Since I was a five year old little girl, I've been involved in this thing called 4-H. For those who don't quite know what that is, let me explain.

4-H is the largest youth development program in the United States with more than 6 million participants. It is a program that encourages positive growth in the aspects of science, arts and crafts, agriculture, leadership, and citizenship.

However, my experience in 4-H has been so much more.

I've learned skills on how to better my leadership within my community, my school, and my county. I've learned how to be a positive role model to the younger generation, and I've become a better person because of it.

When I was five years old, I watched my three older siblings flourish with their livestock. They won awards like trophies and ribbons. I saw their names on plaques they got to bring home until the next summer, and I watched them each year walking their cattle, sheep, and pigs out in the driveway. I remember the smell of blueberry coffee cake and peanut butter cookies being baked in the kitchen, and drawings being framed ready to be judged.

All I can remember is wanting to do that, and wanting to be just like them - having a name on a plaque and a shelf full or trophies. However, as I got older, I realized that 4-H is so much more than winning those trophies and ribbons.

4-H has taught me the fundamental skills of life. I no longer look at it as a fun hobby; it has become part of me.

My passion for animals came from this program, and although selling my animals every year never gets easier, I wouldn't trade it for anything. This is because we all know that fair week is the best week of the summer.

So 4-H, this is for you....

Thank you for teaching me responsibility.

Thank you for teaching me that my determination will pay off.

Thank you for showing me what a good citizen looks like.

Thank you for helping me develop skills to become a better leader.

Thank you for teaching me to speak up for what I believe in.

Thank you for the friendships I wouldn't have obtained any other way.

Thank you for opportunities unlike any other.

As I look at my trophy shelf today, all I can see are the memories I made in the barn with my family, and at the fair with my friends.

I owe a lot to this program, and as I close in on my last few years of being apart of it, I strive to become a bigger influence.

I never thought that a little clover could have such a big influence on my life, and I wish for the next generation of kids to have the same - if not a better - experience being apart of 4-H. Watching kids like my five year old nephew, not able to contain his excitement as he talks about how one day he will show his first feeder calf at the fair, is what this program is all about. That is the same ambition I had as a five-year old, and I cannot wait to see him pursue that little dream.

I am excited and anxious to see where 4-H goes in the next 10 years, and I am proud to be a 4-Her today.

I will always pledge:

my head to clearer thinking,

my heart to greater loyalty,

my hands to larger service, and

my health to better living

for my club, my community, my country, and my world.

Sincerely,

Bailey