Hi again! It’s Evelyn, the OSU Extension intern from Wasco County, Oregon. This has been an amazing summer, and I have learned a lot. Now that all of our 4-H summer camps have finished, I can recap everything I learned. To make the camps run smoothly, we have to ensure we have enough supplies for every student, from building materials to working computers, to snacks and water bottles. I also learned that even if you spend days updating computers in June, Windows will still require major updates in July that unfortunately must be installed for the computers to run. While working with Susan McCourt on our Invention Convention (IC) teacher training, I have learned what IC will look like in Oregon in the future. Additionally, I facilitated my first Zoom meeting, which took a lot of troubleshooting to set up, but it was a huge success! I have learned a lot about Zoom, and I feel quite prepared if I am needed to run another meeting again.  

One big struggle I faced this year was at one of our later summer camps. We were running our camp at one of our local elementary schools, and a lot of our computers were unable to connect to the internet. After sorting through the twenty-one computers I had, I was able to connect twelve to the internet. We had a 16-student camp starting in 30 minutes and were prepared to pair up students to ensure everyone could learn. We then had many students go to the wrong location due to a mislabeled email months back, but by the time the camp started, we had twelve students show up. Luckily, we had enough computers, and the rest of the day went smoothly. I learned a great deal about organization and adapting when encountering challenges to achieve success amidst struggles. 

This past week I have been helping Leah Ashley plan the Wasco County Fair. This involved doing odd jobs around the office. I made judging cards for livestock and small animals, and then dove into sorting the champion banners into their respective categories. This part of the fair is actually quite exciting because I get to see what the 4-H office team does before the fair starts. During the fair, I will be helping run the STEM activities: robotics, duct-tape projects and popsicle-stick catapults [due to the Grasshopper Fire, the Wasco County Fair has been canceled, placing all fair activities on hold]. 

Now that my internship is almost over (August 14th is my last day), I can share what I have generally learned this summer. Besides learning how to run the 4-H camps and the fair, I have learned how to solve problems with limited instructions, which is a very useful skill. Also, all the knowledge I gained about STEM and the Wasco County Fair will help me as I pursue a career in engineering. 

I would like to thank the entire Wasco County OSU Extension office for making my internship a very enjoyable experience. I would also like to thank Susan McCourt, whom I worked alongside during my internship. It has been a pleasure to hear about all of the other interns’ stories, and I hope everyone has an amazing year!