Light travels as a wave but interacts as a particle.

Another aspect is wavelength which affects frequency, or how many wavelengths of light will pass a certain point per second. The shorter the wavelength, the more can pass that point in a given time, so the more energetic the light. Light does oscillate, and the rate at which it oscillates might be related to the frequency.

That's enough info to start your student browsing a rabbit hole of science. knowledge in internet searches. YouTube is good for the visuals and science explainers like Arvin Ash and Science Asylum

If your student is interested in the quantum model, the light doesn't exist (in the form we know) until interacted with. Whatever the unformed photon is before it becomes a photon, imagine it as an expanding sphere that's a collection of possible locations where each photon could interact, the expanding at the speed of light, and when the photon emerges to interact then all the other possibilities vanish instantly (faster than the speed of light).