Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Traveling is in the Job Description



            These past two weeks have been full of travel and lots of 4-H’ers.  I have been to Lexington for the 4-H teen conference and Muhlenberg County for the state livestock judging competition.  This has been an example to me that county 4-H agents do not spend all their time in the office; they are truly in a different place every day of the week.  Both of these events were new to me and it was great getting to interact with the kids in my county the past two weeks. 
            I had a great time at the 4-H teen conference in Lexington.  I got to experience new things and relive some old college memories.  When we were driving to Lexington I was dreading the rock hard beds and the food at commons.  I thought to myself it was going to be a long week.  But I had no idea what to expect of my tracks and workshops.  I was in the track “Getting Fit UK Style.”  We got to tour the Johnson Center, do some exercise, and do yoga.  It made me feel really good about myself while we were doing it, but once we got done and started walking around again I was in a lot of pain.  Who knew that yoga could put you in that much pain?  It made the rest of the week a little longer because I was so sore from doing the downward dog and the tree.  I got the chance to share stories with the other interns that attended teen conference and we reminisced on our youthful days during the dances.  This was the first real chance I had to get to know some of the kids in Boyle County.  First impressions were great and I cannot wait to do more activities with them throughout the summer.
            The state livestock judging competition was held the following week.  Talk about a long drive from Boyle County!  We went up Monday and checked into our hotel.  We ordered some pizza for the kids and then it was time for some reasons practice.  We got a couple of online classes for the kids ready and then game them a set amount of time to write their reasons and then give them to us.  I was really impressed with our kids.  They did a great job Monday night and I was excited to see how they did Tuesday at the competition.  After another stay on a hard bed that wasn’t mine, it was time for the competition on Tuesday.  I figured out that I would be collecting cards during the competition for one of the groups.  Not too hard of a job.  But during the competition I met and interacted with some of the interns, agents, and volunteers.  After a long morning of judging we had lunch and then the older kids gave their reasons.  We went ahead and headed to Boyle County for the night instead of staying for the awards banquet.  We turned out to have a great day! We had the 2nd high team overall for the Clover team and then one of our kids got 7th high individual for the senior division.  It was another great experience with our 4-H’ers.  

Look for my next blog and hear how my 2 babysitting academies go... that is right, Ben Conner is teaching baby sitting!

Ben Conner
Boyle County 4-H

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