Now, for those of you who don't know what 4H is, here's an explanation:
- 4-H is first and foremost, my family. Not the organization, of course, but the people within the organization. I joined when I was about nine or ten, and let me tell you these past seven years in 4-H have been some of the best of my rather short life.
- Second, 4-H is just that: four H's.
- HEAD
- HEART
- HANDS
- HEALTH
- Third, it's an organization throughout the USA (I am not sure at this point if it's an international thing, but knowing it, it probably is.) An after school program that specializes in, well, EVERYTHING.
Think I'm exaggerating?
4-H has programs in every field imaginable. I know this because I have participated in almost every single one.
Some of the stuff that's been done over the years is:
- Archery
- Cooking classes
- Babysitting courses
- Anything related to Agriculture (Everything related to Agriculture)
- Fashion
- Public Speaking
- Shooting Sports
- Animal Showing
- AND SO MUCH MORE
Like I said, 4-H is a national thing. However, for the most part everything we do is limited to county, district and statewide level. We have a lot to do at the national level as well, but so far the farthest I have gone is to state.
One of the things we participate in is TLC, or Teen Leader Conference. It's usually in the middle of June, and it is an annual conference, much like our state competitions.
TLC is a very important part of the year for AR 4Her's. Not only is it educational and fun, but it is during TLC that the Arkansas 4-H holds the annual Ambassador interviews. To be selected as a country Ambassador is one of the highest honors a senior 4Her can receive in their 4H life, second only to being elected as one of the State 4H Officers.
TLC usually goes like this.
TUESDAY
Tuesday is the set up day. All current Ambassadors and State Officers report to The Vines Center (where most, if not all, of the State 4-H camps are held). Their objective is to prepare the Center for TLC delegates. They set up the workshops, prepare the schedules, assign rooms and teams, and so much more. Not really sure what all hoes on during this day, and I'm not to sure I want to know everything.
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday is the day all delegates (those not currently Ambassadors) arrived. Some arrived early in the morning, that is, the ones who were applying to be 2013-2014 Ambassadors. The rest of us arrived in the afternoon, after lunch.
I don't know exactly what goes on in the interviews for the Ambassadors, since I've never attended one. But, I can tell you what happens to the rest of us delegates.
After our arrival and check-in, we are given a name tag with a group key, a room key to our dorm, a schedule, and a "Who's Who" ballet. Orientation begins around one.
During orientation, we preform rather silly songs, the Code of Conduct is explained through a hilarious video prepared the day before by our Officers and Ambassadors. The rules for TLC are looked over, and we are told what to expect if we do not adhere to them. The first of our to speakers for TLC are introduced, and after a rather fun speech we are dismissed to join our separate groups (there are six with about 20-25+ people in each group) and after about an hour of activities we are free to do whatever we want until dinner. We spend most of the time catching up with our friends, many whom we have not seen for quite some time.
Dinner is a banquet given in honor of the 2013 Teen Star award winners. After the banquet there is a presentation of the actual awards to the recipients. Dress is formal, and it is one of the highlights of TLC. Afterwards, with about an hour in between them, we hold a talent show. To preform, you must apply with a video of your talent, and attendance to practice is mandatory, otherwise you are not permitted to preform. During Teen Star we have talent presentations between groups of award winners. The evening has been a full one, and we are very tired by this time. We hang out until curfew at eleven.
THURSDAY
Thursday is a full day that is comprised mostly of workshops that cover topics such as dance, Debate, community service, Internet safety, and world affairs. The intention is that the Delegates take what they learn from the workshops back to their individual counties and teach it to the people there.
Each workshop is about an hour long, with 15 minute breaks, lunch, and a recess in between. They are taught by the Ambassadors and Officers, with supervision from the attending adults. The groups that we are placed in are an attempt to meet new people. You are hardly ever placed in the same group with people from your county, and most of them end up being people you haven't met yet. I was lucky. Two of the people in my group this year were from my county, and another was a good friend of mine from Union Co. 4-H (of which I have been declared an honorary member by all of my friends there).
On Thursday at dinner, just when we thought all the workshops were done, we were proved wrong. Given a slip of paper at the door, we were separated based on the symbol on that slip, into three groups. Three groups, which we learned, represented the Upper, Middle, and lower classes. While the State Officers gave a speech about hunger and poverty in the world, some changes were made. An Upper Class "family" (all those sitting at that table) lost their jobs and had to move to lower class. A boy in a girl in Lower Class got married and went to work for the Upper Class, serving them their dinner. I was in the Middle Class, and after my "mother" received a promotion we were moved to the Upper Class.
The Upper Class had their dinner brought to them. The Middle Class had to get their food for themselves, and the Lower Class was served bowls of rice that they had to share and eat with their fingers. Which grossed many of them out since they had had no idea of what was happening and, because they were sitting on the floor had leaned on it and touched it with their hands. No Germ-X was given to them. Many of them used their name cards to scoop the rice. We in the Middle and Upper Classes were not permitted to share with the Lower. I felt rather sick at the reality, because that is the way it is for many families especially in Third World Countries. I didn't eat much that night.
Once the announcement of what dinner was to be for each individual class, one of the Lower Class men snuck around our current President, and stole a bunch of bananas which he then distributed to the masses. VIVE REVOLTION!
The highlight of Thursday is the dance that starts at nine. Remember the "Who's Who" ballet? The completely filled out ballet is our admission ticket into the dance, or alternatively the movie held in the auditorium. We put people down for things like "Most 4H Spirit, Most Likely to be Remembered, Funniest, Best Smile, Biggest Redneck, Biggest Flirt, Mr. & Mrs. 4-H" with a female and a male for each category. We spend the next part of the two hours, "Cranking that Lion King" among other dances, including some country ones, but leaning more toward pop line dances. One tradition we have is that the Officers lead us in the "YMCA".
After the dance ends, it's curfew and we all head back to our rooms. Typically, we stay up very late on the last night talking and hanging with our roomies. Hey, most of us don't drive ourselves home, so we sleep in the car. I know I did.
FRIDAY
Friday is always starts with coffee. And is very sad, as we say goodbye to all of our friends. It's especially sad for those of us who are graduating and this was their last TLC. Most of us packed before we hit the sack, so we could spend as much time as possible with our friends.
We eat breakfast, clean the dorms, and go to our closing assembly for final remarks, a slideshow, and our final speaker. Once we are dismissed, well, we head home.
One last thing I would like to mention before I end this post. The slideshow is always awesome. And you are supposed to laugh at the ridiculous pictures, and to shout out the names of the people who are doing something that looks stupid. It's an unspoken tradition. 4-H is filled with trigger happy camera people. One of them being Caitlyn Kinder and whoever she allowed to use her camera, as evidenced by the fact that they took nearly 1,000 pictures over the course of four days. Don't believe me? Check out this link:
https://www.facebook.com/arkansas4h/photos_stream
Also, if you want to know more about 4-H, since this post was just about TLC, check out this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdyKxZvpy4M
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