My experience at Congress was great. I made plenty of new friends, experienced college in dormitories, and learned all about congress. I met most of the executive board and became closer with my district and had a fun time doing it. I only wish the week would of lasted longer. I can’t wait for next year’s adventures and friends that await me in Congress.

Hey guys! Congress was great this year! Everyone who went had a great time. For those of you who don’t know, State Congress is where 4Her’s from all over the state of Florida meet in Gainesville every year and stay in the dorms on UF’s campus. We come together to elect new state council officers, present demonstrations, interview for 4H scholarships and for the chance to attend National Congress, and attend educational workshops that help with career exploration.

The first day opened up with a motivational speaker named Barrett Keene. He was so funny that all the kids and adults were laughing. Later on, we sat in meeting rooms while all of the state council candidates walked thru the rooms answering our questions.

On Tuesday morning, everyone in Walton County was dressed and ready to give their demonstrations. Donielle & Eve of the Teen Council did a team demo in the food prep category. Amber, also in the Teen Council did a demo in the child development category. Kendra, who is in the Teen Council, did a demo in the animal industry category. Elizabeth, who participates in TaRC & the Teen Council, and I did a demo in the mechanical, petroleum, electric, and wind power category. Everyone placed in their category, except for Elizabeth, who has a chance for a summer internship at the University of Florida’s Biology and Agriculture department next year. Donielle & Eve placed 3^rd in their category, Amber placed 2^nd in her category, Kendra placed 1^st in her category, and I tied for 3^rd place in my category. Elizabeth got a Red Award of Excellence on her demonstration, as did Donielle & Eve. Amber, Kendra, and I got Blue Awards of Excellence. Come Tuesday afternoon, everyone was tired out from their demos. Luckily, the Congress Planning Committee had a huge carnival planned. The carnival had a bounce house, a bungee run, an inflatable obstacle course, and a dunking booth that various state council members happily took a swim in numerous times. It also had great refreshments like cotton candy, crushed ice, and popcorn, all of which were managed by our amazing adult volunteers. After the fun everyone had at the Carnival, we had to wind down and move into the Grand Ballroom to watch the Fashion Revue/Share the Fun Program. For those of you who don’t know, Fashion Revue is a contest in which participants either creates outfits or purchases different pieces of clothing and puts them together to make an outfit. Then they wear their clothes and model them on stage. And, for those of you who don’t know this, Share the Fun is a talent contest. We saw civil war reenactment dresses and super comfy school clothes. We also saw a girl who sang and danced to a song from “Legally Blonde the Musical” and a boy who can play the guitar, harmonica, and sing, all at the same time!

On Wednesday morning, our voting delegates, Kendra & Emily voted on our new state council officers, and on a few constitutional amendments. Those who weren’t voting delegates went to dance workshops that were taught by professional dancers. There were 3 workshops: Modern, Jazz, & Ballet. I personally had tons of fun at the Modern & Jazz workshops. That afternoon, we went to a tree planting ceremony in which we planted a holly tree on campus to signify our continued growth. That night was county night out, and our county went with Santa Rosa and Escambia counties to the mall where we ate dinner and browsed all the shops. After that we went to the awards ceremony and all received our awards and watched the Air Band Concert. We saw many performances, the best of which was by a group of four who called themselves “Psycho without a reason.” They performed a song by Prince called Kiss. Their performance received so much applause that I am surprised that they didn’t throw us out of the building.

On Thursday, our last full day, we attended our Program Tracks. Elizabeth and I attended a Biofuels workshop, where we learned how to make biogas and ethanol. We hope to take what we learned about biogas and make our own. That afternoon we attended an awards ceremony in which 10 scholarships were handed out to 4H graduating seniors. Also, four people were selected to attend National Congress in Atlanta, Georgia this fall.

Friday brought much sadness when we had to say goodbye to all of our friends from all over the state of Florida. We won’t be seeing most of them again until 3^rd Executive Board. So as you can see, Congress was amazing this year! I was so glad that I was able to be a part of the committee that planned this great event. Hope you guys can make it to the next Congress, or even 3^rd Executive Board!

-Nicolas Green

Walton County Teen Council President

4H District 2 President/Reporter

Overall, 4-H Congress was an amazing experience. By attending workshops Tuesday-Thursday, I gained new knowledge about the renewable resources biodiesel, biogas, solar, and wind. I enjoyed participating in the demonstrations and getting the opportunity to meet new people. By attending Congress I was able to gain self-confidence, become a more responsible person, and am now sure that becoming a biological engineer is the right career choice for me.

My Thursday workshop was Individual & Family Resources. We learned cake decorating the first hour. In our groups we made icing first, then you had to ice the cake. Then we decorated it & ate it. The second part was about fast food & how to choose healthy foods. We did an activity on that. Then there was the part learning about working in retail. That was interesting. I can’t wait to see what’s next year.

This was my first time going to Congress and so it was different. The workshops were fun and all the activities we did. My agent and my friend tried to explain Congress and they were right, you have to go to Congress to understand what it is. The campaigning of our new state council was cool. There was plenty of that done. And the dances were fun. I just can’t wait for next year.

The workshop I attended on Thursday was Landing Judging. In this workshop we got “Down and Dirty.” We learned ways to tell where the water table was in the ground. During the examination of one of the soil pits we learned about the ages of the earth and the different names of the types of soil. My workshop also got to feel the soil to tell the clay and sand content. It did start to rain a little but that didn’t stop us from going to the creek to see how much sand and organic matter that lied around it.  This was a really fun workshop because I have never done anything like it before.

My first year at congress was great. It was nothing like I thought it would be but in a good way. On Tuesday my friend Eve and I presented our food prep demo to the judges. We were very happy to receive 3^rd place in our category.  Most of my district took dance workshops on Wednesday where we learned Thriller and also made up our own dance. What I loved about congress was that I had the opportunity to learn things I never thought I would ever have a chance to learn. Like on my Thursday workshop I learn about land judging. I’m very happy I had this experience.