junior program summer site : conversations : first session



	Saransh from Hong Kong (7/13) In his off time, Saransh enjoys skateboarding and just hanging out with friends. While at Explo, he has started building a hovercraft and is learning the tricks to surviving in the wild. What did you do today? Today was trip day so I went to this art museum. We got to see sculptures and we had awesome people showing us around. So we had a lot of fun and got to see a lot of art. We played "Sculpture Bingo," so we had to find different sculptures and write them down. Then we got to go to the gift shop as well. I got something for my sister. It was lots of fun. And what did you do the day before? Yesterday I went to Canobie Lake with all of my friends. I got to go on all of the rides, which is pretty awesome. I got to go on the Yankee Cannonball and the Corkscrew. They were really cool. Had you ever been there before? No, this was my first time ever. What classes are you taking? I'm taking “Hovercraft Heroics,” which is taught by Candido, and I also take a wilderness survival class called “Get Out Alive!” with Aleah. Tell me more about those. So in wilderness survival we've been learning how to purify water and how you would survive in the wilderness. In hovercraft physics, we're building an actual hovercraft that really works and we'll be able to sit on it and drive it through obstacle courses. What goes into making a hovercraft? Well, first you need a bag to attach to the bottom. Once you've done that, you have to get a force to push through it, and we put little holes in the bag, so the pressure coming out will make the hovercraft rise and float. Is that something you've ever done before? No, it's totally new. My group has four people and we work really well as a team. It's a really new experience for me. And what have you been up to in your wilderness survival class? Well, to purify water we made a filter using coal, sand, and cotton. Then we collected water from the grass and from puddles and from trees. We found out that collecting water from grass is the most effective way. We would use clothes and socks to soak up the water and then we'd wring it out into a water bottle. We then used our filters to purify it. Then we used purifying tablets. After that Aleah actually drank the water, and that was pretty cool. Do you think classes at Explo are different from classes at home? Yeah. The biggest difference is fun. You have so much fun at Explo, you want to come every year. School is just like an everyday thing, but Explo is out of the ordinary. What has your experience as a first-year, residential student been like? Well, it's amazing. I mean, I've never experienced anything like it. I get to meet so many new people and experience so many new activities, I feel like I'm getting so much out of it. Plus, it's easy to meet people. Everyone is so nice and friendly here. People will come up and talk to you -- it's just amazing. My hall is cool too. My RA's are Damon and Brandon and they're really sporty as well. The best part is there is another living group of boys the same age as us and our RA's are really nice and let us hang out all the time. We play Capture the Flag with them and stuff. If you could describe Explo in one word, what do you think that would be? “Awesomified.” I know there has to be a story behind that word . . . Yeah, so basically there was a weekly survey, and we had to vote whether Explo was more “funiful” or “awesomified” . . . and “awesomified” won. I mean, Explo is just amazing. Is there any one thing you're really looking forward to? Just getting to know everybody at Explo, and especially the staff 'cause they seem really really nice. If Explo were a dessert, what would it be and what would it be made of? It would be the most colorful dessert, the most tall dessert, the most full dessert . . . it would be like that because everyone at Explo is so great. It's so fun to get to know everyone and it's so fun to get to know everyone. more conversations > first session \| second session