I grew up on a small farm in Shenandoah County, Virginia where my passion for agriculture began. I started showing livestock at the age of eight. I began attending Virginia Tech in Fall 2015 in pursuit of a Bachelors of Science in Animal and Poultry Sciences and Dairy Science. I would love to work with kids & cows when I grow up, so I decided to try for the Virginia Cooperative Extension Internship this summer. I interviewed at three Counties, and I felt that the Shenandoah County position would be the best fit for me going into my first internship because I already knew the office staff. This is the blog of my adventures.
Week 1 (May 21-25)
I know its surprising, but thisweekI worked my first of many 40 hour weeks. In past summers I have worked part time at a restaurant, but this was my firstweek in "big girl world." I started out thisweek with a whole lot of forms, a staff meeting, and a few projects.I am super excited to have the opportunity to be teaching a station at two of the YQCA training events in Shenandoah and Page counties. The only problem was that--other that having kids stick needles into bananas--I had no idea of what to do during the 30 minutes that I had for my lesson.Ilooked back on my time as a 4-H youth and was trying to think of something that I would have found useful as a participating youth and I realized that one subject that was always kind of glazed over was parasites. I immediately started researching and came up with a plan to have some of the actual parasites along with the traditional pictures that are used.
On Friday, I got to help one of the other employees in the office with scouting fields. The Crops and Soil Science Agent is working with researchers at Virginia Tech to look at the effect of no till fields on slug numbers and therefore the amount of damage done to crops. We went out and looked at several fields and noted the growth stage, level of damage, and estimated the percentage of cover within the field. This allows them to begin to correlate the amount of cover with the totalamount of damage to the crop. Another portion of the research is looking at naturalpredators of the slug and seeing if actions can be taken to increase the predators numbers.I though that this was veryinteresting because it is an alternative to insecticides and utilizing bugs that are already in the fields. Another thing that I have learned from thisweekisjust how much paperwork and data entries there are in this line of work. Any time that I have not been working on projects or out thisweek was spent on entering animal entries into a database for the county fair. Our sheep, goat, and swine weigh in is on the 1st and 2nd of June and the data has to be in at the beginning of the nextweek so we can start to work on putting together tags to make life easier at the weigh in. I am super excited for next week and the Livestock weigh in!
Week 2 (May 28-June 1)
This week I experienced all of the wonders of working in an office.I discovered that there is a magical folding machine (I bet the guy that invented that made millions) that will fold practically anything.I printed off some fair sponsorship letters and needed to fold them, and I was slightly (MAJORLY) panicking at the thought of having to fold all of those papers neatly because the 4-H kids were asking for money. That’s when I was enlightened to the existence of the magical folding machine. It one of those things that you don’t know exists until you work in an office setting and then they are literally your BEST FRIEND. Once I learned how to feed them through the machine and got them all folded I then started panicking again. HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO PRODUCE ENOUGH SALIVA TO LICK 125 ENVELOPES?!?! So I asked the office secretary if there was any other magical inventions that had I had lived blissfully unaware of for the past 21 years. It turns out that what I had thought was an oddly placed Bingo dabber on the front desk was actually an envelope moistener. Now this may sound like a very anti-climactic situation to most people but I have never worked in an office before and it was TERRIFYING.
The other major—but slightly less terrifying-- event this week was the county fair weigh-in for the Sheep, Hogs, and Goats. As I told you all last week I did most of the preparing for the weigh-in.Iputall of the entries into the database and assigned permanent ID tags to all of the animals, so how smooth the weigh-inwent was all on me.My dad is on the executive committee for the county and had already been telling everyone on the committee that if anything wentwrong it was my fault jokingly, but I was still nervous because they would allseemy mistakes. Other than a few typos and the kids that for some reason the database left off the reports, the weigh-in went smoothly. From new office supply discoveries to weigh-ins I have helped at ever since I can remember, I am learning all about how much work it actually takes behind the scenes to make things run smoothly in Extension.I knew how things worked form the 4-H livestock Exhibitor side but I had never taken the time to consider who had to sit there and lick the envelope for every letter I had ever gotten through 4-H.
Week 3 (June 4-8)
This week our county had the Saddle up Buttercup horse camp at the Fort Valley Ranch.I was originally on the fence about going, but Idecided that it would most likely be a fun opportunity to get out of the office.I tend to be a little biased when it comes to “horsepeople” because of some of the experiences I have had, but these people were awesome.
I had onlyever been on a horse once before and no matter how much Ibegged my dad when I was little he wouldn’t cave in on getting one. My dad and Ieven had a conversation before camp in which he told me that no matter how much Iwanted one I was not getting a horse.(There is a story behind my family’s dislike of horses, and my brother would kill me if I put it on here.)
Anyways, I ended up at this camp where most of the kids knew more about what they were doing than I did.I mainly stood back and watchedthe kids as they prepared their horses like pros until the last day of camp when Ialso had to get on a horse and go on a 2 hour trial ride with the kids.I was completely okay with getting on a horse until the wrangler picked the tallest horse for me to ride. So I lead thishorse that they nicknamed the turtle over to the step stools because there was no way I was getting onthishorse without some sort of help. The ride was uneventful, mainly because we rode in circles for two hours, but it was more than enough for me. All in all Ican say that I would probably do it again just not for 2 hours the next time.I didn’t necessarily go beg my dad to get a horse, but I do have a new found respect for the people that ridehorses.
