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A
Day in the Life -
by Pia Cho, Summer Counselor
2002
Spending
a summer at Rawhide Ranch as a Camp Counselor is an incredible experience.
I arrived at Rawhide from Washington DC after having filled
out the application online. I had a vague picture in my head of what a
“ranch” would be like from the few random Western movies I
had seen as a child, but I was unprepared for the beauty of this working
ranch. The best manner I can describe this unique property is to tell
you to close your eyes and imagine a town during the Wild West era and
you shall have a vivid and accurate picture- we even have a “Main
Street.”
As a counselor, you
will stay in the Fort, the Covered Wagons, the Schoolhouse, or the Teepees
if you are male. The first week that you are here will consist of training
for the classes you will be teaching, guest speakers, never ending lectures
by Tom ^_~ (the Director of the camp, but you get candy and other goodies
if you pay attention), and an opportunity for you to get lots of sleep
before the campers arrive!
Each session of camp,
which is one week in length, will begin on Sunday with the check in of
the “Ranch hands” or campers. It is quite a sight for everyone,
from the Directors to the dogs, is dressed in Western attire. Full time
staff members are busy driving pony carts back and forth from the parking
lot to main street carrying the belongings of campers; counselors are
rushing to the hotel/office to collect their campers that will be in their
cabin for the week, and all the while in the background you have a real
country band playing tunes that beckon your feet try some country line
dancing. After everyone is checked in, counselors and Ranch hands alike
join in for a little bit of line dancing before heading off to Animal
Care.
Animal Care is done
twice daily, whether camp is in session or not. All counselors will be
assigned an animal care area. You could end up working with the ponies
down at Pony Barn, or the horses up at the Town of Longhorn, Breeding
Barn, or Pony Express Depot, or with the goats, cows, pigs, and lamas
at Stock Farm, or with the peacocks, chickens and other birds at Noah’s
Valley. During Animal Care, you will teach and supervise the kids to feed,
water, and clean the stalls. Rawhide Ranch provides an animal for whatever
your tastes are and the best part is, no previous experience is necessary!
After Animal Care,
you will lead your cabin to flag pole where you line up your Ranch hands
from shortest to tallest. Usually during the week, cabins are dismissed
according to Cabin Check Points, but on the first night you are at the
mercy of Molly, the Assistant Program Director. Note when I say a quiet
straight line with great big smiles helps- A LOT! After dinner, you have
a chance to go over cabin rules before the entire camp gets called for
orientation. During Orientation, there is a brief horse demonstration,
kids get broken up into groups for the week, counselors introduce themselves,
and of course, we go over the RULES. Generally, there will be time to
play a few games before evening coffee break is called and after coffee
break, it is lights out!
For the rest of the
week, your days will be pretty routine. Each morning, you will awake to
Paul’s (he is the as of Camp Director) lovely voice over the PA
system at 6:45 AM. You will lead your cabin to flag pole and for breakfast,
each cabin is dismissed according to which cabin got to flagpole first.
Right after breakfast, everyone will go to animal care. As soon as Animal
Care is over, half of the kids will be in electives while the other half
is in classes and they will switch in the afternoon. Counselors will head
to the classes they will be teaching for the morning. Each class is 45
minutes in length with a coffee break between the 2nd and 3rd class of
the morning and the afternoon. The classes or electives you will be teaching
will depend on where your strengths and interest lay. You could be down
on the schedule to teach Arts & Crafts in the morning and Horse Science
in the afternoon, or you could be assigned to teach Riding all week if
that is your love.
After morning classes,
you will once again line up at the flagpole for lunch. How you get dismissed
for lunch varies depending on which staff member is dismissing you, but
bribes work well for both getting dismissed first and for cabin checks-HINT.
After lunch is a time for your campers and you to have a little rest and
have mail call. Mail is delivered by a lucky ranking Ranch hand who rides
to each living area and delivers the mail Pony Express style of the Old
West. At 1:30, you will once again head to your class/elective that you
will be teaching for the afternoon, followed by animal care, and dinner.
After dinner, the
kids have a period of free time where you will be assigned a free time
area to watch, except on Mondays. On Mondays, the camp gathers for its
weekly camp photo/cabin photos. After free time or photos, the camp will
meet at a spot for evening activities. Evening activities range from playing
games up at the athletic field, to playing Mission Impossible, to Counselor
Talent Shows, or the Dating Game. Each night, there will be an evening
coffee break before bed. During each coffee break, counselors will work
the Sweet Shop on rotating shifts throughout the summer. Lights out is
at 9:30 PM for the camp, but as a counselor you are awarded the privilege
of staying up until 10 PM. Just kidding! You don’t have a bedtime,
but you will find that you will be in bed by 10:30 because you will be
exhausted.
Each session of camp
will come to a close with the show on Saturday. The show is a chance for
the kids to show their parents of all they have learned during the week.
Kids can choose or are selected to ride, vault, show a pony, show a chicken
or a goat, or ride a sheep. Saturday is another day where everyone is
decked out in his or her full Western attire. The Show generally will
be done by lunchtime and after lunch, counselors will have a weekly meeting
to discuss the past and upcoming week. Then there is cleanup of cabins
and animal care before you are done for the day. All counselors get one
day off a week, in addition to Saturday night unless you are staying with
the kids who are staying for another session of camp.
While I have written
copiously about what your schedule would be like as a counselor, I cannot
find the words to express all that you will feel as a counselor. It is
a fact that you will have played a role in the lives of over 2,000 campers
by the end of a summer here at Rawhide Ranch. There will be times when
the kids will test your patience when you thought they couldn’t
possibly test it anymore, make you laugh until your belly hurts, or make
you so frustrated that you literally want to scream, or so proud of them
that you feel as if your heart will burst, but in the end, you will be
humbled by them and forever thankful to them for giving you a priceless
and personally rewarding summer.
Honestly, the time
that I have spent at Rawhide Ranch will be one that I will never forget.
I had the opportunity to meet, work with, and make friends with people
from all over the country and the world. Your co-counselors become something
similar to a family because the time you spend here bonds you to each
other. After one summer, you will leave knowing you have just been “adopted”
into the Rawhide Family. It is not uncommon for people here at Rawhide
to learn that counselors who have worked here 2 or 20 years ago are still
friends and keep in contact.
Yee-haw!
Once we have reviewed your forms we
will contact you to set up an interview. Thank you for your interest in
working at Rawhide Ranch. If you are selected you will have an experience
of a lifetime!
For more information
call 760-758-0083 or e-mail jobs@rawhideranch.com
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