Bridget Aznive, a UNH junior majoring in animal science, grew up on Aznive Farm in Loudon, where her family raises purebred Hereford cattle. Here she shares the story of her 13 years in 4-H.

Ask 100 4-H'ers what 4-H is and what it means, and I doubt you'll find two answers exactly alike. To every member 4-H is a little different as their experiences are never the same.

I began 4-H in Cloverbuds when I was five years old. It was a fun meeting once a month, where I got to make interesting crafts, and the meetings were filled with fun events and snacks.

Learn at your own pace

I moved up into 4-H when I was eight, but I still didn't expect my experience to go beyond making friends and exhibiting the things I'd made at the fair. That's truly the best thing about 4-H, it lets you discover your goals and learn at your own pace.

I compare 4-H to college: the first day of class your professor hands you a syllabus with the goals of the course clearly laid out on paper. In a way there's little room for discovery; by the end of the class you're expected to have learned all the objectives on that sheet of paper.

But when you join 4-H, no one sits you down and says, "Okay, you're a 4-H'er now. By the time you leave you should have developed the skills to make you a better community member, and have improved your public speaking and leadership skills."

4-H lets you discover and build these skills over time, at your own pace and you really learn and remember them better than you will ever remember how calculus applies to everyday life. It becomes a part of you, it envelops you, and you don't even realize the skills you've gained until you sit down and really think about it.

Perseverance, responsibility, teamwork

Everyone learns things differently. I learned the most in the ring with the horses. One of my first-ever goals in 4-H was to get the horse I was riding to trot all the way around the ring without stopping, an endeavor that was extremely difficult for me and probably took close to a year to achieve.

Through the 4-H horse program I learned responsibility. I learned how to fall and get back on afterwards. Although I didn't realize it at the time, each time I fell I had a setback. By getting back on, I learned to overcome those setbacks and succeed.

Working with the horses I learned a lot of lessons in teamwork and patience. You can't force a horse to do something they don't want to do, and in order to work as a successful team, you need to be patient and let things go at their own pace. I learned that I couldn't just give up, that sometimes there is no easy way out without giving up, and that sometimes the best choice is the hardest.

Leading and teaching

As my experiences in 4-H evolved, I focused less on the awards and more on the workshops and trips that catered to my interests, as well as the leadership roles available to me. These experiences not only provided me with immense knowledge but with skills that I was able to build on and develop as I progressed in 4-H and life.

I learned to balance a budget and stay on track as treasurer of both my local 4-H club and my Junior Leaders group, a valuable skill that I have been able to apply in college, to help keep the costs of my education in check.

As I got older I began to help my mom and other 4-H leaders teach the younger members some of the skills I had learned. At times this came naturally to me---encouraging new members to participate in the meetings, being used as an example, demonstrating the different gaits of a horse, demonstrating an emergency dismount, or explaining what I had learned in different projects.

Other times I experienced many difficulties, giving me a new outlook on just how much the leaders had done for me when I was younger. When I helped with the sewing group, I learned that simple tasks like the right amount of pressure on the pedal for the speed I wanted the sewing machine to travel at, and I struggled to find a way to explain it to someone who had never sewn before.

When I joined the Junior Leaders group, I experienced an entirely new side of 4-H. While the number of projects decreased, my level of involvement in the club planning increased immensely. Until then the leaders had a large part helping to keep the meeting running smoothly and coming up with projects that involved members of all ages.

In Junior Leaders everyone was closer in age, and we took more control in planning meetings and events. The level of community service also increased immensely. Large community service projects that everyone could organize and plan took over much of our time both inside and outside of meetings.

Discovering a career path

4-H has taught me so much that helped shape me into the person I am today. As I became active in the horse project, I overcame my initial fear of horses and also learned about the need for large animal veterinarians across the nation. This, along with the love of animals that developed over time in 4-H, helped me set my sights on a career in veterinary medicine.

In college I discovered just how difficult my selected major was, but through the lessons I learned as a 4-H'er, I was able to get through the difficult times, setting realistic goals and ways to meet my goals for each class. 4-H also helped me to overcome my shyness. Today I have the skills to deliver a well-organized presentation and communicate my ideas to others.

These skills have also helped quite recently in the UNH CREAM class, where 29 other classmates and I manage a herd of 26 cows at the Fairchild Dairy. Being able to work as a team makes the process of selecting bulls for our cows, and deciding how to improve our herd while increasing our profits easier.

For me 4-H wasn't just a club I was involved in as a kid, it's a part of my life that has helped me set realistic goals for myself and stay the course. I truly can't get enough of 4-H, and I can't wait to become re-involved with 4-H as a leader after I finish my schooling.

Looking back, I never dreamed I would have achieved as much as I have through 4-H; it's been a life- shaping experience I could never regret.

Another 4-H story

From farm to 4-H to Dartmouth for Walpole's Kirsten Beaudry