PARTICIPANT PROFILES

NAME: Shannon

What were you doing before you left for USA?
I had just completed my first year of uni. Although I’d done a lot travel with my family when I was younger, I wanted to do some of my own independent travel for ages! Basically I took the first chance I got to head over to the USA!

Where in USA did you live, what were you doing?
I lived in Winter Park, Colorado, which is about 2 hours west of Denver, and worked at a placed called "Snow Mountain Ranch". I spent my time working at two restaurants there, primarily one called "The Buckboard Grille".

Tell me about a typical day of work in USA…
I was a supervisor at the Grille, so at times I basically had to run the restaurant. My duties included setting up, greeting customers, taking orders, waiting tables, ordering, cleaning – you name it! Of course as a supervisor I also had to make sure that other people were doing what they were supposed to be! The days were sometimes pretty hectic and long. After an extremely busy shift I’d be so hyped up and it would sometimes take a long time to ‘come back down to earth’.

How long were you away for?
Four months, from November ’03 until March ’04. I left home a week after my exams finished and arrived back a week after uni had started again after summer break!

What sort of skills do you think you gained from working in USA?
One of the major things, I think, was maturity and confidence. I was reasonably young when I did the program (at 18 ½ I was the youngest employee at SMR!), so the experience definitely helped me to grow up quite a lot. I had to encounter many new people on a day-to-day basis, and I learnt to live with some types of people I had never encountered before!

Tell me a bit about the travel that you got to do around USA? And elsewhere?
I did a short road trip with a bunch of Kiwis and Aussies – we hit Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado (we actually went to Four Corners, the only place in the USA where four different states meets – I’ve stood in four different states simultaneously!). The highlight of this trip had to be the Grand Canyon – it definitely takes your breath away and really is indescribable.

Why did you decide to go on the program?
I wanted to prove to myself that I could do something like travel across the world all by myself! Even though I wasn’t really a skier or snowboarded, I liked the idea of living and working in a snowy area as I hadn’t really ever spent time in one before.

What attracted you to USA specifically?
I guess I’d always had a fascination with the USA, and although I’d visited it before, I wanted the chance to experience the ‘real’ American way of life. I got to experience Thanksgiving soon after I arrived, and it was awesome to have a winter Christmas.

What was your favourite thing about living and working in USA?
The people! I get to meet fellow travellers from New Zealand, Australia, Korea, Brazil, Peru, Canada, and of course the USA, many of which I am still in contact with. I also loved being able to experience another way of life.

Did you find the experience rewarding?
No doubt about it, yes. I would do it again in a heartbeat. The sense of satisfaction I felt in completing the program was enormous.

Tell me about an adventure that you had while you were away?
We had so many awesome parties and get togethers. SMR would regularly take staff on trips to Denver and other locations. One night just before Christmas we went into Denver for a Christmas Parade, which was awesome and HUGE! There were so many school marching bands, balloons, floats, etc! All the buildings were lit up really well and they all looked so pretty. A white Christmas is definitely an awesome experience!