In just under half a year, I am going to turn 16 and I have to say for nearly half my life, 4-H has been a part of me and who I am today and who I will be in the future.  I can tell you, having taken part in different activities available through 4-H, while learning about animals such as rabbits, goats, and especially dogs, 4-H has been and remains an important part of who I am. It goes without saying, but I owe the person I am today, to the many adults who created a club for kids like me to learn and grow and I hope to show you how today. 

With over seven years of showing rabbits, goats and dogs, I have learned valuable  leadership skills that will be useful in the future. My parents and my advisors comment on how I have blossomed from a young and introverted girl, struggling to  find my way while I placed last in different events, to a champion 4-H member, winning it all. Along the way I have learned to mentor the younger kids in my club, so they get the chance to succeed as well. Something I learned is that although it is fun to win the ribbons and trophies, it is an amazing feeling to see the young kids you have mentored compete and win with their events as well. By working with the younger members of my club, I have earned the trust of my 4-H advisors to work with and alongside kids with disabilities. I’ll tell you about that later. 

I wish I could experience these days forever, but I know my time as a 4-H competitor will come to an end after I turn 18. But I trust that I will be able to carry on like others before me and possibly work as an advisor helping other young people doing something I love today, later when I am an adult. My goal is to inspire many new spirits, parents who are looking for a way to help their children grow, into joining 4-H so they can gain new experiences and friendships that will last a lifetime.  It’s okay if you don’t want to show an animal, believe me when I say that 4-H offers a lot of other miscellaneous projects for kids to complete and learn from. These projects range from subjects like fishing, cooking, woodworking,  and even art scrapbooking. My brother William did a project for photography and  he really enjoyed his work and the results of his project. We will find projects to complete, but first you need to show up and give us a chance to show you what we offer. 

Time spent making new friends, that grow into best friends, those are memories that make you better and stronger. I cannot tell you how many lives 4-H has impacted, but the proof is out there…you just need to look for it at any 4-H event. Adults are there carrying on the rich tradition of what they learned and passing it on to kids like me. 

I see the world changing because of Covid-19 when I hear my parents talk about how their lives have changed with work and how my life has changed with school. 4-H was just like everything else because we had to do it virtually to get in the needed amount of meetings to compete and everyone had to work hard to work with their animals at home without our advisors standing next to us. Last year, my 4-H club finally got it all back to normal and we had a great County Fair again, sharing in the wins in our club as well as other clubs. When you are at the fair, at a club meeting, or even if it is your first time coming to learn about my club, most teens will make sure that you feel welcome. If you give us a chance, you will feel that you are a part of decisions and not just there, feeling like a ghost while others tell you what to do. 4-H is mainly about gaining new experiences, making friendships, gaining successful skills and having fun while doing it. 

One thing 4-H is mainly about is gaining new experiences. In 4-H you don’t just go to meetings and show an animal. You can do community service projects, mentor younger members, and even go to 4-H camp. And you can’t forget about the whole week that you get to spend with your friends at the County or even State fairs. For me, 4-H used to be about winning. Now, all I care about is seeing the younger kids that I mentor win and succeed. Some experiences will stay with me forever.  One of the best examples that I have experienced is being able to help a kid with special needs be able to show his dog. His name is Hunter and he goes to my school. Hunter has trouble being able to communicate with others verbally, and makes very little eye contact. With the work of a winning plan, while moderating what he was asked to do in competition, I was able to see his face light up when he got that big blue ribbon and a trophy. 

Another thing I enjoy about 4-H, is the friendships I’ve made over time. 4-H wouldn’t be very fun if you didn’t get to have fun with new people. Personally, I think that the friendships you make are the best thing that you get out of 4-H. You get to meet people that are interested in the same things as you and that makes it easier for you to connect with them. Once 4-H starts in January or February, you get to see these people regularly until after the fair. They become like a second family. My club has picnics where we meet somewhere and play games and basically team building to get to know each other better. Most recently we went to one of our members' houses where we were able to go kayaking, along with anything you can think of on their lake, we could also play anything we wanted around their property. After that we were all so much closer and that is what 4-H should really be about.

4-H is also about gaining skills that can help you in the future. This can be done by mentorships or the wide variety of miscellaneous projects you can do. If you know what career path you want to go in, then you can pick a project that fits in that category to help you gain skills that might be able to help you figure out if you really want to take that path for your life or not. For example, I have known since a young age that I want to be a teacher. While the miscellaneous projects haven’t helped with that, I have mentored many younger kids in my club. It has helped teach me patience and leadership skills that I will need if I do end up being a teacher. 

Finally I’d like to tell you that 4-H is about having fun.  While it is designed to help teens for the future, you are supposed to have fun at the same time. They make the projects fun but at the same time make it beneficial and mean something to a young kids future. If you were a kid would you really want to do this year after year if it wasn’t fun? No, you wouldn’t. So, what I’m saying is that 4-H may be hard and difficult at times but overall it is designed for you to have fun.

4-H is mainly about gaining new experiences, making friendships, gaining successful skills and having fun while doing it. These thoughts are my opinions and from my experiences of what 4-H is like to me. I have done 4-H since I was allowed and I wouldn’t take that time back for anything. I have learned skills that go with what job I want to acquire in the future along with many more skills that you use in your everyday life. If you are not in 4-H, you definitely should be. It could help lead you in a path for your life and make new friends along the way.