Writing my last blog post feels a bit bittersweet. This internship has truly flown by, and I am so grateful for the experiences I’ve had this summer. I have learned so much more than I could have ever imagined.
This past week was the Allegany County fair, which was quite a learning experience for me. Over the weekend, I helped with entering and judging the indoor entries. It was fun to see everything that was entered in the fair and how creative people are. I got a first-place ribbon for my oatmeal raisin cookies, and my mentor, Sarah, got featured in the showcase for her coffee cake. I also got to set up my finalized canning presentation, which was a nice full-circle moment to encapsulate some of the work I've been focusing on over the summer.
This past week was the Allegany County fair, which was quite a learning experience for me. Over the weekend, I helped with entering and judging the indoor entries. It was fun to see everything that was entered in the fair and how creative people are. I got a first-place ribbon for my oatmeal raisin cookies, and my mentor, Sarah, got featured in the showcase for her coffee cake. I also got to set up my finalized canning presentation, which was a nice full-circle moment to encapsulate some of the work I've been focusing on over the summer.
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| An image of me with my canning presentation set up at the fair. A lot of people seemed to be interested in the presentation, and I was glad to have it finally set up! |
On Monday, I was in the office for the first part of the day, and then headed over to the fairgrounds to help with the skillathon competitions. We had competitions for horticulture, rabbits, and poultry. I was the leader of the horticulture competition, which was a bit rocky at first, but it all worked out in the end. I had never seen these competitions before, so it was interesting to see the in-depth information that kids were tested on.
On Tuesday, I was at the fairgrounds all day to help with a variety of things. In the morning, I assisted with the rabbit show. This featured a showmanship portion where the kids had to present their rabbits and discuss any faults or disqualifications, as well as general information about the breed. It was so interesting to see how much information they had to know about their rabbits, and it was clear that they had prepared for the show. Then, we went down to the barn for the rabbit judging. I wrote down the judge’s scores and comments as she reviewed the rabbits. Overall, this experience was very informative and opened my eyes to the intense world of rabbit competitions. In the afternoon, I helped with the robotics competition. This competition allowed four teams to compete and be recognized for their robot programming abilities. The kids were also introduced to some of the former members of robotics and got to see examples of career opportunities in the future. I think this event was very beneficial for the kids, and it was fun to see the inner workings of the competition.
On Tuesday, I was at the fairgrounds all day to help with a variety of things. In the morning, I assisted with the rabbit show. This featured a showmanship portion where the kids had to present their rabbits and discuss any faults or disqualifications, as well as general information about the breed. It was so interesting to see how much information they had to know about their rabbits, and it was clear that they had prepared for the show. Then, we went down to the barn for the rabbit judging. I wrote down the judge’s scores and comments as she reviewed the rabbits. Overall, this experience was very informative and opened my eyes to the intense world of rabbit competitions. In the afternoon, I helped with the robotics competition. This competition allowed four teams to compete and be recognized for their robot programming abilities. The kids were also introduced to some of the former members of robotics and got to see examples of career opportunities in the future. I think this event was very beneficial for the kids, and it was fun to see the inner workings of the competition.
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| Me with the YMCA Day Camp group. They really enjoyed the free toys I was handing out! |
With Wednesday came more fair activities, including a visit from the YMCA Day Camp. We had three groups of children from this camp come to tour the fair and see all of the entries. I was tasked with leading one of these groups around the indoor exhibits, the barn, and the horse area. The kids really enjoyed seeing all of the animals and the exhibits, and it was nice for them to see the possibilities if they wanted to enter anything in the fair next year. As an added bonus, they also gave me friendship bracelets for being a fun leader. Wednesday afternoon was another new experience for me, as I helped with the bike competition. This is exactly what it sounds like; kids are tested on their bike safety knowledge, awareness of bike parts, and ability to ride a bike through various courses. I got to be one of the evaluators for the bike parts test, which taught me a few things about bikes as well. Overall, the kids did really well with this competition, even though scoring the papers was quite a process.
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| An image from the bike competition. The kids had a lot of fun riding around the courses. |
Thursday was a bit of a slower day at the fair, which was a nice change of pace. In the morning, we had the poultry show. Again, I learned a lot about the qualifications for different breeds and how to determine a good showmanship score. In the afternoon, we attended a picnic with all of the fair families and volunteers. It was nice to get everyone together and show appreciation for everyone who helped put the events together. We finished organizing papers and office materials at the fairgrounds and wrapped up some extra tasks to end the day.
On Friday, I traveled back to North Carolina to continue moving things in and preparing for my next semester. I cannot believe that I have to think about going back to school already, but this summer has gone so fast.
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