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Mooresville teen takes 23-day trip across America
Genya (right) and friend Brittany at a rodeo in Cody, Wy.
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Published: September 15, 2008
This past summer I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to spend over three weeks traveling through America with 83 of my peers through a program called Teens Westward Bound (TWB). Based out of Mooresville, director Dennis Deaton has been taking teenagers across America for the past 34 years.
Each year, past participants are asked to recommend at least eight other people for this program who they think would get the most out of this experience. The nominees must then submit an application with peer and teacher references and complete a video interview.
More than 160 lucky high schoolers from all over the Carolinas are notified of their acceptance in April. The TWB itinerary includes sites such as New Orleans, The Alamo, The Grand Canyon, Disneyland, The Golden Gate Bridge, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Yosemite National Park, Mount Rushmore and the St. Louis arch.
TWB offers two trips of about 84 kids each year. Both trips leave Davidson College within two days of each other- June 14 and June 16. This enables Deaton to travel between the two groups, spending a few days with each one before moving on to the next.
We were assigned to either the bus or one of the two vans, which each carried a trailer for camping and cooking supplies. All of our luggage was stored under the bus.
Since I had been selected for trip two, I departed from Davidson College with 83 people, most of them complete strangers to me.
The counselors encouraged us all to talk to different people, and we had to frequently change seats on the bus. I quickly learned everyones name and made some new friends.
We would camp out each night on our tarps and with our sleeping bags. This was definitely a huge change for me, but after a few nights I got used to it and ended up loving sleeping outdoors. Most of the time we camped at campgrounds, national parks, or on some very rare and "lucky" nights, indoors.
All of us would have to wake up about 5 or 6 a.m. every morning, quickly gather our things, and go right back to sleep on either the bus or the van. We usually arrived at our destination at about 2 or 3 p.m., where we would have several hours to sightsee before continuing our journey.
There were six different groups all of us were assigned to, and each group alternated chores every few days. Duties included cooking, packing the bus, and updating the online blog for our friends and family back at home.
One of my favorite sites was definitely the Grand Canyon. I loved watching the sunset and sunrise, and hiking the canyon is definitely an experience I will never forget. Although I only chose to hike 1.5 miles in, many teens decided to hike all the way to Plateau Point - 14 miles round trip.
I also enjoyed attending a live taping of "Deal of No Deal" in Hollywood, whitewater rafting in Wyoming and walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
While I will never forget visiting all these incredible places, that is not the only thing I enjoyed. I will never forget all the new friends I made on this trip: we shared countless memories together.
TWB also enabled me to step outside of my comfort zone, and I learned more about myself. I learned not to take things for granted, to live each day like its your last, and to cherish every moment, because it could all be taken away from you any second. If it had not been for this program, I would probably never have seen half the places I visited. I am extremely lucky I had the opportunity to go on such an unforgettable trip.
Genya Kalinina is a junior at Mooresville High School. Want to be a school scoops writer? E-mail your name, grade and school to jnorman@mediageneral.com.
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