By Debbie Carter

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Rocki Hanscom, a senior majoring in political science at UAF, said her 4-H experiences, which emphasized citizenship and government, helped shape her career interests. She is considering a career in foreign service or in international law.

Hanscom, 21, got her 4-H start as a Cloverbud, working in her mom's community garden behind Denali Elementary School in Fairbanks. She entered produce and flowers in competitions at the Tanana Valley State Fair. During second grade, she acquired a pet guinea pig, Nestlé, and learned how to show him at the fair. She started giving demonstrations in second grade as well, on topics such as how to transplant a plant. She also learned arts, cooking and sewing, and participated in the fair's bake-off and fashion review.

During eighth grade, Hanscom started working on a 4-H government project. She and other 4-H kids lobbied the Alaska Legislature on a livestock liability bill, which limited the liability of livestock owners who show animals in public places. Meeting with legislators, she said, "was a real educational experience."

The following summer, she participated in a 4-H exchange to Maine and in Citizenship Washington Focus, a citizenship program for 4-H teens in the nation's capital. She followed that up with a national 4-H leadership conference her freshman year of high school. She helped plan the event the following year and led a session for the conference.

Before her first semester at UAF, Hanscom became an intern for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and observed the dynamics of the senator's office up close. She returned to the senator's office in summer 2008 to coordinate the high school internship program.

4-H definitely improved her leadership and public speaking skills, and helped her pursue her interests in college, Hanscom said.

"A lot of people think that 4-H is animals and gardening and cooking and sewing but it's just so much more than that," she said. "It's helped me get to the next level, to get an internship."

In Alaska, some 10,000 kids participate in 4-H sponsored events, whether it's after-school clubs, special-interest classes or more traditional 4-H activities. They all fulfill the 4-H philosophy: learn by doing.

4-H has rural roots. Its philosophy of practical, hands-on learning grew more than 100 years ago out of a desire to make public school education more connected to country life.

When Congress created the Cooperative Extension Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1914, it included boys' and girls' club work. Soon after, the youth organization became known as 4-H and its logo became a four-leaf clover with 4 Hs, standing for head, heart, hands and health. Today, 4-H is coordinated by Extension agents working with land-grant universities throughout the United States. 4-H clubs and related organizations now exist in other countries, too.

In most states, you can join 4-H if you are between the ages of 8 and 18. The 4-H program includes more than seven million members nationally. Most programs center around three areas: leadership, citizenship and life skills. The 4-H motto is "to make the best better."

Debbie Carter, '81, is a writer and editor for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service.

UAF alumni featured in this story: Matt Bray, '01, '03; Maria Bray, '98

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