Aurelyen returns to Explo at Wellesley for his second summer. Now entering ninth grade, he's a Student Ambassador on campus and works hard to make his peers feel comfortable and welcome.
This is my second time at Explo, and so far the session is very different but also very similar. Every year, there are completely new people, but every year it's also still such a great experience. We're already halfway through, but I look forward to hanging with my SBFs (Super Best Friends) and making new ones. Like, one of my best friends here I met at registration. I just went up to him and said hi because he seemed like a cool guy, and after talking we realized we were both French — but he lives in China — and, well, he's a really nice man. We've been close ever since and are in a lot of the same workshops and trips.
In my debate class, there's people from everywhere. We use improv to learn how to be at ease with each other, how to be organized and read the situation. At Explo, everyone becomes comfortable with each other very quickly, too. Some people can feel homesick after just a few days — I remember last year, there was a student who was crying on Arrival Day because he didn't want to leave his parents. By the end of the three weeks, he was crying because he didn't want to leave Explo.
Liam Brooks