EXPLO Senior Interview with Billie from New Jersey

Billie is an articulate, curious student who will be going into eighth grade this fall. This is her first summer at EXPLO, but she enrolled for both sessions. This session, she is taking Mock Trial and Cupcake Challenges, and is currently in the Pilates elective. Billie reflects on her classes, the friends she has made, and the ways in which she has grown since starting EXPLO.

How did you hear about EXPLO?
My mom and her sister came here for many years. My mom came here for three years, I think. My aunt has a couple of best friends that she met at EXPLO, and she still keeps in touch with them. My mom is friends with a couple people on Facebook, and she still hangs out with one of them sometimes.

How did you decide to stay for two sessions?
I figured that if I was coming, I should get the whole experience and meet many different people. There's not much to do at home, and I figured that if I had a good time in Session One, I would definitely have a good time in Session Two. I think it's really cool, because I know people right now that were here last session, but I also am getting to know completely new people, and I feel like we're already best friends.

Have you been able to talk with your mom and aunt about how things are different?
Yeah! I talked to them, and from what I told them, it sounds like we've had pretty similar experiences. I told them how each session is different, but they're better than each other in good and different ways. I am ending up liking them both equally.

What are some of your favorite memories of the summer so far?
I became more open to being really flexible about the trips I've been going on, because it's more about meeting new people and being able to spend time with them. Last week, I went to a planetarium. I didn't think I would like it, but I really did. It kind of opened me up a little bit. Last session, I went to the Museum of Science and on the Duck Tour. I loved the Duck Tour. 

How are your classes at EXPLO different from your classes at school?
At school, they're not that interesting, and they're just normal academics, like math, science, and language arts. But here, I get to really open up and see the possibilities for the future. For example, I really want to be a lawyer, and my Mock Trial class just makes it a lot more fun and exciting. I'm in Cupcake Challenges now and I took Restaurant Management last session, and I don't really want to be a chef, but I know that I'm going to be a good cook when I go home. I memorized a lot of the recipes we did in Restaurant Management so I could make them quickly, so now I know that when I go home and when I get older I'll be able to cook and not burn down the house.

Will you stay in contact with people that you've met at EXPLO?
I've kept in touch with a lot of people from last session. A few people in my old living group were international students, so everyone in the living group got an app so we can all communicate for free. We talk to each other all the time. A couple of them sent me packages. Me and my friend Maddie are going to get together after the program ends, because we live pretty close to each other. I remember the first day of Session 2, I was really upset because I missed them a lot, but it didn't take me very long to realize that I had a lot of potential friends here. They're not alike at all, but it's okay, because I get to be open. I met a lot of new friends. So now I'll be sad next week.

Do you think you'll come back to EXPLO?
Yes, definitely. I'm really excited. I've been here for four weeks already, but it feels like it's been months, in a good way. I feel like if I stay for two sessions next year, it'll feel like I've been going to EXPLO for four years instead of two. That would be cool. I'm excited to eventually go to the Precollege program as well.

How have you grown since you've been here?
When I called my mom last week, she told me how much older I sounded. I just learned how to work by myself. At other camps, I learned to be independent by not living at home, but here, I learned how to be with different friends, and how to do laundry. I also learned how to be responsible by going on trips, and how to be interested in stuff that I didn't think I would be interested in. When I'm here at EXPLO, I try to do things that I wouldn't normally try to do at home. Afterwards, I really wish that they did have those things at home.

If you had to describe EXPLO to someone who has never heard of it before, how would you describe it?
I try to explain it to my friends from school when they ask me what it is and how it's not really a "campy-camp," and I said that it's an extremely fun program, not a camp. I tell my friends that you learn a lot, but it's not in a boring way. You get to do so many fun things. You also kind of get to live up the college experience, with just one roommate instead of ten girls in a bunk. You get to see a lot of people's talents, and how a lot of people are different, but no one is unaccepted that way. It's a comfortable environment. I met many different people who like different things. I met people who dyed their hair or have cool jewelry — it's just so much diversity. It's extremely different, but it's probably the best thing ever.