Alumni: 4-H Planted Their Future Success

Story by Alyssa Neff, Pennsylvania 4-H State Council Reporter / Historian

With great enthusiasm, the 2020 Pennsylvania 4-H State Council announced on September 7, that the statewide theme is "Plant Leaders, Growing Success." Reflecting on the meaning and the importance of this theme, I had the privilege to interview two 4-H alumni, that have been a personal inspiration to me and all have shown how 4-H can plant and grow your success as a leader of tomorrow. It is was with great enthusiasm that I was able to interview each of these individuals and hear their stories. Use these stories as an encouragement and motivation that you can grow, learn, and become planted as leader just as these individuals were.

Recently, I had the honor of interviewing two 4-H alumni, Tyler Shaw and Karoline Kent. Each one has a different beginning for how they became planted in 4-H, but their stories of growth echo those of many alumni before them: they have harvested the skills and experiences of their youth to create a career path.

Tyler's story

I joined 4-H by my mom dragging my sisters and I kicking and screaming to our first 4-H meeting. I knew nothing about 4-H and I did not care to find out what was it about when I showed up at the meeting. But I said to myself, all these kids here are a lot like me with similar interests in robotics, gardening, and woodworking. From these commonalities with fellow 4-H'ers, friendships were made and grown for life. Through more and more club meetings and events attended, my passion for 4-H grew. The more involved in 4-H I became I started to realize that you get out of the program what you are willing to put into it. I figured this out at 13 years old and from there I took a dive into every single opportunity as a 4-H'er and my roots as a leader became planted. At 13 years old, national and state 4-H opportunities became available to me and from each experience presented to me, I took advantage of and learned something to bring back to my county or state. Something I learned from these experiences was more about the maple industry in other states and from that knowledge I acquired I was able to adapt it to my own maple project. My 4-H passion was driven through experiences of meeting people from all over the country or from different counties in our state and engaging in competitions or opportunities that became available to me.

4-H truly planted the seed for me to be involved in agriculture and it's kind of interesting, because I had no intention of being a farmer. I really did not know what I wanted to do for a career. Honestly, my dream was to be a garbage man. I started to farm to feed my 4-H project animals by making hay. Eventually my hay making project grew larger and larger through the help of my connections and experiences. It grew it to an opportunity to turn farming into a full-time job for myself. This job was just an extension of my 4-H projects that were planted in me and have now brought me amazing opportunities and success like being a member of the Dauphin County Farm Bureau. Serving on State Council and being in 4-H polished me as a person and set me up to stand out in a crowd. Council prepared me to face the challenges given to a person in life, as well to take advantage of the opportunities presented to a person.

Through 4-H, I was able to meet Karoline, my fiancé. This shows the power of 4-H and how it can create connections. Karoline and I were able to purchase a farm, Maple Valley Acres, this spring, and we owe 4-H the credit for helping us grow our connections and knowledge for us to be able to not only purchase this farm, but also be the people we are today. To present 4-H'ers, keep staying positive for the best is yet to come!

Tyler's amazing 4-H story shows us that we all can find our dream and achieve our goals through 4-H. Once those seeds are planted in us as a leader in 4-H, the success or our best is still to come. Tyler's 4-H story brought him to meeting Karoline, but Karoline has a story of her own.

Karoline's Story

At 13 years old, horse crazy, Karoline Kent joined 4-H. Karoline was a Lancaster County 4-H'er and served as 4-H State Council President from 2014-2015.

My first 4-H meeting that I attended was for a horse club and at that meeting 4-H'ers were signing up for State Leadership Conference. I did not know anyone at the time, but I signed up anyway. At these 4-H state events I met people and started getting involved more in 4-H. Many of the 4-H'ers I met at these state or national events I have remained friends with. Some of these friends were past State Council members, who encouraged me to run for State Council, and that was truly one of the best decisions I could have made in that point in my life. I still have remained friends with those 4-H'ers who helped and encouraged me down my 4-H and Council journey. Through my State Council and 4-H experiences, it has prepared me for my current career at Messick's Farm Equipment and as stable owner and horse trainer, because this opportunity gave me a lot of confidence, professionalism, and the skills that most people attain later on in life. On State Council, one must grow up quick and start taking on more responsibilities. What I mean by this is there were tasks and challenges appointed to us that grew us into stronger public speakers and better planners than what most kids are at that age. Take advantage of each opportunity that you are given. No one can take away the memories, opportunities, and experiences that 4-H offers.

Let Karoline's 4-H story be an encouragement to you that through the help of 4-H friends and 4-H volunteer one can reach for the stars and land on the moon instead. 4-H'ers build and encourage each other to become an even better leader. You can't have the same exact 4-H story as Karoline or Tyler's, but you can still become planted as a leader through the 4-H program, grow your own 4-H story, and reap the harvest of your own success to make a brighter future for all. There is truly "Opportunity 4 All" through 4-H, so that we can grow, learn, and pass it on to the next generation of leaders.