In the past few years of my life I have stared at club posters on the walls of our school. If you ask me, I’d tell you I am not a member of any club in our school; I am a proud 4-H’er. I cannot count the amount of times I have been asked the question, “what is 4-H?” and every time the question is asked I have to take a minute to think about how to explain. So instead of explaining it a dozen more times, here it goes: 4-H is a club in which youth and adults learn, grow and work together for change in the future. 4-H is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States. Several clubs from different counties around the nation participate to inspire youth about career choices while discovering their talents. The problem I come across after explaining this to someone, is the stereotype.

Many make the assumption 4-H is a farm club, joined by “red-necks” or “hicks”. This theory may have come up because of the typical boot-wearing style some local 4-H members inhabit due to their participation in agricultural. That theory is wrong, 4-H members vary from urban and rural settings. As proof, here are a few projects: welding, culinary, clothing design, shooting and fishing sports, robotics, photography and yes, livestock. The misconception about 4-H is that it is that it’s for “misfits” or kids that are different, that cannot do sports or do not want to contribute to their school. That cannot be a true, considering many 4-H groups, including my own, contain students 8-18 years old. How can an eight year old decide they’re not good at sports when they’re barely old enough to join a team? and there are several teen members of 4-H who are also members of STUCO, FCCLA or sports at their school. One thing that misconception does hold true, is that the people in 4-H are different. They have to be different; to be a member of 4-H you have to be unique, you have to a have talent that you want to take to a career level, to have a passion for something you want to learn more about it and grow with others who enjoy it just as much as you. If you want truth, the truth is that schools cannot physically support all talents, hobbies and activities students love. There is no sport for wood carving in our school, nothing for future clothing designers, there is no equestrian team, no veterinary program and no support for quilters, small engineers, competitive bicyclists or clowns. This is where 4-H has the advantage, for the students that have talents exceeding school activities, 4-H takes them under its wing.

One thing that 4-H has in common with our school’s clubs, when you join, you become a member of a family. My first day of 4-H I was terrified, I had assumed the people in this group would be so competitive and snooty they would judge me or worse, ignore me. Turns out this was not even close to accurate. In fact, I met my best friends at a 4-H meeting. Like most students who become a member of clubs, I enjoy every time my 4-H group gets together and being an older member, I get the privilege to teach the younger members. That’s right, I said teach. See 4-H is a club that is run by the children and young adults, parents get involved minimally so the kids can learn from each other. This is what makes 4-H so successful, kids enjoy the independence and control. I have the position Vice President in my 4-H club, this means I help teach all the young kids, schedule events and enforce rules all while competing and having fun. Yes, I do compete with my horses, but I also participate in veterinary sciences and hippology, all of which benefit when filling our college applications.

4-H is a club that helps prepare kids for the present and future, colleges have scholarships for anyone who completes their 4-H membership, no matter the project that they specialize in. There is moral and personal benefit one can gain from this membership, along with a very special saying and long term goal every 4-H member is familiar with: I pledge my head to greater thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, my health to better living. For my club, my community, my country and my world.