senior program summer site : conversations : second session



	nikhil from california (8/7) Nikhil is a day student. He's from California but is staying with relatives in the area. It's his first year at Explo and he'll be going into the 11th grade. He's having a great time in his law course and finds that his experience at the Senior Program has made him more open and social. So, you're from California but you're a day student here? Yeah, everybody asks me that. I came here and I have an uncle that lives in the area. We usually come every summer to visit them, but I saw some courses at Brown University . . . and then my aunt actually recommended this Program to me, because she knew they were having some daily programs on the Yale campus. So I signed up. I thought it would be cool. My uncle is able to drop me off here every day, so it works well. How do you like being a day student? It's cool because sometimes, if you want to use the gym or the Student Activity Center or whatever, you can just stay as late as you want. Like, I can stay with my family and also get a lot of the residential experience. As a day student, do you find it difficult to meet people here? As soon as, like, classes start and stuff, you're basically not a day student anymore . . . because in the classroom, everyone's pretty much the same. So I've made a lot of friends in class. Is there a day student group here? Yeah, it's like a living group. What's your favorite thing about your day group? I think we're just all pretty laid back. Like, during the meetings no one's telling you what to do. Usually, right before the meeting I play chess with another student and we kind of just hang out there. We meet with the RA's; I know them well -- Kit, Hannah, and Brandon -- so we all hang out. Of your courses, do you have a favorite? I think my law course, "Law, Controversy, + the Constitution". We just had a mock or moot court, so we took up positions of lawyers on a particular topic. We argued back and forth and the court decided who the winner of the debate was. It was just really fun. I learned a lot in that course. I think that's why I liked it most. Can you tell me details about the case? Yeah, it was called "Morse v. Frederick". It's a student rights case, and everyone's a student here, so I felt it on a personal level, kind of. I like to believe that I have more rights than I actually do, so I kind of wanted to fight for that, so I chose the side of the student. It's a case where there was a student in Alaska who, during the Olympic relay torch event, held up a sign that said "Bong hits for Jesus". So the school administrator came and immediately suspended him. The main arguments were, well: was school in session? was his symbolic political speech protected under the Constitution? And did the school administrator have the right to punish him? It was a real case, and the Supreme Court actually decided against the student . . . so they went for the school. But in our case, the student side argued well enough to get the Supreme Court's vote. Congratulations. So, for the last couple of days, is there anything else big coming up in the course? Well, the moot court was basically the main event and that happened yesterday, but on Friday we're going to actually call the White House, I think. And tomorrow we're trying to fix the Constitution, see if there's any improvements we could have made to make it more universally protective and not, like, maybe favoring certain groups. Why are you calling the White House? I don't know actually. The teacher hasn't actually explained it too much. There are only actually six students in that class, so it's kind of a tight knit little group. When we asked what we were going to do on Friday, he said, "Oh, we're going to call the White House," so I was like, "Wow, okay." So we don't know much about it, but it sounds like something pretty cool, even though Bush is in Asia right now. Do you participate in activities during activity hour? I played in the staff vs. student football game. I like to play sports a lot, so for staff vs. student sport games I like to take part. . . but other than that, I don't do too many activities, because for most of open hour and activity hour I'm either in the gym or in the Student Activity Center. I like to go to the gym. I like to play basketball a lot, and the courts there are really nice. And what do you think of the campus and the area? Oh yeah, it's so nice. When I first came here, the thing I really savored first was kind of the freedom I had. I mean, I knew there was a little residential area right here -- everybody slept here, this is where the morning started and where the entire day ended, so you can kind of feel like this is the home base for the entire Program -- but during the afternoon you're allowed to go into town or do whatever you want, basically. I really savored that freedom from the beginning, because it felt kind of like a college life, without parents or anything. Is this the first taste of that freedom you've had? Actually, this is the first program that I've actually been on my own. I've spent time away from my parents, but not for the entire day really. It's pretty nice, you're kind of on your own. Do you think it's preparing you more for college? Yeah, that's what I first felt. Like, "This is what college is going to be like." Especially after staying in a dorm the first time I slept over. I was like, "Okay, if I go to Yale, possibly, this is the kind of life I'm going to be living," so I can kind of relate that to any college I go to, I guess. What will you miss most about Explo? I think, again, it'll be kind of the freedom I have. Once you go home, once you go to school, it's a lot more constricted. It'll be kind of the same thing, I guess -- going to classes and I'll be with my friends from home -- but here it was kind of like everyone was a lot more open, a little more friendly than back home. I think it's because everyone's at Explo and everybody kind of wants to make friends with you, so it was nice to be able to say hi to people you don't know. Do you think you'll start doing that more at home? Yeah, I was just thinking that, you know. I've come here and I've just opened up more. I've started to care less about how I'm viewed, I guess, and more about how I view others. I want to be more friendly, more social when I go back. And if you were an animal, what would you be? I'd be a cheetah. I like to run fast. That's the first thing I thought of when I was a little kid. I always wanted to be a cheetah and that stands true to this day. more conversations > first session \| second session