Exonians’ Summer Vacations
By Cherish Ambyokolo and Leo Zhang
Free from school, Exonians had the time to explore over their summer break. Students took advantage of the three months off to rest or delve into their interests or hobbies through vacations, standardized test preparations, internships, and college applications. Whether an incoming prep getting ready for their first time at boarding school or a four-year senior getting ready for their last year, students had a restful and productive summer.
Exonians traveled to different parts of the world with friends or family. Upper Tommaso Cucci described his trip to an island near Italy. “I went to this island off the coast of Sicily called Vulcano, which means volcano in English,” he said. “With a volcano on the island, there are black sand beaches because of the volcanic activity. I was also able to meet up with a lot of friends this summer in Italy and I went to some clubs, which I was allowed to do. I had a lot of fun dancing in the clubs and hanging out with friends while also meeting new people.”
New senior Khadeeja Sarr highlighted her crosscontinental travels. “I left the UAE after having lived there for 16 years and traveled to Senegal where I stayed for five weeks. I got to meet family, including cousins I haven’t seen in many years.”
Prep Toto Papathanasopoulos spent two months in France while visiting his grandma and attending school.
Like Toto, many other incoming preps had some form of preparation for the Academy. Prep Jacquie Lonian talked about her preparation. “I definitely was studying a bit,” she said. “Whenever I go into a new school year, I redo any of the school homework they made us use so that I’m fresh on it. I tried to fix my sleep schedule which miserably failed, but it’s fine now.”
Prep Dani Mendez also had her own preparation mechanism. “My time in New York was with my program SEEDS,” she said. “We did one month at the Masters School. It was really just to prepare myself for the academic intensity here at Exeter.”
Many students used the extra time in the summer to get involved in internships or paid jobs that align with their interests. Senior Oliver Liu talked about his experience working in a hospital. “I worked at a pathology lab for a couple of weeks during the summer,” he said. “At the lab, we were primarily looking at the anatomical pathology and the histopathology of different patients that were at the hospital. So, the pathologist I was working with was primarily seeing breast and hematopathology cases. I went over a bunch of slides of breast tissue and blood and learned about a bunch of different diseases and their pathologies. I saw a lot of ductal, invasive, DCIS, lobular, and inside chew carcinoma.”
Senior Emilie Carranza had lots of options for her summer plans. “I spent most of my summer interning at a biofabrication laboratory, working as a lifeguard, and volunteering in Emergency Medical Services,” she said. “During my upper winter and spring term, I applied to various summer programs and internships. By the end of spring term, I had options of where I wanted to intern or take summer courses. I was fortunate to accept a research internship in an Advanced Biofabrication Laboratory focusing on regenerative medicine and medical devices. As the only high school intern working with undergraduates, graduates, PhD students, and PhD candidates, my mentors were aware of my inexperience and took time to explain their past and current work. My summer also included volunteering at my local EMS, where I would cover shifts often from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., once to three times a week. On weekends, I spent my days working as a lifeguard and participating in additional EMS training. The research and EMS volunteering made my summer extremely fun, as well as educational.” Emilie also provided advice for uppers. “My advice for upper year is to look for summer opportunities during fall term as many deadlines are in the winter.”
But for seniors, summertime meant college applications. Liu explained the burdensome process. “I have very few college applications done and they take forever,” he said. “I spent six hours the other day sitting there, and I only got three essays done. It was terrible.”
On the brighter side, Exonians gave back to their communities through volunteering. Before going to Vulcano, Cucci helped out at a local furniture shop. “I wanted to do some volunteer work quickly because I knew I was going to Italy,” he said. “So I just looked online, found Habitat for Humanity in New York City, registered, and signed up. I was volunteering at a Restore, which is just pretty much a kind of cheap furniture store where we collect donations from people who want to donate furniture stuff. My job was just pretty much to move the furniture out onto the floor, and help customers.”
Although the break felt short, Cucci enjoyed his time. “I did it with a bunch of other guys, none of whom I had known before, but I met a bunch of different college students who were all there,” he continued. “It was great. I loved it.”
Prep Dani also participated in community service over the summer. “I was a day camp counselor and I helped with younger children in my state,” she said.
Summertime could mean relaxation and catching up with friends or volunteering and working, but no matter what they did, Exonians made the best use of their summer.
