In her sixth summer at Explo, Mei Mei is perfecting a recipe for her most remarkable summer yet. As an aspiring child psychologist (who bakes scrumptious cheesecakes in her spare time), Mei Mei is using the skills she's learning inside and outside of the classroom at Explo to learn more about herself and her peers.
How did I start cooking? Well, before I could bake, I was an artist. But I was making so much artwork that I started to run out of space in my house for all the art that I've made, so I started to bake to channel my creativity in another way. In baking, you have that satisfaction when someone bites into a cupcake and you just see that happiness light up their face, it's really incredible. I think that's definitely going to happen in my Cupcake Challenges course, because right now, we're cooking almost 500 cupcakes for a secret surprise at Explosé! It's going to be amazing.
I keep coming back to Explo because, to be honest, this is my favorite place in the world to be. Out of 52 weeks in a year, the weeks that I'm at Explo are my favorite three. It's just a place I've always been welcomed and a place where I've always welcomed other people to do whatever you want to. I've been able to pick classes and switch them if I decided I wanted to try something new and completely different. It's very easy to choose what you want to do and really be yourself at this program.
Explo is different from school because at school, you have a certain curriculum where you have to do specific lessons. It's a very long day and you don't have breaks so you're just exhausted by the end of it. Here, we have our courses, then a short hangout and lunch. We also have workshops, activities, chill time, and more free time around dinner, so you're always switching up what you're doing; no day is never the same.
When I grow up, I want to be a child psychologist and train service dogs. The environment at Explo has helped me really connect with people and talk with them about any problems they're having. I've noticed over the years, more and more of my friends will come to me as a mediator when they have problems with friends or problems at home, and I'm able to help them a lot.
If I could give a piece of advice to anyone about what to do when they're having a hard day, I'd tell them to try to use baking as an outlet for how they're feeling (but don't angry- or stress-bake!). And also, I'd want them to know that you don't always have to give an opinion to people. Sometimes, just being there to listen by nodding your head, smiling, or giving somebody a hug can be exactly what people need. You're not always there to solve the problem, but you can definitely always be there to listen to it.
Jaryd Frankel