Date: November 25^th, 2011
Name: Anita
Teacher: Ms. Babb

An Unforgettable Memory

The wheels on the bus went round, and round all the way to Teen Ranch on November 14th, 2011. Teen Ranch to me, meant independence. It was a chance to discover life by myself without parents making discussions. Teen ranch gave memories that will probably last a lifetime. Some of the simple memories happened just by the food, horseback riding, cabin life and night time activities.

The food at teen ranch was delicious but nutritious. We had different kinds of food each day. Breakfast started at 8:00 am, lunch started at 12:00 pm, and dinner started at 5:00 pm. The food was yummy, but most of the time we could only have one serving. We were also arranged in 4 different colors red, blue, green and yellow. We had to do chores, just like at home, which was set-up in the diner hall. The diner hall was beautiful; it kind of looked like a restaurant. It was very interesting. There were about 10 tables in the dining room, and the neat thing was that there were in and out doors. The in and the out doors was leading into and out of the kitchen where all the cooking was going on. Sometimes we couldn't sit beside our friends and had to sit beside new people. Well, that happened to me. So I had to sit beside new people. I have to say that, that gave me a chance to make even more friends. I almost forgot desert. We also had desert after lunch and dinner. We had worms in snow and dirt, ice cream with apple crumble, chocolate and raisin cookies, Oreo ice cream and much more.

A life in a cabin definitely has its awkward moments but those memories are what made our cabin unique. The first day, well night, in our cabin was exciting because we got cabin 4, the best cabin. We started talking about our expectations for Teen Ranch. My cabin mates were Kristen, Katrina, Nyat, Keithlyne, Cameron, Hannah, and Samantha. The thoughts going inside my head once I saw the cabin were 'wow, these bunks are small,' because I was used to queen sized beds. We soon settled in and went to bed at about 12 pm. Kristen thought daylight saving had started a few days ago and woke us up at 5:30 am because she thought it was 6:30 am. It wasn't amusing at first, but after I laugh at those memories. We even have a cabin 4 head count chant to boost up our morning every day. Our cabin had many laughs, cries, and smiles and through it all we still came back as friends. The cabins gave us a chance to experience the starting of a new life.

A horse, a furry, more than 1500 pound huge animal, was what I only saw in little picture books. I never actually thought I would ever get to ride one. Staring right into Elvis's huge eyes told me that I knew I was gonna have a safe, and fun time riding on him. Agatha, the instructor, told us how to properly hold the horse's reigns, Hold, cut, extra, separate, and ice cones down was the simple words we needed to remember to hold the horse's reigns. In my opinion my horse, Elvis, was the best! We got to go horseback riding 2 times, and we got to trot, a horse jog, on our second horse ride. My horse tried to eat some grass while we were taking a horse ride. That was trouble. So I had to pull his head back. His head weighed a ton. Horseback riding was awesome and I'd love to do it again.

'Good night', as if, the night is where we all hang out together after such a long day. It's where you can hang out with your friends, take a quick nap, call your parents, or just look up at the stars. The night for me was probably one of the best parts of teen ranch. It was where people you hardly talked to or one of the best friends can hang out and even get closer to one another. We also had a planned period each night. On Monday we had Movie night. On Tuesday we had Karaoke/ Video dance party night. On Wednesday we had Bonfire/ Dance party night. It was amazing. At this point Teen Ranch has made each and everyone of us just a step closer to each of us.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Which mean that every single big thing you do, it tarts with a small, little thing. I think Teen Ranch was meant to teach each of us that, there is more than just sitting around and watching TV. Teen Ranch showed the beauty of nature, that probably most of us take for granted. Teen Ranch had changed many 11 and twelve year old lives. Teen Ranch had memories that will last forever. Thank You, Teen Ranch!