Connor decided to become an ambassador to make students feel like home in a heartbeat here at Yale. He danced for hours with a welcome sign greeting everybody who came in. Now it’s his time to be greeted by all of us.
I am Connor, but I usually go by Anders with my friends. And at Explo at Yale, I like to tell people, ‘Hey, don’t call me by my name. Call me any other nickname.’ And I ask everybody to give me a nickname. Whatever they say, that’s the name for me.
One day, I was sitting in my room and my mom walks in. She asked me if I had heard of the Student Ambassador program for Explo. I looked at it and I thought to myself, that is exactly what I want to do. I want to come here. I want to feel like I’m doing something big. If you’re an Ambassador, you care about Explo — you love Explo. It’s definitely going to be an exciting session. I can’t wait for it. I want to help people feel comfortable with themselves. The first time you go to anything new, you’re completely nervous, you don’t know what you’re going to do, or where you’re going to be. And I want to be somebody that people feel like they can walk up to and talk to and they can be friends with. I like being friends with people. I don’t like to see people sad, uncomfortable, or angry.
Yeah, I want to make friends. I wasn’t always the most social person, but here, I can be. I feel comfortable. [Here, you can] Do what ever you want, be what ever you want to be. I don’t have a definite personality. I don’t know what I am like. I don’t know what my self is. My personality changes depending on situations, what my mind decides. Whatever it is, it can be accepted here at Explo. You don’t have to change who you are. Whoever you are, it’s fine here. You’re good.
Mari Armei