Explo at Yale: Jackie from Maryland

How did you like your first year of high school?
High school is pretty good. Not hard or anything like that. I love my English classes and my art classes. In English we read books like Of Mice and Men, and we did that Shakespeare play As You Like It. And I love graphic design.

What courses are you taking here at Explo?
At Explo, I'm taking Photography with Melissa — I love that class — and Graphic Design with Nathan. And my afternoon workshop is Science of Art with Courtney. Last week, I was in Cake Decorating. Shutterbug [Photography] is really fun. We got to walk around and shoot the campus, and develop our own pictures. Graphic Design is a lot of our own imagination. Nathan doesn't walk around and look over our shoulders — he lets us be creative, which is great. And Science of Art is great because it mixes two of my favorite subjects. I've taken photography classes before, but I like the way classes are here more. The only thing I wish is that we could take four classes a day instead of just three. I know it's not possible with the schedule, but it was sad to have to stop one of the workshops. All the classes have been so fun.

Do you think you want to study art in college?
I think I want art to be part of my college experience, but my mom has taught me that it isn't something I could major in. It is hard to be successful in that world. If I could do it as a career, I totally would. I don't really know what I want to study yet though.

You still have time to figure it out. How has your time here been overall?
Overall, I love it. It's been do fun. I did a program before this one that was 10 days and nothing like this. At all! First, we get to stay on the Yale campus, which is absolutely gorgeous. Amazing, by itself. And we get to take courses, and walk the routes that college students do. I definitely feel that Explo has prepared me for college life. I've become dependent on myself. Like laundry... My mom and I had "Laundry Power Hour" where she taught me how to do laundry.

Haha! Well, now you know, and it is a great skill to have! Do you think Explo is like high school?
Explo is different from high school in every way possible. Well, first off, there are only three classes a day. But my classes are a lot smaller than my high school classes, so there is a lot of one-on-one time. You really have to rely on yourself to set alarms, get to places on time, manage your time well. It was a great experience. I love it here a lot. Explo is a lot better than high school [laughs]. I thought Explo was going to be a lot more restricted and strict. I didn't think we would have free time. But we get to go and get food, go shopping, and hang out. In my free time, me and my friends from my living group, we go eat [laughs]. Don't get me wrong — we love Commons. But sometimes it's nice to get out and try the food around campus. I like Atticus Cafe and Starbucks. Oh wait, once my whole living group really wanted sushi. The sushi place on Chapel Street is out of bounds and they don't deliver. So we ordered this huge order — like so much sushi — and then we called them and asked it to bring it to the outside of the restaurant so we could stay in bounds [laughs]. But we got our sushi!

Did you find it easy to make friends?
Oh yeah. Everyone here is in that same mindset — you can walk up to someone and just be like "Hi, what's your name?" and it is never awkward. And I love my living group [laughs]. They are great; so funny. All my teachers have been great. They are so much fun. It is so easy to connect with them — they are so understanding and encouraging. And my RAs are amazing. I couldn't have asked for better RAs.

That's wonderful! What trips did you go on?
The first week, I did paintball, and then I saw The Lion King. It was my first time seeing a Broadway show. It was so exciting and cool. It was actually my first time on Broadway, which is funny because I've been to New York before. It's very busy! And then last week I saw Cirque du Soleil, which was so cool. I wanted to do Paintball again, but I didn't get it [laughs]. I went to the beach. It was so nice and warm and relaxing.

What has been your favorite part of your Explo summer?
Hm...geez... I don't have a favorite part. Seriously. The whole program has just been amazing. Just, overwhelmingly awesome. I love it here a lot. I am really going to miss all the people. I love the courses and everything, but just all the people I met. Like, I don't know if you heard that group of girls screaming "Suzy" earlier — that's my living group. One girl in our group got sick, and she is from Italy, but her family was staying here and she went to stay with them. She just got back today and I am so excited to see her again. I just really love it here. I am going to miss all of it! It was so great, I might come back next year.