Blog

As a seventeen-year-old, I remember driving to the Salmon Arm fair in my dad’s old Volkswagen Jetta, with the muffler hanging on by a couple of clothes hangers, windows down (the ones you have to crank) singing along to Alan Jackson, with three little Nigerian Dwarf goats in the back seat, ready for the 4-H goat show. I started 4-H at eleven years old and stayed in it until after high school. 4-H is a youth program teaching skill-building and community involvement through activities and projects. I always had goat projects, which includes raising them and showing them, however 4-H taught me other valuable skills that made me into the person that I am today. 

Raising animals teaches you about responsibility. Getting up early to let the goats out of the barn, feeding, grooming, and training them to walk beside me so I didn't end up with a “rodeo goat" in the show ring, were all responsibilities I took on as a young person. 4-H guides members to be responsible for their projects through the keeping of record books. I'm sure most 4-H members can tell you how much they dread record books - they are a lot of work – but they teach the importance being organized, recording group activities, and tracking expenses (hay, grain, vet bills) and profits (show winnings, selling the animal, offspring). By keeping record books and caring for my projects, I learned to be more responsible. 

4-H members are required to participate in communications day where they do a variety of public speaking demonstrations. After nine years of 4-H, I got confident when talking in front of a crowd of people. This isn't to say that I don’t get anxious when there are dozens of eyes looking at me, but rather I am confident in my ability to write a solid speech and execute it properly. Public speaking is a skill that is important in certain careers, and I am grateful I was able to gain that ability through 4-H. 

The most important lesson that 4-H taught me is teamwork, and how valuable it is to have a supportive community around you. All members have a role such as secretary, treasurer, or president and everyone must work together for the success of the club. Working with others often requires lots of patience and collaboration from everyone involved. I was fortunate to be in a club that did many group activities together, such as travelling to Nova Scotia through a 4-H exchange and being involved in programs like Food for Thought and Youth Action. 4-H gave me opportunities to build and grow as a member of a team. 

4-H isn't just about animals, it's about the experiences along the way and learning the skills that can make you a more accomplished person. I created many fond memories, developed a community that I continue to be involved in, and made lifelong friendships with incredible people. The 4-H motto is “learn to do by doing" which is how I learned responsibility, public speaking, and the teamwork skills that I have today.