Quite possibly the most impactful piece of my Ogallala Commons Internship has been the community service component. When every intern is asked to complete at least ten hours of community service, we are able to make a huge impact on the lives of the people around us. As I was growing up in the Future Farmers of America, Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, and 4-H, I was taught the importance of helping out within my community. Throughout my internship, I have completed fifteen hours of community service in three different projects.
The first project I completed was organizing a group of youth to go to the nursing home to play BINGO with the residents. With the help of some Phillip’s County 4-H members, we were able to play BINGO for several hours.
Another project I participated in was a highway cleanup operation. We walked alongside one of the highways in Torrington, Wyoming and picked trash up off of both sides of the road. This community service project was greatly appreciated by the people of Goshen County.
The biggest service project that I participated in was planning and executing a livestock Judging contest for the 307 Series. In order to do this, I helped to do the preparation work including working on awards and placing cards. I also helped put throughout the contest by keeping time for the classes, leading a group of judges through the contest, and taking oral reasons from young members. This project helped the local youth by allowing them to practice their evaluation and public speaking skills. It also helped reduce the workload of the University of Wyoming Livestock Judging coach.
As of right now, I have one more Maine community service project that I will be completing in early August. For this project I will be driving up to Chadron, Nebraska to judge the rabbit portion of the round-robin competition. Round-robin is a contest amongst the grand champions of every species of animal to see who is the overall Master Showman. For this event, I will be watching every participant demonstrate the correct process of showing a rabbit.