Week 4 (June 11-15)
This week was probably the busiest I have had in this internship so far.I had to give my first presentation of the YQCA station that I created. The nerves didn’t set in until it really dawned on me that I was going to be allowing eight year olds to play with needles.I’m not sure why I didn’t realize that before, but I had nothing else prepared so that’s what I had to go with. When it came time for the groups to split up and go into stations, of course, I got the youngest first. It seemed like literally every one of them brought their parents along too. So I go through my little spiel about common diseases/parasites that they might see with their project animals and then I start in on the injection protocol and all of the parents are suddenly looking at me like what in the world are you teaching my child. So Idid what anyone would do and pretended not to see them having a mini panic attack and continued to teachthem the safe way to give injections. Thankfully there were no puncture wounds on any of the kids that night.Iactuallyevenhad one of the parents say that he thought my station was actually very useful since most of them had never actually had the opportunity to feel what it is like to inject something.I definitely felt like Iactually had their attention and most of them seemed genuinely excited to have had the opportunity to “play with needles.”
This week I also helped out the Northwestern Community services Board in completing surveys at practically every tobacco seller in the area. It is an interesting experience to say the least. We have had quite a few people think that we are performing some sort of audit and actually kicked us out of the store and there have been those that have kept us there for an hour taking about they don’t sell tobacco to underage kids.I think that thee most interesting thing about helping with this survey is that I am starting to realize how much tobacco advertising is geared towards younger audiences. One store, in particular, had all of the e-cigs on top of the counter in a glass container with all sorts of fancy advertising that any kid could look up and see all of the flavors like cotton candy. Tobacco products are never going to go away, but I definitely think that the advertising should be re-evaluated for older audiences.
Week 5 (June 18-22)
This week I had the pleasure of attending an Ag in the Classroom training in Front Royal. The training was really meant for teachers, but it can also be used by anyone that works with children to reimagine teaching about agriculture. We did several if the activities including a game where you had an Ag related picture on your back and you went around the room with a post it note asking people to describe the picture. Once the activity was complete you would thenhave everyone guess what they had from the descriptions and discuss how each one related to the agriculture industry. Another activity and quite possibly the most fun, was building a farm according to certain area, perimeter, and volume specifications that were scaled down to fit on an 8x14 paper. My group had a bunch of fun with this one. There were three of us, and we had three things to build so we divided and conquered.Itook the fence, which had to have a perimeter of 130 cm. Now I am not one to do anything the easy way so I decided to make a “wooden” fence with thirteen 10 cm boards. I was going to do two boards per 10 cm segments but I ran out of time and there was not enough black construction paper because one of the other groups took all of it. But anyways, we completed our farm and even cut the cow out of one of the educational packets to add to the scenery. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about new ways to incorporate agriculture into all kinds of topics. I actually am even planning on using the building activity as an activity for the Shenandoah County YQCA training to help break up some of the monotony of the slides.
Week 6 (June 25-29)
Thisweek was probably one of the craziest weeks that I have ever had.I went to 4-H Camp for the very first time. Honestly when we had the training lunch a few weeks ago and they were shouting chants at the top of their lungs Iwondered what in the world I was getting myself into.
Our office had several things to do to prepare for camp including making all of the program booklets which Imostlydid myself. I also got to do something a little more on the interesting side; which was repairing one of the dream catchers for the lodges that fell asleep the quickest.I had no idea how to do it but after watching a few YouTube videos Itook the leap, cut all of the old strings, and started to weave a new center.It turned out reallyawesome, and it was actually reallyeasy to do.
On the very first day, actually before I had evengotten to camp, Igotlost.I had originally planned on arriving early but my little detour made be about 15 minutes late, and everyone from our county was already there and impatiently waiting to check in their teens. It didn’t take me very long to set up and get them checked in; however, I was pretty frazzled and Ilearned that Ireally needed to makeextraextra time in my schedule when I am unsure of where I am going because google maps isn’t always right the first time.
During the week we had an ongoing sketch picking on the three younger adults calling us Adults in Training (AIT’S) and I had a lot of fun with it. The first night they introduced Dakota, Julia, and me at the campfire. The second night was a little more fun. That morning I had woken up to a missing towel which was very unfortunate because my only other towel was a little one and I HAD to take a shower. At breakfast, I complained to all of the other adults about it and we all just assumed that some kids was playing a weird prank on me. During the classes Iwent back to the room and found mytowel mysteriously back on the towel rack so I texted Dakota, who I was rooming with, about it.It turned out that she was absolutely freezing to death and used mytowel as an additional blanket. So, for our sketch that night Dakota wore a piece of camo burlap and mytowel and got in trouble for hiding and “borrowing” and was punished by having to wear blaze orange the next day. The next night we were each tasked with bringing something from each one of the packs.I was given a fishing net and post it notes and told to get something from the crow pack.I was smart and brought the whole pack to present, but Igot a little tangled and ended up with the fishing net on my head.(I ended up wearing it on my head for the rest of the week.) The last night we got promoted to fully fledged Adult First Class. I have to say this was by far one of the craziest and most amazing weeks I have had.Ireally think that I will continue to go back as a volunteer for the years to come if I am able to.
