More than just animals: what 4-H really is – The Oakland Post

When I tell people that I show in 4-H, most of them are confused and have no idea what I am talking about. You might think that I would get annoyed having to explain it so often, but actually, I love getting to talk about 4-H and how much it means to me.

While I have spent my whole life surrounded by agriculture, aside from growing up on a farm, the most influential part has been being part of 4-H.

Since I was 9 years old, I have shown at the Sanilac County 4-H Fair. That’s 10 years of my life that I have spent the summer working with my animals and taking care of them for one week of glory in August.

Although there would be countless nights of crying after working with my animals because they wouldn’t walk with the halter on and arguing about fair, that one week of glory in August is always worth it. Even though there are so many hardships leading up to fair week, I wouldn’t change a single thing. Every time I struggled with getting my animals halter-broken or got my foot stepped on by a 1,000-pound cow, it taught me so many life lessons that made me into the person I am today.

I remember my first fair like it was yesterday. I was showing a dairy cow named Hope, and I had a veal named Bob. Even though I had watched my siblings show, I had no idea what I was doing. I worked with my animals, but I was terrified and so confused about how exactly to show them.

Little did I know that a few years later, I would win overall champion showman in my Intermediate age division. I think back to that win often and the joy I felt from being able to accomplish that after I was sure I would never beat the people I was up against.

That moment taught me one of the first lessons 4-H would give me: you are often capable of much more than you think you are.

I spend the whole summer working with my dairy cows and whatever market animals I decide I want to show and sell, which has been the hardest part of fair every year. While I only know the animals for a couple of months, saying goodbye to them on Saturday night is always the worst part of showing in 4-H.

Despite showing for 10 years, selling my animals after spending a summer working with them and bonding with them has never gotten easier. Every year, I go around on Saturday night and say goodbye to the animals I had gotten to know so well and make sure they know how much I love them. Even if they can’t understand what I am saying, it never stops me from saying it.

But I know that this year will by far be the hardest goodbye I will have to say. Not only am I saying goodbye to my animals, but I am also saying goodbye to something that has played a major role in the person I am today. Fair has been the only thing I have ever felt I am good at on my own, so it makes the goodbye so much harder.

Fair wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. I dealt with a good amount of inconveniences, the biggest ones being an animal acting up during the show.

I have only ever cried twice in the ring. The first time was when my cow Hope, who stood about 1 foot taller than me at the time, stepped on my foot in the ring. I was unable to get her to move until the ring helper came over, and I cried from the pain.

The second time was just last year, when during showmanship, my cow Maple decided she had a vendetta against me and was trying to push me into the gates. I was getting frustrated with how I was unable to do as well as I had hoped, and I quickly contained my tears.

Those moments were frustrating, but they taught me that not everything will go the way I want it to. Sometimes the animal doesn’t cooperate. Sometimes I make a mistake. Sometimes I walk out of the ring knowing I could have done better.

4-H has taught me how to handle those moments and keep going anyway.

It has taught me to be patient, even when I am frustrated with how much time I have already put in, just for it not to pay off. I have learned that eventually, no matter how much time I put into my animals and projects, it will pay off.

It has taught me confidence, failure and responsibility. I have learned confidence from walking into the show ring knowing that everyone is watching me and trusting myself to handle an animal that is much bigger and stronger than I am. I have learned how to handle failure when I walk out of that same ring knowing I didn’t perform the way I wanted to. Most importantly, I have learned responsibility because my animals depend on me.

They don’t care if I am tired or if I had a bad day. They still need to be fed, watered, cleaned and worked with. They depend on me to take care of them every single day. That responsibility has taught me that showing up is sometimes more important than being perfect.

The early mornings will never be beaten. The silence of the fairgrounds at 6 a.m. is so peaceful. It is before the rides have started up and people have arrived for their day of fun. It is just the sound of the fans and animals bellowing for their breakfast, along with the smell of the morning air.

That peaceful sound of the morning and the joy you see as you leave that same night are some of the most fulfilling moments of fair week. The contrast shows both sides of the week: the people behind the fair and the people who get to enjoy the work that has been put into it.

There is also a completely different side of fair week that has nothing to do with showing animals.

One of the highlights is what we like to call “camper debriefs,” where four of us go back to a camper and debrief our day or the past year. Since we don’t hang out outside of fair, we have the week to catch up with each other.

We go around to the food trucks and eat food, get plenty of boba and play games, mostly Uno. These are the moments that make me realize there is so much more behind 4-H than just animals. The friends you make will be one of the best things to take away from fair week.

For one week every year, we get to put everything else aside and just enjoy being together. We talk about what happened that day, laugh about things that probably wouldn’t be funny to anyone else and catch up on the parts of our lives we missed during the year.

Those friendships have become just as important to me as the animals.

Growing up on a farm also means getting to learn about hard work from a young age and understanding that the world depends on the people who work on these farms to live their lives and eat food.

Agriculture has taught me that there is always someone working behind the scenes. While most people only see the finished product at the grocery store or on their dinner table, farmers are waking up early, working long days and taking care of their animals and crops no matter the weather.

I have learned that farming is not just a job. It is a lifestyle that requires patience, dedication and a willingness to keep going even when things get difficult. Being part of 4-H has allowed me to experience a small part of that lifestyle for myself.

Even though I am not going into an agricultural career, 4-H has helped me stay involved in agriculture. While sometimes I think about changing my career path to something agricultural, I know that deep down, all I want is to continue showing in 4-H.

I could spend my life writing for some agricultural magazine, but it wouldn’t be able to make up for my longing for that one week in August, where I spend all day, every day for 6 days straight with my friends, family and animals.

I can say that the day after fair week is full of a very, very long nap, trying to catch up on sleep. Despite finding the most random places to nap, anywhere from a chair to on top of the show box, no matter how uncomfortable or comfortable, I will always find a place to nap.

As exhausting as fair week is, I wouldn’t trade those tired days for anything.

One of the biggest dreams I have had throughout my years in 4-H is owning a Jersey cow.

I remember how I always wanted to have a Jersey cow. I never really knew what they were before I showed at the fair. My family raised Holsteins, and I had no idea that there were 7 different breeds of dairy cattle.

Jerseys were definitely my favorite. When my show cows had unfortunately passed away, my mom found me my first Jersey cow, Maple. She has now turned one cow into three cows that I am forever grateful I have gotten the chance to show. Getting to own Jersey cows has allowed me to live a dream I had as a little girl.

Thanks to my experiences, I hope to one day have my own animals and get to take care of them. I also hope that one day my own children will show in 4-H and learn the many valuable lessons I got to learn.

I want them to know what it feels like to wake up before the sun rises because an animal needs to be fed. I want them to experience the frustration of an animal refusing to cooperate and the pride that comes when they finally do. I want them to know the friendships, the long days, the early mornings, the tears and the laughter.

Most of all, I want them to understand that 4-H is about so much more than animals.

It is about learning how to be responsible when someone else depends on you. It is about learning how to handle failure when things don’t go your way. It is about having the confidence to stand in a show ring and trust yourself. It is about the people you meet and the memories you make along the way.

And for me, it is about 10 years of my life that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Soon, I will have to say goodbye to the fairgrounds, my animals and the week in August that I have looked forward to every year since I was 9 years old.

I know that goodbye will hurt.

But when I look back at everything 4-H has given me, I know I am not really saying goodbye to all of it. I will carry the lessons, the friendships, the memories and the love for agriculture with me wherever I go.

For 10 years, I have spent one week in August living a life that I never wanted to end.

And even when I leave the show ring for the last time, a part of me will always be there.