By: KC Nañola

Ahhh, adventure! The long-awaited day for grade 7 students of St. Lawrence School has finally arrived. On Tuesday April 15, we all waved goodbye to our parents and hello to teen ranch! Four glorious days of great outdoors, no parents, just hanging out with friends and delicious food! This is definitely a lot exciting than sleeping over in a friend’s house. No homework for four days! Now, that’s a great feeling of freedom. So, what more could a kid ask for?  

All set with our luggage and equipped with the outdoor and indoor survival kit, onto the bus and off to the site in Orangeville, which wasn’t that far from Toronto. It is like about one and a half hour of joy ride.  Safe and sound at our final point, overjoyed and screaming… “YEAAHH! TEEN RANCH!!” We unloaded our stuff and went straight to our unsophisticated, non-fancy cabins.  So, I thought to myself, this is going to be one rugged experience for me and it doesn’t matter even if my cabin was right beside the teachers. This is without doubt fascinating more than traditional camping.

Everyone (including the teachers) was all too eager to even think. This was the biggest and for sure will be the most remembered trip of the entire year. We’ll certainly look back to this trip in the future and if we all happen to be in the same high-school, we’ll reminisce, “Remember that trip in grade 7? Teen Ranch! Yeah, it was the BEST!”

The foods at teen ranch were appealing! They had everything from burgers to pasta, burritos, and even rice. A girl named Agatha, in a yellow shirt and a big smile on her face, gave us an introduction to teen ranch and some of the events that were going on. She then gave a little tour of teen ranch so then we would get to know the place. There were horses, barns, ponds, a dining place, more cabins and houses, and more.

We got to ride horses. It was one of my personal favorite. We all had fun during the scavenger hunting and enjoyed playing an instinct survival game that was a bit like tag. We had bon fire, movie, popcorn night and more. We all had so much fun for the past four days that each day just flew by so quickly.

Dinner time is precious. I call it bonding moments with friends. This is the time when we get the chance to catch up and talk over a truly enjoyable meal.  Although time is restricted, we still look forward to the next activities and the next practice for the cross country, where I am a proud team member. We had to run 5k each day, except for the last one which was 3k or 2k.

During our free times we got to play tennis, basketball, volleyball, and other games. There were even trampolines. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to jump on them, which was not fair because I think it is awesome to feel like small kids once again.

Being at Teen Ranch is fantastic; an experience we’ll never forget where fun and excitement are inseparable and friendships cannot be divorced and although we had to go, we will absolutely treasure the memories that we all had during this marvelous period of time.

My favorite parts about teen ranch would be the food, map orienteering, the bonfire, and the instinct survival game. No, we didn’t sleep under the stars but we had marvelous time viewing and playing with nature. There’s just too many too mention really and they are all truly enjoyable.

Soon we were all exhausted and feeling a bit crabby. It is time to go. Our four glorious days are over. We now have to pack-up, clean up the mess and load our stuff to the bus.  Leaving teen ranch was probably the saddest thing to do. We sat and stared at our cabins. Had our last glimpse at the ponds, the dining room and the open fields wishing we could stay longer but just like all good things, it must come to an end. Although it is hard to say goodbye, we also look forward to seeing back our beloved family, not to forget our pets. I must admit, I missed my own including my electronic gadgets!

The engine starts and off we go back to St. Lawrence School, where it all began. Goodbye Teen Ranch!

view Photos » TEEN RANCH 2008

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About the writer: KC Nanola is a  grade 7 student of St. Lawrence School and is also in a gifted class program at St. Catherine School. She was our featured “Young Achiever” for August edition