Catherine Mason wore cowboy boots for the first time this summer. The second-year College student had only known the wilds of Richmond before deciding to fly out to Wyoming and work on a ranch.
"I never really considered myself a 'Western' person, but I loved "Hey Dude" as a child, and I thought it was a good summer for that kind of experience," Mason said.
While only about 260 University undergraduates are native West Coasters, ranging from Arizona to the Dakotas, others who have been eastbound their whole lives want to know what it could be like to work in a fly-fishing store or on a barren ranch.
"The people in Montana made so much fun of me at first," said third-year College student Jaime Cattano, who worked on a ranch this summer. "I was just so East Coast. I ate differently, danced differently and I couldn't get on a horse."
Raised in Charlottesville, Cattano decided that it was due time to have her first away-from-home experience and head out to a ranch in Charlo, Montana, for three months this summer. She worked as a hired house hand on the family-run ranch, doing various chores like cooking, laundry, leading pack trips and serving as a fly fishing guide.
"I had to be far from high maintenance," Cattano said. "We bathed in rivers, took 'sun showers,' created our own bathrooms, cooked our own food, and I didn't see my reflection for three weeks."
Cattano got so caught up in the free-spirited Western life that she said she pondered not returning to school this fall.
She did not pay her college tuition or her sorority dues because no one was positive she would be coming back.
"My East Coast mindset encouraged me to come home and finish school, but I'll definitely be going back West as soon as I can," she said.
It was the free-spirited nature of the West that drew Mason in too.
She worked on the ranch as a housemaid, doing chores like scrubbing toilets, moving furniture and vacuuming.
"The house cleaning wasn't a ritzy experience, but we made it fun. We would eat the food that the guests left over, play with their knickknacks and ..." Mason paused and then whispered, "Don't tell anyone, but we would even sample some of the lady guests' face creams."
By day Mason would work, hike and run. By night she would drive to the nearest bowling alley and visit the townies in the bars. Her favorite nighttime activity was the staff theme parties, a mixture of "Dirty Dancing" and the University's fraternity parties.
Mason said she has no doubt that she will return to Wyoming. When asked if she would ever go back, her eyes got wide with excitement.
"Definitely. I would love to drive my car out there and visit," she said. "I am just so glad I took advantage of that opportunity. Everyone was just so easygoing and had a relaxed attitude toward life."
Second-year College student Elizabeth Baird also used last summer as a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of the East Coast. Baird worked on the Gros Ventre River Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in the cabin crew and as a waitress.
After work Baird would do outdoor activities like cliff diving, tubing, hiking and riding. Besides massive blisters, a near evacuation caused by a forest fire and getting lost on a hike, things went pretty smoothly for Baird.
"We really lucked out the day we got lost," Baird said. "We were really skeptical of hitchhiking but we were too far away from the ranch to hike back. An old ranger driving a red Jeep Cherokee pulled over for us, and we got a great geographical and historical lesson as he drove us back."
Like the other girls, Baird enjoyed the atmosphere of the West.
"It was amazing," she said. "The laid-back attitude really helped me see things in a new perspective."
On the other hand, third-year College student Hunter Jones feels he is still more or less the same person he was before his summer spent working in a fly-fishing shop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
"It was awesome out there," Jones said. "But I didn't go out West to develop emotionally or change. It was all about the fishing."
Jones worked as a salesman, not only selling fishing equipment, but also his expertise. While working in the shop, he would give out advice to customers. He encountered many hard-core extremists, famous fly fishers and Yvonne Chinard, the owner of Patagonia.
"He was definitely cool," Jones said about Chinard. "People know him because he is the man behind the mountain clothing line, but he is the best mountain climber out there and a hell of a good fisherman."
Jones roughed it out in the West by spending 20 days of the trip living out of his car and a tent. He worked nine- to 10-hour days, four days a week, and spent the rest of his time traveling around the area.
Jones said he got to live the fisherman's dream, visiting rivers all over Idaho and the Yellowstone area. Though he worked in a major tourist attraction, he felt like he was in the right place.
"Jackson Hole is so cool," Jones said. "People might think it's cheesy and touristy, but whatever. I was in pursuit of the outdoors and it was the best place to go to do that."
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