senior program summer site : conversations : first session



	veronica from puerto rico (7/4) Veronica is entering the eleventh grade and is from Puerto Rico. It’s her first time at Explo, and she hopes her experience here will better prepare her for college and allow her to make many new friends. What is your first course and what did you do in it yesterday? Print journalism. We were picking out themes to write an article. Everyone was giving ideas and tomorrow we are picking the theme. . .and then we have to write it! My idea was how difference at Explo is going to help you in the future. Not only with your classes but with meeting new people and learning about their cultures. What about your second course? Advertising and marketing. We were looking at different types of commercials and comparing them. We were divided into groups and we had to make our own commercial. Our teacher gave us a product, ours was dog food, and we had to sell the commercial to the rest of the class. There were four people in my group, and one was the dog. Our dog food had a name. It was Italian because one of the girls was Italian, but I don’t remember it right now. [laughs] What are you taking for afternoon academics? I am taking Latin Dancing this week, and next week Glass Painting. Latin Dancing is awesome, the thing is, some of my friends and I are from Puerto Rico and know some of the steps. . .but it’s really awesome, because we get to learn new stuff. Like the rumba. I’ve never done rumba, and that’s what they taught us today. We are also doing salsa, merengue, and tomorrow we are doing cha-cha. My favorite is the merengue. Did you go to the speaker series yesterday, or did you go on a college trip? I went to the speaker series, the one with Mohammed. It was really good because he did rapping. It was a fun way to keep us alert, and he laughed a lot, so that was funny. He talked about diversity and how you shouldn’t be judgmental. He took two different people, a guy from Greece and a girl from New Jersey, and they had to go in front and pretend they were in an airport and had to talk. What did you take away from speaker series? The thing about not being judgmental before you know somebody just because of their looks. . .because there are a lot of different people here, but once you get to know them they are all awesome. Do you have a favorite main event so far? I loved the carnival main event, it was awesome. There was cotton candy, inflatables, and music. Everyone was at it. And there was really good music. . .and different types, like techno. Are you going to the main event tonight? Yes, I am dressing up 80’s style for the 80’s cover band. I’ve heard a lot of 80’s music because of my parents and brother. I don’t have a lot of 80’s clothes, though. So it will be interesting. Maybe I can come up with something. Have you been encouraged to try something new at Explo? Yes, it’s taught me to approach people. . .how to meet them. . .and to try to meet everyone. And to try new things. Like the activities: there are games I never thought I would play, like flag football. I usually like to watch baseball, but I actually tried that. What do you think of the food? The food is great. There are so many little restaurants, too. What is your favorite thing about living in the suites at Yale? The dorms and the living group time. You have time at night; you get to tell everyone what you did and what happened that day. I have met a lot of friends that way. I have five friends from Puerto Rico here. We are all meeting new people, though. Sometimes they hang out with us, other times we hang out with new people. I’m pretty social, so it makes it easy. What were you expecting when you came to Explo? I was expecting -- from the classes I’m taking -- to decide which subject I would like more for college, and to see if it’s the path I want to study. I’m thinking advertising and marketing. What does Exploration mean to you? For me, it’s finding new ways to study and learn about different things. Also to learn about different cultures, different people, and the different things you can do that you didn’t know you could do. What is your favorite thing about your living group? My living group is all so nice. I’ve never had a roommate that is American. They are all so nice and fun and social. One is from New Jersey and the other is from Connecticut. We feel like we have been here for like three weeks already! What advice would you give someone coming to Explo for the first time? That they should do it! They should try it because it’s an unforgettable experience they will love. I love the people I have met. more conversations > first session \| second session