Name: Ranielle

Date: Friday November 25, 2011

My Fantastic Experience At Teen Ranch

          When the principal told us that we were going to Teen Ranch, I was incredibly excited! You are probably thinking 'What is Teen Ranch?'; well it is an amazing place that has delicious food and many horses. These are just two of the reasons why Teen Ranch is a great place. There are so many things to talk about, like Food, Cabin Life, Outdoor activities, and Night Time activities. Teen Ranch is truly one of the best places for retreats.

The food at Teen Ranch was incredible, and I never got tired of eating it! We would have cereal every morning, but the breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals would always change. The desserts were amazing; it was exactly what everyone wanted. On our first day, we had perogies with sour cream, sausage, and a few vegetables. We were all full after so we gained a lot of energy for what we had to do next. My favourite meal there was the nachos and chicken wrap, it was delicious! On Wednesday, our cabin had to set up and clean up, it was cool. We were responsible for cleaning tables very well, and setting up with no mistakes. I hope that all of us would go again one day and enjoy eating, cleaning, and setting tables.

My friends and I got Cabin 3; the bunk beds were really high and new! I shared a cabin with Holley, Chasya, Amirah, Jordan, Sarah, Taelor, and Natalie. Sharing one cabin with them was a great experience, but weird at times. Those four days and three nights were just amazing! They would always make me laugh at night with jokes, and also during the day. We really got to bond as friends and get to know each other a little more. It's too bad that we couldn't extend the trip because then it would double the fun. I had the time of my life with all the Grade 7's, I wish I could replay all those great times with everyone. Being in a cabin with friends is a great adventure with laughter!

There were so many new things that I got to do at Teen Ranch, and one of them was horseback riding. The first time, I was really scared. My horse was named 'Milly', she is a light brown horse and she is mostly calm. When we were in the forest, Milly got out of control and left the line to cut through, I was terrified. But by the end of our second time riding, I was calm because I controlled the horse better than the first. The second new activities that I got to do were play Frolf and go rock climbing. Frolf is a mixture of Frisbee and golf; it is a really cool game. At Post #9, my Frisbee landed in the middle of the pond, everyone helped out to push it to the other side. We called it teamwork! On the other hand, rock climbing was pretty hard to do. My hands kept on slipping so I couldn't get to the top. I hope I can get better at it one day. Skating was really enjoyable, I had an awesome time! Playing predator and prey was really tiring, I stuck with Helena the whole time, and we were mice. At the end, I collected 19 cards. All these wonderful activities were challenging and fun!

Every end to an amazing day was always the best part! The first night was movie night, we watched the movie 'Karate Kid', it was hilarious and cool. It's now one of my favourite movies. The second night was Karaoke/Dance night; it was the funniest night throughout the whole trip. We had cabin dance-offs and songs that we can sing along to. It was a great night with friends! The last night was my favourite, it was the Bonfire/Dance Night. Walking through the woods was really creepy because we thought we were going to get pranked by the teachers and the staff at the Ranch. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, told scary stories, sang songs, and talked to friends. It was an amazing night. When it was over, we walked to the dining hall through the creepy woods, and then started the dance. The dance was fantastic, there was dancing, talking, laughing, sleeping, and sitting. It was a great ending to an amazing day!

Teen Ranch has changed me in so many ways, I got to know my friends more and I got to learn so many fabulous things! Now I know what it's like to have other people surrounding you, just like siblings. It was a great experience for everyone. The staff, my friends, and the teachers made it so special. I really want to re-live that week all over again. It was the best trip ever, the one that I will never forget.