Finally a moment to breathe…

Boy was I wrong when I thought the first two weeks had flown by.  This blog, though it’s already at the start of my 6^th week, rounds out the first 4 weeks of my internship and I am still going full speed ahead.  It seems like such a quick turnaround but it has been a thrilling ride!

Week 3 – State Teen Conference

Though I had been in attendance of this conference as a delegate for 3 years, I was still not prepared for what the week had in store.  Events were similar but the atmosphere was very different.  Being on the other side of the coin for the first was an experience I was not quite ready for but had to get a grasp of it very quickly.  This was a week of little sleep, sore body parts, and readjusting to college food.  As we stayed on UK’s campus, the first of 2 weeks in a row for me, I ached in the mornings from sleeping in the residence hall lifestyle.  Working the kinks out through the day, I danced my cares away in tracks and did some jewelry making in workshops.  By the second morning I couldn’t decide where it hurt the most, achy bones from sleeping or sore muscles from abnormal amounts of dancing.  As many complaints as the delegates and I can possibly come up with, all in all this will be a memorable week of my internship.  I got a fix for my absence from campus, spent some time catching up with other friends and interns from across the state, and made some stronger connections with other agents from our lovely district.

Week 4 – In the life of an Ag Natural Resource Agent and KY Youth Seminar

Kicking off this week I spent some time with our Ag and Natural Resources agent as my supervisor took a few days off.  We gathered and put in the needed information for the weekly crop report and received a request to take a trip down the road and look at a plot of land.  He had about a 4 acre plot that was quickly growing up and he was unsure of what to do with it.  Most of the area was grown up in thick under brush including honeysuckle and winter creeper but it had also established small patches of sumac trees among the thicket.  He asked about the identification of a few weeds and trees, which between David, the agent, and I, I was able to brush up on my dendrology skills and identify a few trees as being an Eastern Cottonwood, Winged Sumac, and Silver Maple.  I also learned a little about bag

worms as we looked at an infestation he was experiencing with a Blue Spruce on his property.  From here, we stopped at a wheat field and David walked through the stages of wheat and how to tell when the wheat has reached maturity.  I really appreciated this time in the field to ask questions and familiarize myself with some other areas of agriculture that I am not as acquainted with.  The following day I accompanied David to the UK Sheep Unit in Lexington for an orientation with Dr. Aaron, and Dr. Ely regarding the Small Ruminate Profit School starting later this year.  Here I got yet another earful of new material on sheep and goat production.  We received promotional material to pass along to the county producers and took a tour of the facilities at UK as they answered several questions that agents may receive about the production.  This was a great opportunity to get a glimpse at the life of an ANR agent at this time of year.

The KY Youth Seminar event was a first for me as I had not previously attended as a delegate.  Like all other 4-H events I have come to love, this week, though the conference was only 3 days, was jam packed from start to finish with leadership development, college preparation activities, and social events to keep the delegates entertained.  I really enjoyed this new experience and yet another week of time spent on the UK campus.  Though we had some icky weather and set off a fire alarm on accident, the week was still one to remember with new experiences, a visit back to UK’s South Farm, and the reward of watching as delegates came together to work and achieve new heights for themselves.

So I bid you ado,  until the end of the week as I process, recover, and prepare the next update of the internship that some only dream of experiencing.

Lindsey Boone, LaRue County 4-H