Thankful for National 4-H Congress

Pennsylvania Delegation  

Last summer, I discovered a unique opportunity to be able to combine two of my greatest joys in life: 4-H and traveling. I had the privilege to travel to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, Georgia last November as one of forty Pennsylvania delegates. This premier national event gathers the best 4-Hers from across the county to celebrate their achievements and allow them to have a five day convention filled with fun learning experiences. In order to make National Congress a coveted and special trip, 4-H members may only attend National Congress once as a delegate. While at National Congress 2011, I heard of a leadership position that I could apply for to be able to be granted a second trip back to congress. This National Congress “Design Team” consists of eight passionate 4-Hers from across the country who serve as liaisons for all 800+ delegates and they assist other nationally recognized adults in the planning and execution of National Congress. As you may have concluded at this point, I applied for the design team, was humbly granted a spot on the team, and I got to travel back to Atlanta this Thanksgiving.

International Night with Tyler Shaw, your Vice President of Events 

The benefits of being on the design team were greater than I could have ever imagined. We had the distinct opportunity to meet with prestigious individuals in corporations such as Coca-Cola and AGCO. The personal networking that came out of being a National 4-H Congress design team member was unbelievable as well. Meeting several National 4-H Council members was significantly noteworthy to avid 4-Hers such as us.

Youth Leadership Team partner 

and new friend from Idaho, 

Trevor Kauer

Though meeting all of these “bigwigs” was impressive, what really made my 2012 congress experience spectacular was meeting as many of the 4-H delegates as I could. Sure, having a one on one conversation with Miss America, Laura Kaeppeler, and finding out we were in the same Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia was neat, but in no way did I have an affect on her life. Having the chance to talk with such enthusiastic 4-Hers from all over and hear how much fun they were having really brought back memories from when I was a delegate having a blast with some of my best friends in 4-H. I also remembered that I looked up to the design team as such high 4-H role models. They put in their hard work to achieve their positions and they put in a lot of time to creating the congress experience that I had. I had to keep my mentality from when I was a delegate in the back of my head. It was incredible humbling to hear people look up to me as a 4-Her and to be asked how could they become a design team member next year.

My mom, Toni Stuetz, was our state 

advisor at congress and our southeastern 

PA chaperone on the flight home. It was 

her birthday so we celebrated with 

cheesecake at Chili’s!

Even though National Congress 2012 is officially adjourned, the impacts and memories will live on forever. I had a marvelous time listening to so many different 4-H stories and trying to get to know lots of excellent 4-H members. I sure can’t wait for my future in 4-H and possibly attending other national 4-H events such as National 4-H Conference and/or Citizen Washington Focus!

Sincerely,

Cecilia Stuetz

Pennsylvania State 4-H Council Secretary

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou