Returning for her second summer at Explo, Samira shares why the diversity, culture, and encouragement to explore at Explo have inspired two future career paths.
Something you might not know about me from just looking at me is that I’m half Egyptian. One of the reasons why I love Explo is that people come here from all over the world. I haven’t met anyone from Egypt yet, but I’ve already made friends from countries like Israel and Lebanon and pretty much all over. Explo is so much more diverse than where I’m from, so coming here and talking to people from all over the world is kind of like experiencing my very own version of the United Nations every single day. You have people from every corner of the world and you get to discuss, debate, and have conversations with people whose perspectives are unlike the people you know back home.
This is my first year at Wellesley, but I was at Wheaton last year. This summer, I’m taking courses in Model United Nations and Exploratory Robotics. I’ve done Mock Trial in the past, and taking all of these courses while being at Explo has helped me find my ideal dream job, which is to become an international lawyer at the United Nations. But I’ve also always thought that I could do really well as an engineer, so I’m trying out both of those this summer to see which one I fit with better! I’m thankful that Explo encourages you to take two things that are completely different from each other, so you can eventually see which one you’re more pulled towards. I know that Explo is going to help me narrow down my choices because it lets you try out so many different options.
My one piece of advice to others coming to Explo for the first time would be to not be afraid of coming here and to try things that you haven’t tried before. It’s really easy to make friends! You’ll learn so much from the classes, but even more from the people.
Jaryd Frankel