Instead of highlighting a current ranger for this week, we’d like to focus on a ranger alum. There are currently many ranger alum who are in the workforce, or studying hard in their post-secondary education.
One such alum is Ranger Days. Days began his time with the Urban Rangers back in 2007 when he was a freshman in High School. He completed the program after four successful years and graduated from the 2010 summer session. For the 2011 summer session, Days was asked to come work for the URC as a Program Support staff.
In addition to demonstrating an excellent work ethic, proficiency and reliability, Ranger Days also excelled in his academic studies. After graduating from High School in 2010, he continued his studies at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He is currently in his second year of studies and is pursuing a degree in Business with an emphasis in Marketing. He hopes to work in the Advertising field after graduating.
Ranger Days has been an extraordinary addition to the URC program. Below you will find two essays he wrote which speak of his experience as an Urban Ranger. This first is from 2008:
“My first year at Urban Rangers was a new experience for me. It was my first job so I was willing to do anything to get money. I assumed we would be working on and painting homes all day because that is what was in the job’s description. But little did I know I what I was getting into.
That third Monday in the month of June I came to the headquarters ready to work. I walked into a room of unfamiliar faces of teenage boys just like me. Upon meeting the owner of the Urban Rangers, Father John Wandless, I was introduced to a new element that I was not aware Urban Rangers had incorporated into their program. We were shown cadence, and military style marching. I immediately felt I was in the wrong place.
That whole first week was basically a boot camp for the rest of the summer. We went on countless hikes, marching and singing in cadence all through the neighborhoods. The team leaders kept us under strict discipline breaking us down as individuals and building us up as a team. They also broadened our horizons with different field trips and a challenge to find Kaufman Gardens from Troost Observatory. I experienced more in that first week than most in that summer.
We didn’t actually see our homes until the middle of the second week. Working on our homes was just a small part of the Urban Rangers programs. Our leaders worked to better us young men and we young men worked to better our community. From being with my teammates that summer I gained lifelong friendships. I am now looking to enter my third year as an Urban Ranger. I do not regret any of the experiences I have had at Urban Rangers, for they have made me stronger and an overall better person. I am now prepared for the corporate world.”
The second article was written while he was a ranger in 2009:
“The Urban Ranger program has grown and improved each year I have returned. One change from the past is that instead of the trip we normally take to Wildwood, we went to a similar place called Ironwoods Park. At Ironwoods, the rangers and I rose to the challenge of climbing a 50 foot tower. As each of us went up we relied on the help of our teammates to keep us stay safe from falling that same 50 feet to the ground.
This year also I had the opportunity to go on the first out-of-state trip organized by the Rangers. Our destination was Manderson, South Dakota. The purpose of the trip was to clean and paint a church and a few other buildings on an Indian Reservation. Upon arriving on the Reservation, my fellow rangers, team leaders, and I all wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. It was a true eye opener but as the days went on we all grew to like the Reservation and built close relationships with the Native Americans. We were able to experience things most people will never be able to including a sweat, playing ball with the natives, a trip to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and work with the descendents of legendary Indians. It was truly a great experience.
Urban Rangers has been more to me than my first job. It has prepared me for the journey into the real work force I will soon take. The Rangers have taught me how to be on time, dress appropriately, speak in the proper manner using ma’am or sir, listen to my supervisors, and not to forget how to march. As a third year Ranger I can’t think of anything better than what I would have been doing with my summers. Urban Rangers is an extraordinary program with extraordinary leaders.”
URC is very proud you Ranger Days. We look forward to hearing about your exciting future endeavors!
