Yale

I look at the bright orange envelope that has arrived for me. The bright orange can only mean one thing: it’s from the people at Explo, the summer program that Yale University offers to high school students who have just completed their sophomore or junior year. 

I take a deep breath and slit open the envelope. I remove a folder, the same color as the envelope, and open it. Inside is a letter informing me of the classes that I’m signed up for (neurology and biomedical ethics), a book of general information, and about ten more forms that need to be filled out and sent back. I fill out as much as I can and hand the forms off to my dad to fill out the rest. 

The little book is mostly filled with rules. There’s even an entire page on the punishment for “sexual behavior”, but it never explains what is actually considered “sexual behavior”. As I flip through the rule, the packing suggestion list and all the other information that has been packed into this twenty page booklet, me excitement grows. I’m actually going to spend three weeks at Yale this summer, without my parents or anyone else.