By Kate Pittack/Extension 4-H Agent
Did you always know what you wanted to be when you grew up? I sure didn’t. While I’m not all that old, it seems like some of the tools available when I was in high school in the 90’s were a little archaic as far as helping me decide my career path. I remember taking a 100 question multiple choice “test” and then waiting for the dot matrix printer (remember the type that took the paper that had the little holes on the side to feed through?) to give me my results. Out of the 50 different things this test determined I would be good at, “Boilermaker” was one. What?!? My 17-year-old self had to go consult the World Book Encyclopedia to find out what that even meant. It turns out a Boilermaker is a trained craftsman who produces steel fabrications from plates and sections. Hmm…..seeing how I was not good with any sort of power tools or able to weld, I seriously questioned the validity of this career test.
What does all of this have to do with 4-H you might be asking? Well, 4-H helps introduce youth to a variety of different projects that utilize an array of varying skills. Being involved in projects can help youth identify different interests and things that they are good at doing. I learned at a young age that while I wasn’t a very good aim with a BB gun, I had a knack for putting together and presenting a demonstration. I have no doubt that starting to write speeches and speak in front of groups at a young age contributed to my success on the high school speech and debate team and made the transition to adulthood and the workforce a little easier.
Speaking of demonstrations and speeches, our next 4-H Contest opportunity coming up is something called Roundup (Saturday, March 19). This is a collection of competitions that include: public speaking, educational presentations, fashion show construction and buying categories and design storyboards. I had a great group of youth come to office last Thursday night to learn about putting together a storyboard and how they could be involved in the other contests. One of the neat things about 4-H competitions is that those selected to advance from the county level get to compete at a district level and meet other 4-Her’s from all over East Texas. If anyone would like more information on the Roundup Contests (even if you are not currently a 4-H member) please contact me. We enroll members year-round so it’s never too late to join and start participating!
Kate Pittack is the Henderson County Extension Agent – 4-H & Youth Development for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Contact her at: [email protected] & visit our webpage at http://henderson.agrilife.org