I have been volunteering at Sentinel Farms for a year now. I found out about the farm from a friend who had said that the summer camp was really fun. I started volunteering at the farm around May and ever since I’ve never wanted to leave. Between the horses and the people I always feel as if it is a safe place and you don’t have to worry about being judged by other people. The people around are always easy to open up to, many times I have caught myself telling someone something personal and for me that’s big because I’m not the kind of person who can just throw out there feelings like beads on Mardi Gras, even after I catch myself, I keep going because I know I can trust that person and my information will stay where I told them.
When horse camp is going on, I am there at 7am which is an hour ahead of everyone else and I leave at 4pm or later which is 2 hours after everyone else has left. So, in the morning I feed the horses in the barn and sweep. I even get every stall prept with the horses halter and a lead line.
Being at the barn has taught me confidence. When leading the horses you learn that you need to take control or the horse will take control over you – which could be dangerous. Recognizing this made me think and question if other people in my life might be trying to lead me around. So, I started to take charge of my life and I feel a lot better about knowing that if something is unfair or I’m getting pushed around, I can stand my ground – when before spending time at the farm, I probably would have just pushed it off and kept going along like everything was okay.
I’m always busy with the farm or with Kerry’s new ideas that she needs my help with. So, I’m not bored and able to discover the drugs and alcohol that most young teenagers my age can get access to real easily. So instead of drugs being on my mind I can focus on school work and working hard on the farm after school. I hope I will always be involved with Unbound Grace.