senior program summer site : conversations : first session



	paige from new jersey (7/14) Paige is a rising senior enjoying her first summer at Explo. She enjoys sports medicine, business, and discussing media-related topics. What is your first course and how is it going? Sports medicine with Maria. I really like it . . . it’s a lot of fun. We learn a lot about the muscles and do a lot of fun activities. Have you ever taken a sports medicine class before? I haven’t, but I actually work at a gym, so I’m interested and know a lot about it, but it’s my first class. I like learning about the muscles and how they work and the different things you can do to fix them. I actually had Achilles Tendonitis from lacrosse, so that’s kind of why I got more interested in it. Would you be interested in going to college for sports medicine? Yeah, I’m actually thinking about going to college for either sports medicine or business, which is my second class. Tell me more about your business course. Sure, my business course is with Steve and I really like it. Every week we have a project to work on. We have to work as a group using different business tactics to figure it out, so it’s a lot of hands-on stuff. What was your last business project on? We had to write a press release about Britney Spears, about her being rehabilitated and getting her back into positive media. It was a challenge. It was fictional, we had to make everything up, and the twist was she went into a relapse two days before the press release, so we had to address that or not address that. How are you going to decide between sports medicine and business? I’m not really sure; I really wanted to do Explo to help me figure it out. I’m kind of, as of now, leaning towards business. What is it about business that attracts you? I like the public relations part of business. What about your mini-course? I just finished “Body Image”. That was interesting, it’s about a lot of stuff you might already know about, but more looking into the media aspect of it and comparing things. We compared GI Joes and Barbies from the 1960’s to what they look like now, and you can see huge differences. In the 1960’s they were fully clothed. The GI Joes especially didn’t have weapons on them, but now it’s like totally muscular, weapons everywhere, and huge machine guns. That’s interesting, what other topics have you discussed? You know, that the media has a huge influence and that everyone in Hollywood is skinny and not always doing it the healthy way. It really puts preasure on kids in school, but they really look up to people in the media. I think it’s unfortunate the media portrays people that way, and that they airbrush everything out. I think when they make advertisements they shouldn’t make them fake. There are, of course, skinny people out there . . . but I think people just need to learn who should be their role models and who shouldn’t. What about your new mini-course? “Sibling Psychology”. I really like it so far. I did it because I have three sisters, two older and one younger. It’s learning about how we interact. What trips have you been on so far? Last weekend I went to Chicago and Spamalot, both Broadway shows. They were fun. Chicago was a musical, but Spamalot was really funny and Drew Lachey was in it. I liked Spamalot best. We also walked around Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan. There were vendors and little stores; I did a lot of window-shopping. What is your favorite thing about your suitemates? I think I got so lucky, all my suitemates and living group are, like, best friends; it feels like we have known each other forever. My very favorite thing is that we all go out together. Like, the 80’s concert band, we all dressed up as a group and went and had a great time. So I think it’s how we interact and do everything together. What advice would you give someone coming to Explo for the first time? I would tell them that before I came I was really nervous about everything . . . but I would tell them not to worry: you meet some awesome people. There are so many people from different countries . . . really take advantage of learning from them and their cultures and lifestyles. If Explo was a kitchen appliance what would it be and why? Explo would be a blender. There’s just everyone with completely different personalities, from different countries and lifestyles . . . but they all come together, and you really find you have a lot in common even when there’s so much difference between you all. more conversations > first session \| second session