As a freshman in college, Ben Wolking nearly drowned doing the sport he’d mastered.
Due to an undiagnosed heart issue, he passed out while in the water at swim practice at Bates College, and he was subsequently thrust into a series of doctor appointments, surgeries and therapies – a world full of uncertainty and mired with fears about his mortality.
How did he cope? How did he not only recover but work his way back to competing at his university pool?
“Delusional belief,” he says.
Now a junior in physics and biology at Bates, Wolking recently presented a TEDx talk on overcoming uncertainty and facing insurmountable odds – a skill he attributes to his workforce development training in Florida 4-H.
Florida 4-H taught him how to write and present a speech effectively, skills he used to develop his TEDx talk, which he worked on from his hospital bed in the weeks leading up to the event. He has presented as a high school student in front of Florida legislators and leaders at the state capitol.
“There’s a lot of different ways you can develop that resilience through 4-H,” he said. “It’s one of those underlying themes that goes through all the different projects.”
Growing up in Alachua County, Florida, Wolking built his public speaking and leadership skills through various 4-H projects over 13 years. He learned to solve real-world problems, and through youth-adult partnerships, he gained experience from raising goats and chickens to drafting and debating legislation. Throughout his projects, he learned about grit and perseverance.
“You face a lot of challenges with raising animals: weather, keeping them safe and medical issues,” he said. “There’s a lot of setbacks. There’s a lot of room for things to go wrong, and that’s just life.”
His journey with 4-H started when he was 5, and presenting about his animals at youth fairs helped him figure out how to form his ideas into clear messages.
Wolking said he found meaning after his health struggles in striving for an improbable goal, like returning to competition after his doctors said he might never even exercise again. He said the process of working toward his goal, against all odds, was the most meaningful award of all.
“I found tremendous meaning in the striving itself – … obsessively working with coaches to modify practices to my new limitations, the 8 p.m. bedtimes to be well-rested for the 5 a.m. swims, the grueling practices alongside my teammates, even the soreness after a long day in the gym – that’s what I looked back on most fondly,” he said in his TEDx talk.
He said his journey is far from over. He’s already had three heart surgeries and faces a future full of health vigilance. But he said that uncertainty just makes his goals just that much more worth pursuing.
“The meaning you’ll find in the striving itself will make it worthwhile,” he said in his talk. “Act like the future you’re aiming for is actually within your reach. Because it may be the only way it ever is.”
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
ABOUT FLORIDA 4-H
4-H is the youth development program of the land-grant university system and Cooperative Extension System. The program provides hands-on educational programs and experiences for youth ages 5 to 18 with the objective of developing youth as individuals, and as responsible and productive citizens. In Florida, 4-H is administered by University of Florida/IFAS Extension and Florida A&M University.
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