4H by Aspen

4H by Aspen - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my life, I have been involved in many activities that have helped me grow as a leader. 4H especially has had the biggest impact on growing my leadership skills. I have been involved in it for five years and it has allowed me to help my community while exercising leadership. With 4h, we have the opportunity to participate in many projects that help the environment and other people. I was even able to lead my own community service project two years ago. There is an elementary school in my community and I decided to help the students by aiding them with areas of study that they struggle with. I started a tutoring program at our local library that met up once a week. My mom helped me advertise my tutoring by putting signs around my community and by telling other moms. At first, only two kids came to my tutoring but I helped them with whatever they needed for about an hour and a half. After that initial session, more kids started coming. I used the books and toys at the libraries to help improve their math and reading skills. It felt good to know that I was helping local kids to better understand their studies in a fun way. I hope that it made them appreciate learning more and helped them with their studies.

With 4H I have also been a counselor at home economics school. It is a statewide event where kids come to do workshops and learn different activities related to home economics. I have done it three years and I have worked the fashion engineering and activities tract. In the activities tract we kept the kids entertained while they were waiting by singing songs and playing games with them. We also planned activities for them to do at night like swimming or movie nights. In the fashion engineering tract, we helped the kids make creative garments that involved technology, like bracelets with lights. It is so much fun helping the kids with skills that they wish to improve on and are passionate about. I love getting the opportunity to spend time with the kids and to show them what being a leader is really about. I even remember on the last day of home ec school two years ago when a little boy gave me a note. He drew me a picture of me and him and wrote about how much fun he had and how excited he was to come back the next year. He said that the counselors were all so fun and that he hoped to be one when he was older. It showed me that I was really making a difference in those kid’s lives even though it sometimes felt like I was not doing much. The note made me so happy and I still have it and look at it sometimes to remember why I choose to help others. I hope to continue being a leader in my community, my college, and eventually, my workplace in order to continue making a difference in the lives of others