. I'm on a really cool hall and I like my hall-mates. I've also met some cool people in my classes. What about your RA's? They're really nice. Maria is from Brazil and she's really nice and she's someone I can talk to. Karin is awesome too. She's cool. They're both people I can talk to really easily. If you had a friend who was thinking about coming to Explo, what would you tell them? I would tell them that if you really want to get out there and try something new, that you should do it. I was a little nervous at first because I'd never been so far away from home before, but it's been really cool. If Explo were an ice cream sundae, what would it be made of and what would be in it? I think the ice cream would be the staff members. Which is like, one flavor. And all the toppings would be the students, because there are so many people coming from so many places. more conversations > first session \| second session