{"id":2007,"date":"2026-07-24T14:30:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:30:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:30:57","slug":"osu-extension-intern-turns-4-h-experience-into-opportunities-for-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2026\/07\/24\/osu-extension-intern-turns-4-h-experience-into-opportunities-for-others\/","title":{"rendered":"OSU Extension intern turns 4-H experience into opportunities for others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey y\u2019all, my name is Jack Sparks, and I am an intern for OSU Extension this summer in Polk County! A<\/span>t Oregon State University, I am going into my sophomore year, studying\u00a0mechanical engineering with a focus on robotic control in the honors program. Robotic control can vary widely, but I hope to\u00a0<\/span>focus on human-robot integration and sensors.\u00a0My\u00a0end\u00a0goal is to get a PhD in\u00a0autonomous\u00a0<\/span>mechanisms and human-robot interaction, with the hope of being a leader in the field and providing opportunities for rural students to get more involved in engineering programs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"\"\n
Jack Sparks, intern in Polk County. Photo: Sarah LaDuke<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

4-H has played a huge role in shaping who I am and what I am studying. I have been involved in\u00a0<\/span>4-H for\u00a0almost a\u00a0decade, where I have focused on the static and leadership side of the program. There\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0a whole lot of STEM opportunities in my community while I was growing\u00a0<\/span>up, so I had to seek programs and projects actively. 4-H has given me so many opportunities that I would never have had otherwise. From being able to join a college program at 14 years old,\u00a0to growing my leadership skills and being able to mentor youth; my involvement in the 4-H program is a large part of what makes me the person that I am today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, I am gearing up for the Polk County Fair in the first week of August and doing some\u00a0<\/span>general office work. I have been working at\u00a0the\u00a0fair for the better part of five years now, but being an intern has allowed me to learn a lot more than just how to set up the static building. We are\u00a0<\/span>also going to be in a new space this year, which will present new challenges and allow us to\u00a0<\/span>experiment with new layout designs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the summer continues, I will continue my general\u00a0Extension work and\u00a0assist\u00a0wherever<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>needed. I also plan to teach STEM-related classes as part of my project for Polk County. I want\u00a0<\/span>to give youth the chance to do more than just the agriculture side of 4-H and offer them\u00a0the\u00a0opportunities I wish I had while growing up in the program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey y\u2019all, my name is Jack Sparks, and I am an intern for OSU Extension this summer in Polk County! At Oregon State University, I am going into my sophomore year, studying\u00a0mechanical engineering with a focus on robotic control in the honors program. Robotic control can vary widely, but I hope to\u00a0focus on human-robot integration… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14884,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,64,140],"tags":[321],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4-h","category-polk-county","category-stem","tag-jack-sparks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14884"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2009,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions\/2009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}