The Fight

In Louisville, extension isn't king. When people ask me where I am interning I inevitably get blank stares in return. What is that? They ask, polite but overall disinterested. My go to is usually extension is in charge of all the 4-H programming; for the ones who have never heard of 4-H there's not much I can do. This is our struggle. No one knows what we do; no one knows the rich history of extension across the country. I'm a communications intern, and my internship is a fighting one. My supervisor, Hayley and I fight for this office every day. How can we inform, educate, share extension with this city? Who should we meet? What should we tell them? How can we make this better? My day is full of questions and answers. I watch Hayley put out fires all day, some are quick to die out and others seem to rage like a wildfire before we can temper the flame. But she always manages, with as little water as possible no less. I've learned some brutal truths of urban extension, but also some beautiful ones. 

As I meet the people that work in this office (and there are 30+), and learn what they do, I realize there is a unique impact made by extension in this community. Our programs spread far and wide, not just geographically- but also in the people they touch. I have helped high school students make life decisions at a reality store. I have watched one of our nutrition educators connect in the most wonderful way with women in transitional housing. I have seen the garden plots of African immigrants, which look like they were pulled from another country, but provide a little taste of Africa to the families. I have sowed corn and beans for a demo plot that will be harvested and donated to a food bank. I have watched kids fly into their parents arms after coming home from camp, and erupt into a happy chatter. And then there's all the behind the scenes action: The meetings with metro council, the hours of infographic creating, the press releases, the website editing, the document creating, and the research.

There are so many outlets for extension here. So many potential partnerships, potential 4-H kids, potential community gardens. The nickname for Louisville is Possibility City, and as far as we are concerned I don’t disagree, but possibilities don't always turn into absolutes, and we have the bumps and bruises to prove that. So we go back to fighting- with words, with pictures, with stories. Communicators have an arsenal of weapons (the kind that don’t require ear protection) to pull out, and I have a great instructor. I am lucky, I think, to go to a job where every day I watch people pour their heart into their work-especially when their work is making the world a better place to live.