Sixth grader Sadie is back at EXPLO for her second summer and her first time as an Ambassador. Whether it's in the dorm or at the cafeteria, she encourages new students not to be afraid to make new friends — and she's ready to help them do that!

Over the school year, I would always think, “just give me EXPLO, I’m craving it!” I still talk with my roommate from last year — we exchange emails a lot because she is from India. She came back to EXPLO first session so I didn’t get to see her, but I’m excited to meet my new roommate. Maybe they’ll know other people, and then I’ll get to know two more people, or four more people, and it’ll just keep growing.

I really like the cafeteria here. My cafeteria at school is so gross, but here it’s amazing. I think it’s busy but exciting; everyone is talking with each other, and you can go play games with random people you don’t know. I feel like I can talk to anyone at meals.

I wanted to be an Ambassador because I’ve always liked helping people. I like to know that I’ve done something for someone else. For example, I play the ukulele, and my dad and my brother play piano and guitar, so we go to the nursing home in our neighborhood every few weeks and play for them. You can just see the smiles on their faces, especially when we do an old song they all know and they get to sing along.

If I had to give advice to someone coming to EXPLO for the first time, I would say just branch out. Don’t be nervous to go up and talk to someone. If you ask someone to help you they are going to help you, or if you ask to sit next to them they’re going to say yes. It’s worth meeting new people.