Now that the first session is coming to an end, there are a lot of good memories to look back on. Read what makes Annabelle not want to forget a single moment.
Explo is amazing! I was so excited to come and it’s so different from how I imagined — yet in most ways, even better. I didn’t imagine the campus to be this big and this pretty. When I came here, I was almost in shock because it was so beautiful. The way people are and the way things are run and how much they manage to really pack it all into a day is amazing.
I have my two courses in the morning, which are Fashion Design and Robotics, and then we have lunch. After lunch we do our workshops, which for me this week is Zumba. Then after that we have recreational activities or Community Meeting. Then there’s dinner and clubs and leagues and then the Main Event. So by the time I get to bed, usually about ten, I am just absolutely exhausted. My favorite part of the day changes every day. Sometimes the Main Event is really fun. Like last night was Cruise Night and it was amazing. On other days, if something goes really well in the courses — like for example, yesterday I managed to get the claw on our robot to work — then that also becomes a highlight of the day. There’s usually quite a few highlights, actually.
Now that the session is coming to an end, I’m really excited to see my parents, of course, but I’m really sad to be leaving all my friends. I feel almost as comfortable with them as I do with my school friends who I’ve known for three or four years now, despite the fact that I’ve only been with my Explo friends for a couple of weeks. We end up knowing each other really well because we spend so much time together. I hope that we’ll be able to keep in touch. And definitely next year, if we all come again, we will find some way to stay friends. They are just such nice people. I really hope to come again next year because I’ve had such an amazing time.
If I had to convince my parents to let me come another summer, I would just tell them how many friends I’ve made and how many things I’ve learned. I’ve learned not just the normal things but things that you wouldn’t learn usually. In school, you learn all the normal things, like dates in history and formulas in maths, but here you learn things that feel like hobbies but are actually teaching you something. In school, you have to live up to standards and there’s so much more work. You’re more stressed about things because you have to get things done by a certain time. But here, if you want to spend some extra time out of class because you’re enjoying it then you can, but you don’t have to. Here, you can choose what you want to do and how hard you’re willing to work. It’s all up to you. I really like the autonomy. It’s taught me that I can work hard even when I don’t really have to.
I hope I don’t forget any of the moments I’ve had here. That always seems to be the way. You always seem to remember it all at the time and then a year later, you can’t remember it all. I just hope I remember every moment.
Ally Marcino