Teen Ranch Essay

"Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success."  "There is no 'I' in team."  "Many hands make light work."  I think these phrases are something that people should read in order to appreciate the wisdom of the message.  These passages help us understand that two people work better than one, the more the merrier, and that people living together can help one another prosper.  The week we spent at Teen Ranch was all about community living.  Of course we had fun, but we all learned something in the process.  We learned that we are all equal and unique, and that we all work best when we worked together as a team.  These concepts were taught and experienced while we were having fun doing activities such as skating, hockey, Predator vs. Prey, and horseback riding.

At Teen Ranch, skating was one of those things that people could not wait to do.  I can skate and had a lot of fun skating on an Olympic sized rink.  For some people, though, this was their first time skating.  All of the people that I talked to also had a good time, and many of them now love skating.  It was nice to have friends that could not skate because it gave me the opportunity to help them, even if it was nothing more than just holding peoples' hands and encouraging them along.  Everybody was a better skater on Friday when compared to how we all began on Monday.  On Monday the rink was filled with screams when people fell, followed by a group of people trying to help them up.  Funny thing is that those people helping would then fall, and it would start all over again until everyone managed to stay on their feet.  At the end of the day, despite sore feet and bottoms, everyone was smiling and waiting for tomorrow when they could skate again.  Aside from skating on the ice, people who wanted to also got the chance to play "hockey."  The people who wanted to play hockey were divided into groups based on how they could skate and their experience level.  With plastic sticks and foam pucks, teams battled as best as they could against each other.  I had so much fun even though I ran into people and felt like a fool.  When I compared the way I played to the way the people who play hockey played, it made me feel like a baby learning how to walk.  Even though I could skate, when playing hockey my legs seemed confused as to how they should work.  This experience taught us that we excel when we have supportive people around us.

          Thursday was a day that either people were regretting or could not wait for.  On Thursday, we got to do our "Instincts for Survival" game which we all know as "Predator vs. Prey."  I personally was hoping that we would not play that game, but my fear and concerns quickly went away when we actually started.  I also got the chance to play this game in grade four and it was not one of my better days.  This day was excellent except for the poor weather that was provided for us.  It happened to be raining that afternoon so we were unfortunate enough to experience running around in slippery mud and horse excretions.  Some people slipped and fell, and I was lucky enough that I did not.  For this game I was a raccoon which is an omnivore.  As an omnivore I could eat the little carnivores, and the food and water cards that were scattered throughout the forest.  I had predators like the wolf and a slew of dangers like old age, extreme weather conditions, and rabies.  It was hard to catch the prey, and difficult to run away from the predators, but it was fun to try and dodge the teachers.  The teachers had balls that they would throw at us, and if they hit us we would have to give up a life.  However, we could sometimes ask them for a life in exchange for a favour, such as washing the boards for a month.  At the end of this game I felt really wet, very sweaty, extremely muddy, and clearly in need of a shower.  On top of this, my cabin had kitchen duty that day and in a half an hour we had to go to set up.  In order to try and look presentable, I rushed back to the cabin and took a shower.  It felt so much better after the shower, even though the showers there were really disgusting.  I encourage people to play this game, but recommend that you play it on a nice sunny day, and if you can help it play where there are no horse excretions.  Predator vs. Prey revealed how the ecosystem works and how tricky it is to work alone and not have anybody to rely on.

From the time I knew that I was going to Teen Ranch, all I could think about was going horseback riding.  I was thrilled at the thought of getting to ride those majestic animals.  I could not believe that I was going to go horseback riding.  After our lesson on how to ride, we went to the barn, where my excitement turned to concern.  First of all, the barn stunk to high heaven.  There were droppings everywhere.  Second, horses are neither the cutest nor the cuddliest looking animals in the world.  I will just say that I was extra careful when I walked up to the horse that I wanted.  Lastly, there was the thought of trusting a horse that I did not know to keep me on its back.  They said that the horses were trained exceptionally well, but how was I supposed to know if I was that one person that the horse did not like.  We got to pick our horse and I tried to pick a sweet looking one, and one that was not too big.  I happened to pick a horse with all those characteristics, and one with a cool name.  My horse's name was April; she was medium sized, with a nice rich dark brown colour.  At the end of our ride I found out that she was also obedient, which I would say comes in handy sometimes.  When the horses started moving around, I will admit that I was nervous, but it was just something that you have to get comfortable with.  During the ride, when we went up and down hills and over rocks, it was a little scary.  My horse, April, did not seem to like rocks either and for the majority of the time, she would walk around them.  At the end of the first ride I could not wait for the second. This was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me.  My sister also went to Teen Ranch when she was in grade seven, and when she came home she talked about the horses a lot.  Now I understand why she talked about them so much.  Our time with the horses illustrated how we, as humans, can interact, trust, and communicate with animals to make them a part of our team.

The week that I got to spend at Teen Ranch opened up so many opportunities that I would never have been able to do on my own.  I experienced new activities such as horseback riding, hockey, and the game Predator vs. Prey.  Those are just a few of the things I got to do.  I also learned more about other people and more about myself.  I became more acquainted with the people I do not usually spend time with.  That taught me to never judge a book by its cover.  Most of all, I learned that I can be independent and make my own decisions.  The experience that I had at Teen Ranch was a phenomenal one that I am so grateful for, and to be able to spend it with my friends made it even better.  I had so much fun, and I think that anybody who did not enjoy it wasted a big chance to have a great deal of fun and excitement.

-Ashley