Lincoln County Extension- First 2 weeks

Hello everyone, my name is Sarah Vaughn and I am interning at the Lincoln County Extension Office this summer. I am originally from Garrard County, which means that  I’m not too far away from home. My first day was May 20^th, so I am starting a little bit later than most of you. However, I have already learned so much in such a short time that I feel like it makes up for my late start. The first day in the office, I worked 12 hours. With a freezing and drying class that morning and a quilter’s club meeting that evening, I was on my feet the entire day. I met a lot of very nice people and a joke was made that I may choose not to come back after being worked so hard my very first day (of course I did!). The days following that were not nearly as busy, but it gave me a chance to get to know a little bit more about my county and the people who I am working with. These past two weeks I have attended  numerous meetings, visited the Senior Citizens Center, learned how to use the sewing machine, judged food preservation at the Boyle County Fair and even got the chance to talk live on the radio (I will be doing this every Wednesday morning for the rest of my time here)!

 On two separate occasions, I visited the Board of Education to teach approximately 20 special needs children about nutrition. This was difficult, because they ranged in age from 4-17, but somehow we made it work.  I decided upon a topic for my Special Project and designed a flyer that was printed in the newsletter for the month of June. I will be teaching a workshop about how to make two different types of paper flowers, and I have already gotten a few people to sign up (I am really excited about this). 

 Above is a picture of the paper flowers that I will be teaching people how to make during my workshop on June 12th. Below is a photo of a quilt that will be raffled off. The homemakers made this quilt, and I helped sew part of the binding (after I learned how to use the sewing machine).

 

Instead of only working with FCS, I have gotten the chance to work with other areas of extension as well. I have helped with 4-H and have learned a little more about the Ag side of things. I would like to close with a piece of advice that Bessie Smith, the FDM Program Assistant told me. She said someone once told her that she needed to always be "more like a willow, and less like an oak". This is because if you are too strict and set in your ways, then you will break. You need to be flexible, like the branches of a willow tree because with extension you never know what may come next. If my first two weeks were any indication of what the rest of my internship is going to be like, then I would definitely agree, but that's what I like about it...you never get bored.