When junior Tilley Helms stepped out onto the grounds of Yale University this summer, she wasn’t planning on relaxing and detoxing from the previous school year, traveling with friends and family, or participating in other summer activities. Helms knew she had been given an opportunity that very few students get, and as she trudged through the hot, muggy air of New Haven, she knew that for the next 10 days, this was exactly where she wanted to be.

     Helms spent her summer among the Ivy Leaguers of Yale University’s summer camp in New Haven, Connecticut for environmental studies. She was plucked from 30 applicants from Noblesville, and 400 applicants from across the country for their social and leadership skills.

     Helms joined her fellow students and teachers as they ventured out of their comfort zones and into the world of environmental science. 

      “I haven’t actually done a whole lot of extracurricular activities [but] I’m good with teachers, I get good grades, I get my work done, I answer questions in class. I’m just an active participant,” Helms said. “People were like, this is a leadership program. And I’m very unafraid to take charge.”

     The duration of Helms’ summer camp consisted of intricate, thought-provoking activities that required students to work closely together. The camp specifically targets potential future applicants to the college, and people who display strong interpersonal skills. Helms says she was first confused when she first entered the Yale campus walls. Traditionally she expected herself to see everyone quietly studying and occupying themselves with a good book, working until the sun went down. Instead she found a more comforting and surprising environment.

     “We showed up and at first, I was like, this has to be the wrong place because they’re blasting music over the speakers,” Helms said. “But It was really inviting, and it’s really exciting. I think overall the campus is really pretty, the architecture was absolutely amazing.”

     The program gave Helms and other aspiring students a place to socialize and learn, with 40 people attending for environmental science classes and around 400 people showing up in total. Helms made many connections in her short time at Yale. 

     “I made so many friends [that] live all over the world, and because we all had a common interest in environmental science and we were all geeks about nature. [We made] this immediate bond,” Helms said.

      One feature that Helms and her newfound friends were able to experience was the ability to travel. Students who attended the camp were given the freedom of touring the New England area and learning about each place they visited. 

     “We went to Cape Cod first. We got to go and drag the bottom of the ocean floor. We picked up sea urchins and horseshoe crabs and things like that,” Helms said. “[We had a] short amount of time to get all that stuff done. I was thinking it was gonna be a month. No, it was 10 days.”

     Students who pursue environmental science usually are offered plenty of career opportunities and experiences unique to their field. While this can be daunting for many, Helms has her path mentally mapped out. 

     “Going out of the country would be fun, like England or Norway, because they’ve got good science programs. I’m not staying in-state, I’m either going to Montana State or the other big colleges in Montana,” Helms said. “I want to go into ecology, studying ecosystems and how organisms interact and stuff. I want to live out in Africa, study the environment there and work with animals.”

     For many, the program has proven to be extremely helpful in helping students pursue their passions. Helms is no exception to this.

     “This program has helped me consider my future and has pushed me to try and get a head start in my life,” Helms said.