Teen Ranch

Teen Ranch Essay

Being away from your family for an entire week does not seem like fun, however, it depends where you are going and with who.  If you go to Teen Ranch, I can practically guaranty that you will have a great time. There is such a wide variety of activates to keep you occupied. Trust me you will never be bored.  It is as a fantastic place to make new friends and form close bond with acquaintances.  It's like living in a big family oriented community. It gave me an opportunity to experience different things.

On the bus I was thinking how exciting it would be sharing a cabin with Caroline, Jade, Theresa, and Kathleen. Upon arriving the first thing we did was to go check out the cabins. Eagerly my roommates and I ran towards our cabin with our luggage. Our room had four bunk beds and one single bed. We immediately dropped our bags on our chosen bed. The walls were painted green and the bathroom was fairly small. Once settled we decided on a showering schedule.

The ringing bell indicated that we should head to the dinning hall. We were having so much fun time seems to pass by very quickly and soon it was night and time to head back to our room to get ready for bed. The last person to get into bed had the responsibility of turning out the light. It was so dark she complained that she could not see to get to her bed. I volunteered to turn out the light for her.  I was so tired I wanted to fall asleep but no, one of my room mates was too excited to sleep and just kept talking and annoying everyone else.  We all started to yell at her to be quiet but she just kept going on and on for another ten minutes.

As we were approaching Teen Ranch, one of the first things we noticed was two horses. Latter we learned the large white horse was named Ivy who was the mother of the smaller grey horse named Zoey. On the first day, at free time my friends and I went to go see the horses. Our instructor told us that we were allowed to feed the horses. I plucked some grass and gave it to Zoey. Her mouth tickled my hand, while she was eating. Ivy came and gently pushed her baby out of the way and started eating out of my hand.  Once she was done I grabbed some more grass for Zoey. My friend came over to me with an apple which I gave to Ivy. We all kept on giving her apples until her mouth got all foamy which was a pretty disturbing sight.  We enjoyed feeding the horses so much that we came to visit them every day.

On the second day of our trip we got the opportunity to go horse back riding. My friends and I were thrilled as we had never been horse back riding before. One of our instructors showed us the basics of riding a horse; she used an extension cord to demonstrate. We headed to the horse barn were another instructor demonstrated on a horse. I and the rest of the group were instructed to get helmets and told to go outside and pick our horse. The horse I picked was named Cola. Once I was mounted on Cola, she started to move. Cola headed towards a water bin at the same time as my friend's horse squishing my leg against my horse side. I was so relived when my horse moved away. It was funny because my friend horse kept on following my horse. We lined up the horses and headed into the forest. It was so much fun going up and down the trail. When your horse is going up hill it feels like you are going to fall backwards. When you go down hill it feels as though you are going to fall forwards. Luck was with me as my horse made it through the forest without stepping in manure.  Cola was very obedient and stayed in line for the whole ride. Sadly the ride was over before I knew it. I didn't want to get off the horse so I waited for my instructor to help me off. I was looking forward to our next riding session.

Horse backing riding was so exhilarating I couldn't wait for the next day. I was anxious to get back on Cola. Unfortunately, Cola was chosen by someone else. My new horse's name was Mouse. He was not as obedient as Cola and started to move around as soon as I was mounted. I pulled on the reins to stop him, but he wouldn't listen until I pulled very hard several times. Once we were in the forest, my horse bent down to eat grass. I wasn't paying attention so he jerked me forwards. I thought that I was going to fall off. Using all my strength I managed to pull up his head while thinking to my self this will be a stressful ride. Mouse kept hold of the grass in his mouth and would not drop it.  As we approached a grassy field Mouse again bent down to get more grass. This time I was prepared, so I pulled up his head when I saw him starting to go down. Mouse saw an apple and tried to reach it. I learned my lesson and pulled his head up immediately. Throughout the ride I had to constantly watch Mouse as he was always looking for food. It really was a hectic ride, but I still enjoyed it.     

One event at Teen Ranch stands out in my memory. Through out the entire week I was dreading playing the game predator and prey. My entire grade was called into the dinning hall with the instructors and teachers. Our instructor explained the rules of the game and told us which animal we were. I unfortunately was designated a tiny little chipmunk.  I was definitely prey and had to run away from so many predators.

We headed outside towards the forest, our destination being the bonfire site.  Just as I was about to sit down our instructor told the herbivore to run.  We scattered in different directions.   I attempted to hide and was sneaking around when I saw my classmates who were elements.   My fellow herbivores attempted to quietly sneak away but were spotted thus we all made a mad dash in different directions.  Unfortunately one of my enemies started to chase me.  With my heart pumping madly I ran as fast as I could even though it was raining and muddy.  In the background I heard my friend yelling "run Tiffany run".   Beginning to feel exhausted I slowed down and let my foe capture me.  As he was waiting for me to give him one of my lives, he commented that I was jumping and running away like a ninja. Of course this made me chuckle a little bit

As I was walking through the wet and soggy forest I was spotted by a carnivore.  He started running towards me and my instinct was to run away. As I was running and jumping over some obstacles I accidentally ran down a hill. The predator stopped chasing me since he couldn't see me anymore. Once he passed along I decided to climb back up.  While I was climbing back up I tripped over a branch and felt a stinging pain go through my right leg. Pulling up my pant leg I saw a cut about the length of my finger across my leg.

Luck was not with me as reached to top of the hill a bunch of elements came rushing towards me asking for my lives.  I thought this it not fair for all of them to take for my lives at the same time.

I was just walking around aimlessly searching for food and water when I met up with one of my friends. We decided to stick together.  This did not help us to stay alive as more people came and killed us.  Finally we heard the whistle to signal we should return to the bonfire pit.  I was relieved and overjoyed that the dreadful game was over.

I was cold, wet and covered in mud like most of my class mates. Once the head count was over we made our way back to the dinning hall to count our scores.  My score was fairly low as I expected since I was a prey.  Boy I am glad I am not a chipmunk. The life of an herbivore is filled with so much danger. Happily I ran back to my cabin to the washroom to take much needed shower.   

Overall going to Teen Ranch was eye opening.  I got to experience living with my friends, for an entire week and completing many activities together. I feel that I got to know my fellow students better and I have a closer bond to my roommates.  Teen ranch gave me the opportunity to try new things like horse back riding and gave me a new understanding about co-operation.  I learned that everyone has to work together as a group, to maintain a peaceful community.

                                                                             By: Tiffany K.