4-H-er thread!

[henny1129]

Yeah aging out is sad, but a lot of the good friends you make in 4-H will be your friends for life, which is a great thing. It really is an amazing group. I even hope to become a 4-H leader one day. Plus what you learn in 4-H never really leaves you.. I had to show dairy heifer for my college class (I never worked with large animals when I was in 4-H), and having some show experience from 4-H was definitely a big help, even though it was an animal I've never showed before. Once you age out you really start to appreciate the skills and things you have learned!

Yeah, I already appreciate all I've learned.

While 4H is a fun little thing to do when you are a little kid, we all do grow out of it and it is nice to expand beyond the walls of 4H and explore other realms. 4H teaches members very little in the big scheme of things. Believe me, you can learn more in one day of sanctioned showing than you can learn in all your time in 4H. This experience probably varies based on your group, you can only learn so much with 4H. 4H is a fun little thing to do in your younger years but when you get into the real deal it just doesn't compare. 

I am in my last year in 4H and enjoyed it, but I cannot wait to start getting into "real" livestock husbandry. 

In my opinion 4-H isn't just all about showing animals and how to create great award winning animals. 4-H is about the friends you meet and make, its about the leadership skills you learn along the way, the life skills and responsilities you learn from completing projects. 4-H isn't meant to teach you everything you need to know about showing in "real" shows, it's meant to teach you how to be a responsible adult and care for yourself in the real world. It's meant to teach you leadership skills and so many other things that aren't just showing animals. I mean, why would we have miscellaneous and clothing and nutrition and writing projects if 4-H was just meant to teach (or not to teach) the members about showing. I'm not trying to argue here, but I disagree with the statement "4-H teaches members very little in the big scheme of thing", it teaches members so much in the big scheme of things! I don't know what other counties do, but each year I go through so many interviews with 4-H and because of that I learned how to conduct an incredible interview! I get that maybe 4-H doesn't teach you how to be a stellar showman, but in the big scheme of things, 4-H actually teaches you so many more life skills that are WAY more important than having good animals and showing animals well. Like I said, I'm not trying to argue, but these are my thoughts.

 

[henny1129]

My name is Lauren, I am in 4H vet science program, and I have 5 chickens (booted banties) and (Easter eggers) and possibly an other breed. Fluffers, Humptey Dumptey, Polito, Sweet Pea, and Crow. I also have two (3/4 Pygmy 1/2 Nigerian dwarf) goats twin brother and sister Milo and Mocha. I do not show my animals however. Three dogs and a cat too!

I Love this website and finally joined!!!

Welcome!

 

[miss heny]

Nobody does this for money, if they do they're in the wrong business lol! I spend thousands on my show birds and get maybe $50 in premiums for a good day at a show. I don't sell birds to anyone either. Poultry premiums are extremely low. 

Also....I like herefords. Angus are less flashy to me. 

lol yea but angus show stock prices are stupidly high, I know some kids who payed 50k+ for a show heifer around here for angus.

 

[miss heny]

Yeah, I already appreciate all I've learned.
In my opinion 4-H isn't just all about showing animals and how to create great award winning animals. 4-H is about the friends you meet and make, its about the leadership skills you learn along the way, the life skills and responsilities you learn from completing projects. 4-H isn't meant to teach you everything you need to know about showing in "real" shows, it's meant to teach you how to be a responsible adult and care for yourself in the real world. It's meant to teach you leadership skills and so many other things that aren't just showing animals. I mean, why would we have miscellaneous and clothing and nutrition and writing projects if 4-H was just meant to teach (or not to teach) the members about showing. I'm not trying to argue here, but I disagree with the statement "4-H teaches members very little in the big scheme of thing", it teaches members so much in the big scheme of things! I don't know what other counties do, but each year I go through so many interviews with 4-H and because of that I learned how to conduct an incredible interview! I get that maybe 4-H doesn't teach you how to be a stellar showman, but in the big scheme of things, 4-H actually teaches you so many more life skills that are WAY more important than having good animals and showing animals well. Like I said, I'm not trying to argue, but these are my thoughts.

I agree with this. I'll openly admit my experience with 4H has had bad luck but I wont go into depth about that here because it seems to be a major issue in MS 4H itself.

