Christian is a rising senior who is all fired up after his experience here at Explo and is ready to take on the world of politics – as our future commander-in-chief!
I play baseball, so I’m actually looking at a lot of schools for baseball. I came here to kind of get a chance to look around Yale a little bit more. I was recruited by Yale, so it’s good to get a little feel for the school.
I actually came here specifically to level my political field. I want to be the president one day. One of the main things that I wanted to do was to debate against people from all over the world and Explo definitely did that for me.
I take [the courses] Political Activism and Criminal Justice. I want to major in law before I go into the political field. I’ve gotten a sense for what it’s like to be a lawyer: to learn the vocabulary, what it’s like to prosecute somebody, and the steps it takes to become a lawyer.
My first class is Politics and Activism and that’s by far one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. Getting to know other people’s opinions and politics and hearing them — what they feel — it’s amazing. If you’re from Illinois, you know, you don’t really get to see the political views of somebody from the Netherlands. I think it’s cool to see that everybody [here] knows a little bit about the United States' political system: who’s running for president and who is president right now. We debate non-stop; every day, so you really get to dig in and see everyone’s feelings. You also get to see what they think about what America should do. It’s cool that I get to learn a lot about the world and how everybody needs to come together.
I came here, and you know, I’m very open; I’m a happy, smiley person, and so I wanted to kind of meet everyone the best I can. I’m not going to meet all 600 people but I could definitely meet and get to know at least half of them: showing people that I care about them and they care about me. It’s just so cool to see where everybody’s from.
I’ve developed really close relationships with the people I’ve met. I have my roommate from the Netherlands; I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate. He’s just amazing. I also met a guy from Texas who’s into sports, too. We connect on sports but I’m also friends with people from the political science course.
I think that this trip, this program, for me, it really symbolizes the start for me. I really want to go into politics one day and be the leader of the country. Back home, I’m kind of a baseball player and that’s what I specialize in; that’s what I put all my time into. But I didn’t really know if I wanted to go into politics. Here [at Explo], I come away from this and I really, really, really want to be president of the United States! So that’s what this did for me. That’s what’s meant for me. I feel like I learned a lot but I also realized what it means to debate against some of the brightest people in the world. I mean these kids here are so smart.
This kid right here [Explo student approaches]; he’s probably one of the best debaters I’ve ever debated in my life. He’s in my political activism class and we argue all the time about stuff. But it’s fun! Just to hear people’s minds and really debate. I have a love for it now. I really, really want to be a global leader now and lead this country and take in everyone’s opinions.
I went [on an Explo weekend trip] to Washington D.C. and I saw where the inauguration takes place — the steps that the president-to-be walks down – That’s my dream, right there. This was the second time I’ve been there and it was a different feel for me; it really sunk in that I really want to do this. That’s what I want to do with my life. That’s my dream. Explo’s allowing me to do that so I’m really thankful for that. When I came, I didn’t know what to expect. I came not knowing that I was going to come back all fired up, with my dream ready to go — to start my political career. As I leave, it’s probably the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. Besides all my baseball stuff and where that’s taken me in my life, but this is something that symbolizes that big moment in my life.
I have to choose a college soon when I get back because I’m a senior, and for baseball I have to choose soon. But apart from that, I didn’t know if I wanted to do law or go into the medical field. But, after Explo, I’m pretty locked up in law as a major. I’m very certain now, what I want to do in college and after that.
Julie Trahon