senior program summer site : conversations : first session



	daniel from florida (7/19) Daniel is a rising sophomore from Florida. This is his second summer at Explo, and his first at the Senior Program. He enjoys physics, mythology, philosophy, and tossing a baseball with friends. What is your first course and how has it been going? My first course is mythology with Devin. Basically, we first defined what a myth was and then we explored different types of myths and how they can change over time. Finally, we concluded with modern myths and urban legends. On our last day of class today we wrote our own Explo myths and presented them to the class. Mine was about the Explo dragon. What attracts you to myths? The large variety of them, and how it sort of makes them more intriguing that they don’t all fit together. Do you have a favorite myth? My favorite myth . . . is probably King Arthur and Sir Lancelot--no, the Trojan War! I’m attracted to the Trojan War because there are so many characters, a lot of drama, and so many events occur over the ten years of the war. And what about your second course? My second course is gender studies. We learn about the differences between the genders and whether these differences between genders should exist. We learn the difference between gender and sex . . . the inequality between genders in specific categories such as religion, sports, relationships, etc. We also learned about the “American gender binary system”. There are two genders, but then how do the other different types of genders fit in -- such as homosexuals, bisexuals, etc.? Are these topics you’re thinking of pursuing in college? No, I don’t think so. So then how did you pick the classes you took? Roulette. Really? No [laughs]. I just really thought mythology and gender studies were what I’m interested in -- after all, I am attracted to myths and I wanted to learn about genders. But I don’t think I’ll pursue a career in subjects such as these. What about your first mini-course? My first was philosophy of physics, which was taught by John. Basically, philosophy and physics are completely different subjects: philosophy is more English history and physics is a science. But philosophy of physics is actually taught at Yale, where John took it, and by using philosophy we basically examined the broad points in physics that cannot be explained currently through science: quantum mechanics, general relativity, special relativity . . . we also explored paradoxes and Schroedinger’s Cat. Do you have a favorite area? Probably quantum mechanics because there’s still much to be learned that hasn’t been discovered yet. Is there any specific thing you’ll take away from that course, maybe one fact you’ll always remember? I will remember everything that I learned in that class. It was that interesting. What type of learning environment was the class? There was a lot of class input since it is a philosophy class. What about your second mini-course? My second was baseball. We started off baseball with base-running drills, then switched to catching and throwing and eventually hitting. For the final days we used those skills to play whiffleball out on the quad. Have you played baseball before? When I was little, I played t-ball and baseball but most of my skills had been forgotten. What other sports do you play? I swim and I row. I’m making a transition from swimming into rowing actually. So did you take advantage of the gym much? Well, I used the rowing machines but not the actual boat. What I did take advantage of were the squash courts. I played squash multiple days during activity period and it was a blast. Did you have a favorite main event? Probably the hypnotist, because it was endless enjoyment. There was never a point where people stopped laughing. The hypnotist called on random people from the crowd, mainly seniors, and took a minute to actually hypnotize them by getting into their minds. They were basically under his control for the whole show. They would do whatever he said, whenever he said, so there were some pretty awkward and funny moments. And did you have a favorite trip? My favorite was paintball. I’ve never gone paintballing before . . . wait, my favorite trip was definitely white water rafting. I’ve never even gone rafting before – we don’t have a good place for that where I am in Florida – so it was great and we had a level of suspense because of the danger of the rocks. What type of advice would you give to someone coming to Explo for the first time? Be outgoing. Within the first week meet as many people as you can. You’ll talk to a lot of these people over the course of the year and be very excited to see them next year. How is the Senior Program different from the Intermediate? There is more freedom. The activities and main events are optional, so if you’re not a fan of, let’s say, dancing or watching an improv show, you do not have to show up. You can just hang out and talk to people on the quad. Do you find it difficult to make friends at all? It’s surprisingly easy. I’m friends with a lot of people from my classes, and I normally will play some sports with others and when it’s over we’ll introduce ourselves. We always ask what their names are and where they’re from -- it’s very important. It’s also very important to remember everyone’s names. How do you remember all the names? Do you have a trick? I have a very good memory. What’s your favorite thing about your living situation? There’s a common lounge for everyone. Also, the suite living rooms are pretty fun to hang out in. They’re spacious, whereas last year [at the Intermediate Program] you could not fit the whole living group in one room. Do you think being on a college campus makes you think about college more? Yes. I had considered some colleges, but after the college fair I actually went online and looked up different ones. The college fair definitely sparked my interest. Is there a specific college you’re looking into? MIT. I’ll be going on some college trips next session. What does Exploration mean to you? It means its name. It’s a chance to explore new places that you’ve never explored before, and it’s an experience that will open many doors for you. more conversations > first session \| second session