Week 7 (July 2-6)
This week was fairly uneventful, that is until Friday. On Friday we had our Dog Days of Summer 4-H Day Camp. Most of the kids that signed up for this camp were new to us since they were not our regular 4-H club members. A few of them had disabilities that required accommodation. I wasn't really expecting that and it was challenging because most of the health forms were not turned in until that morning and we didn’t have time to review them in advance. I had talked a lot about dealing with kids with disabilities in one of my classes this past semester, specifically in 4-H programs.It was a little difficult at first because ideally we are supposed to have a 5 day notice so that we can prepare alternatives if needed, but in this case it was all kind of dropped on us that morning.Iam gladthatIhad at least a little bit of an idea on how to deal with this due to my class and we did our best to accommodate all of the campers.
Ithought that the camp was actually very fun. It showed me yet another aspect of 4-H thatI had no idea existed. We spent the majority of the day at an AKCdog agility trial watching the dogs compete and hearing from some of the owners. The next part of the camp was going to an SPCA animal shelter and looking at the cats and dogs there. That was a little more difficult for me because I have issues with seeing poor little animals in the shelter.I was alright in the dog room because Ikept my distance; however, when I reached the cat room, I immediately found the perfect little kitten. Long story short, the kids rode back home with the new kitten that I adopted and I am pretty sure that was the highlight of the camp. Theo is doing well and after getting in trouble for bringing another animal home, we have both settled into a routine where he wakes me up between three and four in the morning and demands that I play with him until he gets tired again.
Week 8 (July 9-13)
This week I got to perform my vaccination program at not only one, but two YQCA events in the area. The first was at the Fredrick County fairgrounds which I had never been to. I also was having a bit of a moment and forgot to do any planning until the day that the program was supposed to take place. So there I was flustered at 12:00 pm because I realized that I had no supplies. I spent until 3:00 pm searching for a vaccination bottle so that the youth would actually be able to see what it looked like when I finally had a breakthrough (with some help from Carol) that the local Veterinarian would have one. Carol calls and they say that they have one that I can have. I immediately run over only to find that it is a very tiny puppy/kitten sized vaccination bottle, so on to plan B I go. I found some of the small kiddie sized water bottles that we had bought for the dog days of summer camp the week before, poke holes in the top, and said well enough. The Shenandoah County YQCA was the next day, so I had to also use the water bottles, but it worked pretty well until someone poked another hole in the top and it started leaking food coloring everywhere. The moral of this story is that I DEFINITELY need to remember to plan ahead of time. (Notice a theme? I think I should add procrastinator extreme somewhere in my name.)
Week 9 (July 16-20)
This week I had the opportunity to help with another one of the day camps put on by our county. This one was an outdoor natural resources camp put on in conjunction with the 4-H program in Fredrick County. We got to do some pretty cool activities; my favorites being the footprint molds and our trip to the river. The river trip started off with me falling in while wearing the clothes I had to be in all day, cell phone and all. Once I made sure my phone was going to make it, I got back in and played with the kids because I was already soaked so it didn’t really matter. My most favorite part had to be making molds of various wildlife footprints. We weren’t really sure that we would actually be getting the kit in time to be able to use it for a program the last day, but it arrived just in time. I had to even make myself some of the footprints to keep. The kids really enjoyed it and were able to take home a souvenir from their week at camp. This week also had to be the worst week for bad things happening to me. The first day, I accidently left my key in the ignition of my car turned on and my battery died. (Shout out to Jamie for being the real MVP who had jumper cables.) The second day of camp, one of the teens that I brought sat his lunchbox under my tire and when I went to move the car I crushed his whole lunch and ruined pretty much everything he had in it. On the third day, I fell into the river. And last but certainly not least, on Thursday I washed my work keys in the laundry and lost the one that went to the outside doors of the whole county government building. My dad and I ended up having to tear the dryer apart and roll it all around until the key finally came out of the bottom with a whole bunch of change. My luck has since gotten significantly better, and I am almost convinced that someone cursed me for the week.
Week 10 (July 23-27)
Well guys, it’s my last week. I trying not to get too sappy as I write this, but I had way more fun at this internship than I ever expected to. I went in to this thinking that all 4-H was about was livestock and farming things but they do so much more here than that. I have learned that, as an agent, you can pretty much tailor your program to not only the counties interest, but your interests. Also, It has been really interesting to see the different kinds of youth that the camps bring out. I have noticed that 4-H is really good at offering many things to help kids find their passion whatever that may be. 4-H was how I originally discovered what I really want to do in my life, and it is really exciting to me to think that I could potentially be helping kids find out what their passion is. I can’t wait to be the person that inspires a kid like I was to dream big and find what makes them truly happy.