Victoria is a 16-year-old first-timer here at Explo at Yale, with a sibling at the Explo at St. Mark's program. She's into architecture, both in the course she's taking on the subject and just from experiencing all the historic and beautiful architecture Yale University has to offer.
Is this your first time here?
Yes, it is. We got a flyer in the mail about Explo, so my sister is going to Explo at St. Mark’s, and I’m here.
How cool. I used to work at Explo at St. Mark’s and I loved it. How do you like it here so far?
I really like it. My classes are really interesting, especially my architecture one — it’s so awesome. These past few days have been an introduction to the tools and how to use them. Today, we traced a plan and tomorrow we’re going to draw a plan for a classroom, so I’m really excited about that. I’ve already started thinking about a plan in my head.
What other courses are you taking?
I’m taking Philosophy of Physics and Music Composition. In the music class, we’ve been talking about different instruments, what moods they make you feel when you hear them, and how you can use that information to convey a theme in your song. As for the physics class, it’s very complex. Some of the stuff I don’t understand fully, but it’s about not only physics as a subject, but also philosophy of science. So we discuss things like, should we accept knowledge as it is, or should we always question it — especially science since it’s always evolving. It’s a really interesting course, but the subject is abstract.
Do you play any instruments?
I play the piano. I’ve taken about four years of lessons. Now I just play whatever song I want, now that I can read music.
I’d love to hear you play sometime. What are your favorite courses in school?
I really like math and physics, which is why I’m taking Philosophy of Physics. Compared to regular school, the classes here aren’t so much note-taking sit down courses. Like in Philosophy of Physics, we went outside and played duck-duck-goose as an intro to one of the subjects we were discussing. We also do a lot of group work, which is less common during a normal school day. It’s just a lot more fun.
What hobbies do you like to do?
I like running, as in cross-country and track. I also do theater. For plays at my school, we’ve done Comedy of Errors — we just do one-act festivals every year — and then for musicals we’ve done Anything Goes and Oklahoma. I’ve been involved with acting since the seventh grade, so about three years now.
What kind of activities have you been up to with your free-time here?
Well, I went to see Phunk Phenomenon last night, which was super cool. It was this hip-hop dance crew that came here to perform and they did some really cool solo and group dances. I think they’re actually practicing to enter a hip-hop competition soon, so they were really good. Every time I go to one of those things, it makes me want to learn to dance like that.
How are the staff here?
They’re really nice — my Residential Advisors are super cool and funny. We have a really good living group as well, which has been really fun.
Is this your first time living in a dorm?
Yeah. I’ve never stayed in a dorm before on a college campus, so it’s been really cool. I mean I’ve seen them on tours and stuff, but I’ve never actually stayed in one. It’s kind of like a preview of college.
How would you describe Explo?
Hmm. Well, at first, I thought it was a completely academic program, but there’s so many things to do here so it’s more like an all-around program. If you want to, you can do academic stuff, but you can also pursue art or sports or whatever else you’re interested in. So I guess it’s like a pre-college program — you have all your friends and you have your classes, but without the stress and homework and tests and all that.
How do you like Yale and New Haven so far?
It’s really nice. I really like the Quad and how all the dorms are set up around the Quad. And the buildings are just so pretty. We always see tourists stopping to check it out and take pictures because it’s so amazing.
What’s it like to meet new people here?
I thought it would be really hard to make friends and everything, because having gone to the same school for so many years, I haven’t really had to meet many new people. But I was surprised at how friendly people were. And I thought that if you just go up to people, they wouldn’t be that friendly. But if you go up and talk to someone, they’re always really nice — you’re automatically friends. All my living group people are really nice, too. Once I got to know them, it was really easy to make friends and then be friends with their friends. Everyone gets to know each other.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Just that it’s school but fun at Explo. If you want to do something academic but fun during the summer you should definitely come to Explo.
Lucas Penzeymoog