4-H Alberta Magazine - 2019-20 Fall & Winter Edition

4-H ALBERTA MAGAZINE // 4H.AB.CA
The past two or three years have gone by
in a whirlwind, but I truly believe they have
been the best years of my life. Through the
4-H program I have been given so many
opportunities that other youth, especially
rural youth, do not always get to experience.
4-H has provided not only me, but also many
other youth with the opportunity to grow,
travel and achieve. Although I am a little
biased, I wholeheartedly believe 4-H is the
best youth program any youth can be in.
Over my years of membership, I have come
to realize that many other youth programs
do not give youth the opportunities to fully
learn to do by doing like 4-H does. They do
not give us the opportunity to try something
new and to learn from the experience. In 4-H,
if we fail, we fail, but we can learn from what
went wrong and take those newly learned
skills with us for the rest of our lives. I can
attest that after having my first big volunteer
event to organize on my own, I found some
areas of my plan after the event was over
that I knew I could improve on for next time.
Without the trust of 4-H, I would not have
been able to make those mistakes but be
able to learn from them.
Now that I am doing more outside of 4-H,
including working part-time and running my
own business, even in school, I have come to
realize how much the program has affected
my social skills.
Through my years of organizing and running
business meetings, keeping track of our
club’s money, attending and participating in
communications activities and everything
in between, my public speaking skills,
interpersonal skills and organizational skills
are leaps and bounds beyond what they
would have been without my years in the
program. Many people often mention how
not only mine but other 4-H’ers social skills
are well developed, even for our ages.
At the end of the day, it still seems so crazy
that I’ve gotten to where I am today, but 4-H
is what got me there. If I were to write out a
list of how 4-H has impacted me, it would be
a never-ending list! Thank you to everyone
who have helped me achieve more than I
could have ever imagined, from my family,
friends, leaders, volunteers and 4-H staff.
What I have learned from all those who have
helped me along the way have set me and
others up to be able to achieve our goals.
What I have been able to do these past few
years I would have never thought possible a
while back. I even remember telling my mom
about four years into my 4-H career that “I’d
never go to Selections” after hearing about
it, since I would have to be social the entire
weekend and I’d have to leave my room for
once. It just goes to show how influential the
first step can truly be!
To all the other members who might be in
the same situation as I was, my advice is
give everything a try. As well, don’t go into
opportunities only for the goal of winning.
Participation is so much more important than
winning. If I had gone into my first year of
the 4-H Canada Science Fair with my only
goal being to win, I probably wouldn’t have
come back the next year. Imagine how much
I would have missed out on! You never know
where something might lead you and you
never know what you might get out of it. If
you told me way back when that by going
to a senior winter camp, I’d get to meet the
Premier, I would have never believed you.
Take advantage of every opportunity that
comes your way! •
YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE
SOMETHING MIGHT LEAD YOU
AND YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT
YOU MIGHT GET OUT OF IT.
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