My Experience with 4-H

Many years of fun projects summarized in 5 minutes

4H has been a large part of my life ever since I was a little kid. I've done so many things through 4H that I honestly can't remember most of it. I will try my best to reaccount some of the more memorable moments.

Marinette County Fair

Me and my sheep in 6th grade

Being raised on a farm, I've always shown animals at the fair. I've learned a lot about sheep and pigs, and even when I'm not showing them, I enjoy petting these friendly animals :).

In addition to livestock showmanship, I've also presented my works in Tie-Dye's, Trail Camera photagraphy, Soaps & Candles, and other crafts.

Of course, "the fair" has almost nothing to do with the 4 day event itself. The whole summer is usually spent in anticipation and preperation for it!

Presentations and Trips

Space Camp in Alabama

Fancy language aside, 4-H has lowkey given me so many fun opportunities. Going to Space Camp and the Art Beat were actually amazing journeys that I could only do because of 4H.

Space Camp was a national, week long trip that I went on where we learned about NASA methods and mini science projects. As a 6th grader, I was fascinated by what NASA was accomplishing.

To get into Space Camp, I had to submit an application and interview with some 4H executives. I was accepted and was taken to the camp by bus. On the way back, we took our bus, nicknamed the "ISS", through the night. I wasn't able to sleep on the bus, so I told everbody that I "pulled an all nighter on the ISS!"

A less prestegious camp that I went to was the Art Beat. This was just a state-wide weekend camp where we learned about various art forms, including drama. I can distinctly remember learning how to paint over a black and white photo and giving it's color back, but re-imagined. That was fun.

A nice thing about 4H is the ability to present your experiences to peers. I was able to give a presentation on what I did at Space Camp to my entire middle school. I also gave a state-wide presentation on Scratch programming at one of the STEM gatherings, at about age 12.

Club Leadership

Our meetings took place in a similar environment. Photo from the University of Arizona extention of the Tech Changemakers project.

There were a few years where I was heavily involved in 4H, so much so, that I became the vice president of the club in 7th grade. In 8th grade, I became the president for a year, before stepping down again. I had a lot of fun in these two positions.

In the year of 2020, I actually became the 4H marrinette county king. My ability to back flip allowed for some awesome show-boating :)

Through these leadership opportunities, I learned how to better position myself in groups for more efficiency, blah blah blah, you know the drill.

Tech Changemakers

A presentation given in 2023, captured by 1011now.com

4H Tech Changemakers was the largest initiatve we ever took on. I went to chicago to attend the seminar, where we learned about the partnerships taking place to actually make a national diference. Microsoft, 4H, and local ISP's (in our case, Astrea/ Packerland Broadband) were all getting together to start bridging the American tech gap.

The Internet Service Providers were recieving funding to reach outwards and make sure everybody has access to high speed broadband. Microsoft was there to provide equipment and logistics. The 4H people were there to educate.

My team and I set up 6 tech sessions in the county at places like senior centers and schools. We were there to educate anything between the basic principals of modern technology to cyber security. Even after the tech sessions, we were still approached by people asking about any questions we could answer.

Our comparison of a multi-tool and a phone, presented at a senior citizen center

Even though I haven't been involved in Tech Changemakers since ~2020, it was (and still is) a huge initiative.

Various Stuff

Marinnette County sheep showmanship ring

4H has always been the time filler for our club. Between all the meetings and events, there is almost never a week that goes by without something happening.

Our club has always had a huge prescence at county wide events like speech and demonstration contests. As a 6th grader, I memorized a 5 minute speech about 4H. Very Meta. I got a 1st place medal for that one.

Of course, there is also the volunteering. We have helped with cleaning roads, forest trails, and running the 4H food booth.

In 2023, we helped push for installing a more convinient TV system in the animal stalls to make the calling process easier.

Conclussion: 4H has sent me down a lot of paths that have lead to great destinations. I'm very glad to have been a part of it!