 

[henny1129]

I agree with this. I'll openly admit my experience with 4H has had bad luck but I wont go into depth about that here because it seems to be a major issue in MS 4H itself.

I've dealt with some difficult people and experiences through 4-H but I've ultimately learned from both.

 

[miss heny]

Agree, I just find ironies of what they preach and do not follow in this state itself in general.

 

[waddles99]

In my opinion 4-H isn't just all about showing animals and how to create great award winning animals. 4-H is about the friends you meet and make, its about the leadership skills you learn along the way, the life skills and responsilities you learn from completing projects. 4-H isn't meant to teach you everything you need to know about showing in "real" shows, it's meant to teach you how to be a responsible adult and care for yourself in the real world. It's meant to teach you leadership skills and so many other things that aren't just showing animals. I mean, why would we have miscellaneous and clothing and nutrition and writing projects if 4-H was just meant to teach (or not to teach) the members about showing. I'm not trying to argue here, but I disagree with the statement "4-H teaches members very little in the big scheme of thing", it teaches members so much in the big scheme of things!

I must say, I fail to see how 4H teaches any of those things. Sure, maybe having animals teaches responsibility, but most of us have had animals before joining 4H. The rest of it? Nah. Can't agree with you on that one. Maybe in your experience, but in a broad sense, 4H is an organization in which you register your animals as "projects" and then exhibit them at the fair, along with attending monthly meetings. Nothing more than that. Sure, you can take on extra activities, such as volunteering, through 4H, which will teach leadership and life skills. But then isn't that the volunteering what gives you those skills, not 4H? The fact of the matter is, henny1129, that 4H is an organization to encourage the keeping of livestock as project animals, and to serve as a front where kids can get recognized for their work with such animals. Nothing more than that. FYI, the clothing and nutrition stuff is just to get kids involved who aren't at a point in their lives where they can keep animals.

Frankly, i'm not disparaging 4H in any way, as I have enjoyed my time in it, but lets not try and make it appear anything more than it actually is. I apologize to all those on this thread who have to hear this when they just want to focus on the animals, which is what 4H is truly about.

 

[I Love Layers]

I must say, I fail to see how 4H teaches any of those things. Sure, maybe having animals teaches responsibility, but most of us have had animals before joining 4H. The rest of it? Nah. Can't agree with you on that one. Maybe in your experience, but in a broad sense, 4H is an organization in which you register your animals as "projects" and then exhibit them at the fair, along with attending monthly meetings. Nothing more than that. Sure, you can take on extra activities, such as volunteering, through 4H, which will teach leadership and life skills. But then isn't that the volunteering what gives you those skills, not 4H? The fact of the matter is, henny1129, that 4H is an organization to encourage the keeping of livestock as project animals, and to serve as a front where kids can get recognized for their work with such animals. Nothing more than that. FYI, the clothing and nutrition stuff is just to get kids involved who aren't at a point in their lives where they can keep animals. 

Frankly, i'm not disparaging 4H in any way, as I have enjoyed my time in it, but lets not try and make it appear anything more than it actually is. I apologize to all those on this thread who have to hear this when they just want to focus on the animals, which is what 4H is truly about. 

I have gained lots of friends through 4H. I've learned not to leave things to the last minute, and the leadership skills I've learned are really helping me as I get into HS.

And there are other projects other then livestock that you can do.

 

[waddles99]

I think all of this also depends on personal experience.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I think it depends on the club, but I've always thought 4-H taught a variety of useful skills other than animal-related ones. My club was very big on promoting community service and education. 4-H is how I got most of my community service hours actually. The whole club was always very involved in community service and we would always make it one of our yearly goals to reach a certain amount of volunteer hours. Leadership was also a big part of my club. Even when someone wasn't an officer we would still assign older members leadership tasks to gain experience. Every year my club would do a non-animal related educational display at the fair (usually environmental) and we would assign a member to coordinate it. I did this for about 3 years and I gained a lot of leadership and organizational skills through it. I also held various officer positions over the years. I don't know if I would have gained these leadership skills without 4-H. Every club is different, and some are very animal-focused, but I know my county, especially my rabbit club, was always big on promoting service, leadership, and other skills. We even have a public speaking requirement for every member.