The Explore Fellowship: A Week of Growth, Laughter, and Friendship

Life is sweet, love is free, and we live in abundance

Simone Lilavois
7 min readAug 24, 2023
Cabin 3: Layla, Eve, Nikkol, Ada, Rabab, Amy, Isa, Gabby, Angela, Chloe, and me!

No words are adequate to describe what the past five days of my life were like. The Explore Fellowship was energizing, inspiring, and thought-provoking. I felt a deep sense of belonging, surrounded by a community of people who wanted to change the world for the better. Everyone was willing to learn something new and challenge their pre-existing beliefs. Spontaneity was contagious: one moment I was planning to work on a presentation, and the next I found myself playing my first game of tennis, because…why not? Trying new things and stepping out of my comfort zone defined my experience. We were all aware that there wasn’t a moment to waste; we had a limited amount of time together.

I am especially appreciative of the global network of friends I am walking out of the fellowship with. It is remarkable how close I feel with people who were strangers not five days ago. Conversations were rich — small talk was bypassed. Many times, when interacting with people my age, I am focused on how I should act, and what I have to say next to fill the time. Yet with the fellowship community, I could simply be, without feeling stressed about how I was perceived. When it was time to say goodbye, I was overwhelmed with sadness, yet also deep gratitude for an experience that changed how I carry myself around others and allowed me to connect with new people on a more personal level than I thought possible in the time we had.

Left: Layla, Veronika, Eve, Juliana, and me. Right: Kendall, Veronika, me, and three of our counselors, “NyNy”, “Boomer”, and Sierra :)

The campground, KenMont KenWood, felt like a retreat. I often woke up to the rhythm of light rain — a gentle trickling on the roof of our cabin that felt peaceful. A light layer of fog sometimes blanketed my morning runs; other times I welcomed the soft rays of a rising sun. A couple of mornings we had access to the lake. Waking up early, running, and then swimming is an extraordinary way to begin a morning and I am grateful to say that I started to get used to it at the Explore Fellowship.

After a refreshing morning and breakfast “pod” meeting — our pods were groups of 5–7 fellows that met with the same counselor every morning to check in — there was a lecture. Nothing was mandatory at the Explore Fellowship. The schedule was malleable and we were encouraged to structure our days to our liking.

Our schedule!

Talks were given in a range of fields, from biosecurity to public health, to wild animal welfare, to nuclear warfare. All the speakers were engaging and happy to answer our questions. The talks were intense — we were learning about the many imminent challenges humanity is facing today and ways that we are/could be destroying the planet and those around us. Yet hearing from people who have dedicated their careers to improving the future of life on Earth filled me with a cautious, yet undeniable hope.

A list of the talks:

  1. Philosophy of ecology
  2. Givewell: high-impact charities
  3. Wild animal welfare
  4. How to have a high-impact career
  5. Weird ideas for saving the world
  6. Software for humanitarian emergencies
  7. Biosecurity and biosurveillance
  8. Plant-based meals
  9. American politics
  10. Nuclear weapons

One of my favorite speakers was Nathan Oglesby, a comedic and engaging philosophy professor who introduced us to the concept of eco-philosophy. The content in his lectures resonated deeply with me. We learned about a range of ideologies, discussed whether philosophy was even valuable, debated Stoicism and Epicureanism, and learned a lot about each other and the way we think. By the end of the four-part lecture series, we all had to present our own “ecosophies,” addressing how an ideal world would look and what principles its occupants would live by. Oh, and Professor Nate is also an unbelievably talented poet, producer, and freestyle rapper, often beginning and/or ending his lectures with an eloquent, lyrically genius, and thought-provoking rap. It was probably my favorite learning experience I’ve ever had and encouraged me to share my poetry for the first time.

Photo from Professor Nate’s class.

Paddleboarding was also a highlight of the experience. We grew fond of a balancing game where we all piled on a large inflatable paddleboard and tried to make each other fall without pushing one another, simply by jumping. I remember often losing my balance just from laughter even before we began the game. After climbing back on the paddleboard for what felt like the 100th time, I lay down in exhaustion, my cheeks sore from a smile stuck on my face. My head tilted back and the sky took over my vision entirely. My breathing was heavy and I closed my eyes. I couldn’t help but relish the pure joy I felt in that instant. Yet the moment was over quickly, and before I knew it, I was catapulted off the paddleboard once more, all of us emerging in a chorus of laughter.

Left: Veronika, Kendall, and me canon-balling into the lake. Right: paddleboarding.

One afternoon, the camp’s ropes course was open to us. I scrambled up the rock-climbing wall, feeling my heart pound with fear against all rationale. I was harnessed — I knew I was safe, yet my brain kept screaming “danger.” After climbing across a net, doing a one-armed pull-up over a tightrope, and ziplining back to the ground, I felt adrenaline course through me, not to mention my forearms burning with soreness.

Me on the ropes course :)

Noticing the time after getting down from the zip-line, I realized I was supposed to be giving my “flex-talk.” I ran to the rec-hall to give my presentation, adrenaline still pulsing through me. When I stood in front of everyone, I smiled and took a deep breath. What a day… I thought to myself. I am so lucky to be able to say I just did a ropes course and now five minutes later am about to present an introduction to astrobiology. No longer overwhelmed, I was filled with excitement to share something I cared about with a community of inspiring people.

My “flex-talk” about astrobiology!

The campfires at night were rich with conversation, both structured and unstructured. We shared memories and thoughts in near darkness, our faces half-illuminated by the ambient glow of the fire. Yet a few nights stood out above the others. The first was our “un-talent” show, which I would argue could very reasonably be called a regular talent show since nearly everything that was performed required serious skill. From a soulful performance of Let it Go, to rapping the digits of pi, to a spelling bee that had words like “onomonopia” and “amebae” (who knew the plural of amoeba was so strange?) and “Kashyyyk,” the evening was never boring. Even better, after all of the acts were complete, we had a spontaneous dance party.

Another memorable night was our surprise scavenger hunt. Two of our counselors, Boomer and Ellie, devised an elaborate plan that had us ardently running around the campground with flashlights. With brilliant, rhyming clues, a crossword puzzle, and hidden items, the hunt was pretty epic. Our team took the game very seriously, strategizing the moment we began. Although we came in second, it was a close enough match that I think we could argue it was a tie ;)

And lastly, our stargazing evenings were truly special. As we lay in the grass, huddled under blankets together until 3:00 a.m., guessing the names of the constellations and watching as Jupiter rose above the horizon, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for all of the new people in my life.

Akhil, Kendall, Chloe, me, Ami, and Vinaya!

The Explore Fellowship prompted questions I hadn’t asked myself in a long time, even making me rethink how I want to spend my life. Many of us questioned our roles in the world. The discussions we were having forced us to recognize our interconnected fate with not just all humans, but all life, and address the responsibility we have to improve the lives of those we share our planet with. I am eternally grateful to everyone who made this experience possible — our nine counselors, ten speakers, and sixty fellows.

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Simone Lilavois

Simone Lilavois is a NYC high school student passionate about understanding the nature of life in relation to the Cosmos.