During the extent of this internship, I had the opportunity to help lead 4-H’ers through 4-H University.

History

4-H University, originally Florida 4-H Congress, is a 4-day conference for senior-level youth across Florida. At the event, high-placing competitors compete for their state titles, and new state officers are elected. This program has existed since 1964, when it was first held at UF, and the program has always remained focused on interactive workshops aside from the state competitions. Workshops focus on agricultural and environmental education, service, leadership, and self-development.

Monday

An early wakeup of 3:30 a.m. is required to arrive at Camp Cloverleaf by 6:30 a.m.. My coworker Kyle and I were signed up to be bus captains of the south bus. That bus would transport youth from Camp Cloverleaf to the University of Florida, with stops on the way. Although tired, we ensured every child had made it safely to the bus, and away we went!

When we arrived around 11 a.m., we signed in and headed to the Reitz Union for orientation and fun shops. The kids were bursting with energy, and the entire Reitz was ablaze with nervous energy for the first judging sessions of the event. After judging and fun shops, we had dinner, and soon enough, it was lights out.

Tuesday

I woke up and made my way back to the Reitz for breakfast. One thing about these state events is that the catering is phenomenal! After some delicious food, we overlooked the youth participating in a service workshop. I aided another leader with her mental health workshop and then quickly made my way back to the dorms to get ready for the next part of the day. While I was preparing to give a stadium tour with UF CALS Ambassadors, students could have been participating in workshops such as College Survival Guide, Health Rocks, or Bridge Building. I am a 2025-26 ambassador within the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Due to my roles in 4-H and this position, I was able to walk with attendees and discuss their options at the University of Florida with them. The conversations ranged from agricultural education to nursing, business, and engineering. 4-H’ers can do anything! These conversations continued through the tour and into dinner.

I visited each table and asked them if they had ever heard of my college and what their plans for the future were. It was not too long ago that I was a high school senior scared about applying to the University of Florida. I set a goal to encourage students to apply to the university, even if they thought they wouldn’t get in. The University of Florida has incredibly accessible programs. It offers high school students opportunities such as the PaCE program and Innovation Academy. Students can also transfer into the college. If you want to attend the University of Florida, I am certain there are ways for you to do so.

After my lovely conversations with students and a dinner sponsored by UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, it was on to the Share the Fun Final and Fashion Revue sponsored by the Florida Federation of Fairs and Livestock Shows. This lovely show featured artistically talented students in fashion, vocal performance, piano, violin, acting, and other musical instruments. Then it was lights out!

Wednesday

The final full day was even more exciting for the students than the past two. Did I mention we got to sleep in the UF Honor Dorms! As a college student, I can tell you, these things were nice!

Today, Sarah Davis and I had a workshop to run ourselves, so we were busy! We unloaded every tool we needed and headed to breakfast. During breakfast, the state officers who had won the previous night were undergoing interviews from the other 4-H students. The students asked questions that blew me away. These kids really want to make sure their program is taken care of. After that, we headed to our workshop: Outdoor Explorer: Spot it with iNaturalist. Like the workshop we ran for iLEAD, this workshop teaches students how to use iNaturalist, the largest citizen-science-led app. We had students who collected upwards of 50 observations! These observations within the McCarty Woods area can be seen here. Once their observations become research-grade, those students will be actively contributing to real scientific research!

Here is a link to our project page:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/outdoor-explorer-spot-it-with-inaturalist

After our workshop, Sarah and I had lunch together, and after that, I headed to the Improv! For Real Life workshop. In it, the students learned how to use improv skills in their day-to-day lives. These skills include things like adaptability and swiftness. Following this workshop, we all returned to the dorms to get ready for the evening’s festivities. At Wednesday’s banquet, 4-H would be giving out its scholarship awards and formally inducting the new state officers. The Florida Farm Bureau sponsored the banquet. Following the banquet, we chaperoned the dance and then… guess what… it was lights out!

Thursday

We loaded up our bus for home and settled in for a nice, 6-hour bus ride. Thursday morning, however, we got to learn who the champions of the competition categories were. Congratulations to all of Sarasota County’s winners!

Conclusion

I hope you have noticed how I have been mentioning the sponsors of each dinner. In the realm of agriculture, those sponsors are huge names. Sending your child to state events in 4-H is beneficial for so many reasons, but also for the aspect of networking with current and future agricultural professionals. I hope you consider it for next year! Thank you for joining me on my 4-H University journey.

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