senior program summer site : conversations : second session



	kevin from new york (8/9) Kevin, a 10th grader, is originally from Taiwan but lives in New York. It's his second year at Explo but first at the Senior Program, and he's been here for both sessions. He was initially nervous that second session couldn't be as good as first session, but quickly realized that wouldn't be the case. It's the last day, so tell me, how were your six weeks at Explo? My six weeks at Explo were phenomenal. Both sessions had different stories overall and I enjoyed all of them, especially this session. Had you done a double session before? Yeah, my first year at Explo I did two sessions at the Intermediate Program. What was it like to come from that Program to the Senior Program? It's different. We have more freedom and time here. Our boundaries overall are a lot bigger, but you still feel the same bonding between people. Who did you bond with most? Mostly my living group, especially in the second session -- though in the first session it was more through class or through mutual friends. What is it about your living group this session that you like so much? The living group I'm in is the best. We have a lot of what we call "bro time" where you sit down and talk about the stories of that day or night. Normally it involves what happened throughout the day or during main events . . . and we'll sit down for hours and hours and just talk about how we should handle the next day and everything. Do you have a lot of international kids in your group? I'm one of the four Asians in my living group, and we're proud of that. But we all live in the United States, so we're not technically international, but we say we're like lost family. Did you like doing the double session thing? For me, at the beginning of second session I thought that it could never be as good as the first one, but I changed my mind as it went on. I basically thought the bonding was even better than the first session. Out of all the courses you had, are there any that stood out in particular? I enjoyed hip-hop dance. I'm in Kit's hip-hop class; I'm the only guy in that class, which can be good or bad. I think that this session [being the only guy] made it really good. There's a few solos that I get to do and it feels good to be the center of attention, I guess. Kit's a really good teacher. He makes us learn one big, long routine in like two days, and normally we don't get it right away but with practice we get it. He always tells us to just keep trying and one day right before the show at Explopalooza, we'll get it. Are you excited for that? Yeah. Nervous? Uh, I've been on that stage before for the talent show both sessions and Explopalooza last session, so I'm feeling a little calmer than most of my classmates. My friends say it seems like I've been dancing for years and years, but I've only been dancing for less than a year actually. Were there any trips that you loved? I had a trip, whitewater rafting, which stood out the most. It was a new experience for me, and I felt a lot of bonding between people I didn't know. It seemed like you're on a boat and everyone on the boat has to fight to survive the extreme river, so you need everyone's help to pass through each level. I just felt that we trusted each other even though we didn't all know each other to start with. That was what made me feel that there's always bonding and a good experience between all these different types of kids. We bond together even though we don't know each other. How does it feel being on the Yale campus? Yale is a pretty famous college, so being at a college like this, I feel pretty fortunate. What advice would you give someone coming to Explo for the first time? Step out of your safety circle and enjoy the time of being together with people you never thought to talk to and people you'd never meet otherwise. What will you miss most about Explo? I'll probably most miss my living group and the people I've met and bonded with throughout my time. I keep in touch with a few from [the Intermediate Program] still and they change, but their personalities don't change and that's what I like about choosing the right people to stick with. If you had to describe Explo as an object, what would it be? It would be the Super Happy Fun Ball. It's a creation of Explo. It's something that's full of water -- like something that's full of happiness and joy and it bounces around just as we bounce between groups and each other. And it's covered with layers and layers of balloons, which means layers of people and friends. So you're surrounded by friends over and over who will make you whole and let you bounce around and be happy. more conversations > first session \| second session