For those of you who've been students struggling with a budget, you know how entertainment and fun and sometimes go by the wayside due to a lack of funding. As a retuning student coping with an extreme loss of funds, it's incredibly difficult for me to adjust to. Going from being able to do whatever I want to, to planning out months in advance how much money I need for tuition and books (and medical insurance that was previously paid for by my former employer), has certainly put a cramp in our fun time!
Fortunately, Arapahoe Community College really seems to understand the limited budget of students, and the importance of having fun. As a student, I have access to some super sweet discounts - next Tuesday, I can get $5 Rockies tickets (if my husband will go - he's boycotting them until they get above .500). I get discounted day and season passes to Elitch Gardens, day passes to Water World, and they plan cool trips like for $10 I can go to the Pike's Peak Cog Rail and that includes transportation there and back, lunch, and the train ride. They also did free tours to Dinosaur Ridge.
But, coolest of all was the two white water rafting trips they planned this summer. If you've been watching the news, you know that this year we've had record breaking water levels on our rivers. That makes for some sweet rafting. If you've ever been rafting, you know that half day trips start at around $65/person, and full days go for about $85/person or more. If you do one of the more "reckless" trips like the famous Numbers of the Arkansas River, it's even more expensive. So, you figure that's at least $130 for 2 people to raft; throw in gas to drive all the way down to Buena Vista, and it's looking to be close to a $200 day easily - not something a student can really afford. Well, the college offered us an incredible deal - I have no idea how they did this, because even if you plan a large group, you're still looking at $50+/person to go. We got to go on a full day rafting trip, transportation down there and back, snacks and water for the trip, and the outfit they went with does a steak lunch complete with BBQ'ed sweet corn on the cob (all you can eat) - all of this and it only cost us $20 a person. Again, only $20 each!
Needless to say, as soon as I saw these trips come out in the student newsletter, I immediately signed up for both trips (they were limited to 28 people each). We were allowed to bring one guest. Ron was out of town for the first trip, so our friend Patrick went with me to raft Brown's Canyon - the most rafted area in the world (or so I was told). Ron and I had done this part of the Arkansas River before, but it's different every time, especially with the high water flow this year.
The second trip was supposed to be to the Numbers, a little further north on the Arkansas, but the water levels have been so high, they've only run the Numbers twice so far this season - it's been far too dangerous to raft. Here I must give a shout out to the fabulous rafting company that we booked with, Buffalo Joe's, for accommodating this "let down" of missing the Numbers. They dropped us in just south of the Numbers at the top of Wild Horse Canyon, and we proceeded down the Arkansas for 26 miles, taking in everything the Arkansas has to offer on our marathon length trip. We took in Wild Horse, the Narrows, and all of Brown's Canyon. This was an exhausting and wonderful trip down the River - not something they do very often, and the first time this season that they'd run that length. When we would talk to other rafting companies along the way, the guides would ask where we started and where we were going and would just pause and grin "Sweet!!!"
It was a wild ride. We had 2 or 3 rafts flip in our tour, and we picked up a group from another company who had flipped their raft and lost it. Their safety kayak was able to get ahead of the raft and pull it to shore right at our lunch stop, which was a perfect place to drop them off.
We were on the river for so long, that we got to experience the afternoon monsoons while rafting. The wind was harsh and the river angry, blowing white caps into our faces on even the calmest sections of water. It freakin' fantastic! Our guide, Jesse Burns, was absolutely incredible and the most hospitable person ever. When we left the shop in the morning, the sun was shining. I remembered how warm it was 2 weeks earlier when Patrick and I rafted and I was too hot in my splash jacket so I didn't one the second time around. By the time the storm blew in, it was C-O-L-D! Jesse brought extra sweaters for people to wear under their splash jackets, and gave one to me to keep warm in. He also brought coffee in a thermos which was excellent after several hours on the raft in the cold. (side bar - it was funny seeing the look on our faculty member's face when she and her husband's raft came in behind ours when I reached down and opened the thermos and took a swig, then passed it to Ron and Jesse. They were like, "Hey! What you guys got there?" I said "Nothing to see here, carry on...")
Super great rafting outfit, so if you're ever rafting the Arkansas definitely go with Buff Joe's. If you go with someone else, you'll regret it as you smell the steaks grilling from the river as you head in for your deli sandwich! Awesome guides - if you do Brown's Canyon, ask for Grant. If you go north ask for Jesse Burns.
So, here I got to enjoy two weekends of fun, introduced Patrick to joys of river rafting, and hang with my hubby doing something other than study, all for the price of $60 (Pat paid his own $20). For $60, I rafted twice, Ron came once, and all for less than the price of one single ticket. I heard the school uses student activity fees to cover the difference in price. Whatever they do, it is so appreciated! They also bring bands in over the summer to do evening concerts, and offer classes at all times of day in misc formats in order to accommodate any student schedule imaginable. I've been so impressed with what I've seen so far from the staff and advisors that I wrote a letter/email to the college president, Diane Doyle, and SHE WROTE ME BACK!
For anyone thinking about returning to school, it's so much fun, and there are a lot of benefits to it. Do some research and choose the one that's best for you. I don't mean to brag or justify ACC, but they have a 100% pass rate for students in my program for the ACSM exam, and a 75% job placement rate after graduation in my program (the other 25% go on to a 4 year), and their Automotive Program was named the best in the nation for 2011. That's pretty impressive for a small school - ok, it seems big for a CC in Colorado, but I'm from California!
I just want to say "THANK YOU ACC!"
No comments:
Post a Comment