{"id":603,"date":"2021-09-08T08:58:34","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T15:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/?p=603"},"modified":"2021-09-08T08:58:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T15:58:34","slug":"what-extension-really-means-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2021\/09\/08\/what-extension-really-means-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"What Extension Really Means to Me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \"Goat\n
Goat master showmanship judging at the Umatilla County Fair.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Hello again everyone! Joseph O\u2019Brien checking in for the last time\u00a0from Umatilla County.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WOW! I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been 10 weeks already. I feel like our internship orientation was just yesterday and we were creating individual objectives for the summer in our specific program areas.\u00a0My time in the 4-H and Open Campus\u00a0programs have been filled with endless fun, opportunities,\u00a0experiences, and growth \u2013 personal and professional.\u00a0From working at Science Fridays at the SAGE Center in Boardman\u00a0to\u00a0judging\u00a0the goat portion of\u00a0master\u00a0showmanship at the Umatilla County Fair at\u00a0the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center\u00a0in Hermiston,\u00a0I would say my experiences were very diverse this summer.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each intern this summer was tasked with\u00a0creating or partaking in a project in their program area and sharing\u00a0their progress with their fellow interns during the weekly internship check-ins. My project this summer was to\u00a0work with the grant provided by Corteva to the Extension Service here in Umatilla County. This grant\u00a0focused on monarch\u00a0butterflies and how they are dwindling in numbers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.\u00a0Therefore, it was my project to go around to\u00a0summer schools and camps\u00a0to\u00a0teach\u00a0students\u00a0about what these pollinators provide for us.\u00a0One game I played was the \u201cIce Cream Sundae Challenge.\u201d\u00a0In short, each team created an amazing ice cream sundae combination with the toppings and flavors they were given. Once they were done, we talked about all the ingredients, it was determined that without pollinators, we would not be able to eat any of the food items.\u00a0Not only did the\u00a0kids\u00a0learn about the butterflies, but I learned more about the overall grant process, how to engage a larger group of youth, and how to create lesson plans out of the curriculum provided.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the two summers I have been interning with the\u00a0Extension\u00a0Service, I always get the same question, \u201cWhy are you interning for the\u00a0Extension\u00a0Service when you are\u00a0a nursing major?\u201d\u00a0Now there is a question that might stump you. It made me really think about why I came back for a second time and why I will continue to volunteer with the extension service programs\u00a0in the future.\u00a0\u201cCommunity,\u201d\u00a0is the first word that comes to mind.\u00a0As a nursing student\u00a0who is heavily involved on campus, I have\u00a0learned what it means to create community and the importance of getting others involved in those opportunities \u2013 even if it may not perk your interest at first. Although I don\u2019t\u00a0personally\u00a0see myself working for the\u00a0Extension\u00a0Service in the\u00a0future, that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t engage, grow, and collaborate with those in my community and use those experiences and growth opportunities in my nursing career.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Port\n
Port of Morrow Tour with Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs: Manufacturing Camp<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

With that said, I am so grateful and\u00a0will\u00a0cherish every\u00a0place, person, program, and partnership that made my internship possible\u00a0for a second time. In a few weeks, I will be starting my junior year of nursing school. I would be kidding myself if I said I was ready for what lies ahead but, I know that I have multiple communities behind me with an abundance of support to give if I find myself lost. And who knows, I may come back to\u00a0the Extension Service here in\u00a0Umatilla County again for my final internship opportunity. I guess you\u2019ll have to stay tuned \u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stay safe and well!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello again everyone! Joseph O\u2019Brien checking in for the last time\u00a0from Umatilla County.\u00a0 WOW! I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been 10 weeks already. I feel like our internship orientation was just yesterday and we were creating individual objectives for the summer in our specific program areas.\u00a0My time in the 4-H and Open Campus\u00a0programs have been filled… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11435,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19,8],"tags":[12,57,10],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4-h","category-east-oregon","category-umatilla-county","tag-4-h","tag-joseph-obrien","tag-umatilla-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","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\/11435"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":609,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions\/609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}