Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship and Judy Stevens Memorial Scholarship
Aaron Ehrlich is the son of Larry and Michelle Ehrlich of Greeley, CO. He is a 10-year member of High Plains Ag 4-H Club and is involved in shooting sports, air pistol and archery. He has also done gardening and dogs. Aaron is a Senior at Frontier Charter Academy and, is in track and field. He was also on the speech and debate team and the Academic Decathlon. Aaron plans to attend Cedarville University in Ohio and would like to get his undergraduate molecular biology degree and then go to medical school to study neurology, eventual to become a neurosurgeon. Aaron has wanted to go into the medical field for most of his life. When he was in middle school, he really liked when they did dissections in science class and has been very interested in the way that the body functions ever since. He didn’t know what type of medicine he wanted to study until 8th grade when we were able to dissect a sheep's brain. This is what solidified his interest in the medical field and his wanting to study neurology. In the summer between his freshman and sophomore years, Aaron was selected to attend a medical camp with NYLF (National Youth Leadership Forum); he chose to attend camp in Chapel Hill, South Carolina. It was at this 10-day camp where they learned about various medical professions, basic first aid & CPR, how to do a medical examination (using a high-tech dummy), and basic suturing and intubating skills. They also visited a few colleges and heard from several medical experts. At one of the colleges, they dissected a cow heart (which he thought was very cool). This experience intrigued Aaron and made him think about possibly wanting to pursue a career as a cardiac surgeon. The best part of the entire camp was when they were able to watch a surgery that was live streamed from a different state. This was the thing that got me interested in the surgery part of the medical field and not just the study of a specific field. Since then, he has been focused on excelling academically to prepare for the rigors of college; working part-time to earn money for college; and staying involved in my church youth group, 4-H activities, and school track team. Aaron has also looked into shadowing a surgeon (who is a family friend) and hopes to gain more medical exposure before he graduates and heads out to attend Cedarville University this Fall to study molecular biology in their pre-med program. Aaron has been in 4-H for eleven years, and through most of it, he participated in shooting sports, as well as one year in the dog project (training our golden retriever), and two years of gardening. He’s done archery every year and air pistol sporadically throughout. For the first two years of my 4H career, he did a poster board for his gardening project and very basic poster boards for my shooting sports project. The poster board for his gardening project in his second year received a grand champion at both the Weld County Fair and State Fair. As he continued with shooting sports, he graduated to making smaller woodworking projects that would help me in shooting, such as a pellet board to keep track of which targets, he had shot or a block-rest to set my pistol on when shooting bench position. In his fourth year of 4-H, he added the dog project, and since then, he’s only participated in shooting sports projects. After learning some basic woodworking skills from his father and from Industrial Arts Club at school, Aaron was able to enlarge his 4-H project. In 2020, he was commissioned by Tim Seltzer to make 5 bow rests for the Galeton and Ft. Lupton ranges. One thing that Aaron has learned over the years is that it doesn’t take that much time to help others a lot. For example, helping at the food bank for a few hours affected many different families. He also saw this in the community service that he did outside of 4H, including the hurricane flood relief that he did with my youth group, the home building project he was able to do in Texas on a church mission trip, a yearly church charburger fundraiser that raised money to buy rice for people in India, and helping process shoe boxes yearly (at the Samaritan's Purse warehouse in Denver) that would be sent to children all over the world. One of Aaron’s biggest accomplishments in 4-H was qualifying for the national shooting sports competition two years in a row for air pistol. In order to qualify for the national competition, you have to place in the top four at the state competition and can only go one time for each discipline. The first year that I qualified, the national competition was canceled due to the pandemic, and he had to qualify again the next year in order to make it again. He was able to qualify for the National Shooting Sports Competition in 2020 with three of his Weld County teammates and was able to go to Nebraska in 2021 and represent Colorado for air pistol. Our team placed in the top five each day of competition and got third place for the overall competition. He has been close to making it to Nationals for archery, with tenth place being his highest placing at the Colorado State competition. Aaron is the recipient of the Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship and the Judy Stevens Memorial Scholarship.
Weld County 4-H Foundation and 4-H Leader's Council High School Scholarship
Abby Fetzer is the daughter of Matt and Amy Fetzer of Ault, CO. She is a 9-year member of the Galeton 4-H Club and is currently involved in market/breeding goats, clothing construction, buymanship and shooting sports. She also participated in decorate your duds. Abby is a Senior at Eaton High School and is in FCCLA (Family, Community and Career Leaders of America, National Honor Society, Eaton High School Football Manager, and the National Training Center Shooting Club. She is planning to attend the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and studying to become a certified prosthetist and orthotist. When looking into her future, she has always known that she wanted to be a part of the medical field. She wants to work with people to teach them more about their bodies and how to take care of them. Abby decided that she wanted to be a Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist after she went on a job shadow with Jason Bradshaw. Jason owns his own clinic where he works as a CPO and designs and produces custom wheelchairs. When she was on the job shadow, it opened her eyes to a whole new world that she immediately fell in love with. Hearing the patient’s stories and the way that Jason helped them quickly became something that she knew she wanted to do. Becoming a Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist would allow her to partner her want to make a positive impact in people’s lives with her eagerness to learn each and every day. After becoming a Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist, Abby would like to cater her abilities toward veterans and Paralympic athletes. Veterans have made the ultimate sacrifice and have laid their life on the line for citizens such as herself. She has a keenness to serve them and allow them to have a better quality of life. Paralympic athletes defeat all odds when they overcome their disabilities to become some of the best athletes in the world. She is equipped to help them achieve their goals. She plans to first earn a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Sciences and then continue her education to earn a master’s degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics. Abby plans on earning her bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs will allow her to continue her shooting career. At the end of 2019, she became heavily involved in shooting sports and still is today. She has competed at the Junior Olympics, the Winter Air Gun National Championships, and many other national competitions. Abby is currently a member of the National Training Center Shooting Club located in Colorado Springs. There, she plans to continue training for the Olympics while attending UCCS. Once becoming a CPO, she will work towards opening her own clinic to serve my community. Once this is completed, Abby will pursue her next goal: offer my services to countries that do not have access to health care. She has gone on two different mission trips with her youth group, and there she experienced the impact of helping others firsthand. She would like to expand this service further into different parts of the world. Through this experience, she will also be able to expand her knowledge of the world and become exposed to the different cultures within these communities. Abby is the recipient of the Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship and the Weld County 4-H Leader’s Council (High School) Scholarship.
Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship
Emily Hogsett is the daughter of Bryan and Amy Hogsett of Eaton, CO. She is an 11-year member of Galeton 4-H and is involved in cake decorating and artistic clothing buymanship. She has also participated in breeding beef, scrapbooking, sport fishing, visual arts and home design and décor. Emily is a Senior at Eaton High School and is involved in FCCLA (Family Community and Career Leaders of America), National Honor Society, Eaton Football Varsity/Jr. Team Manager, Eaton Wrestling Varsity/Jr. Team Manager and Eaton Red Ink Newspaper Writer. She is planning to attend CSU in Ft Collins and study to become a Family and Consumer Science Educator to make a difference in students’ lives. Her passion for service and leadership began when she joined 4-H at eight years old. As she grew older, she realized how important both are to her as she hopes to teach FCS at a rural high school. Her time in 4-H has helped her grow into an outgoing person who has strengths in public speaking, leadership, service, and a hard work ethic. Through 4-H, she was able to branch out and start serving her community at a young age. With her club, Galeton 4-H, Emily helped with Galeton Harvest Dinner, Galeton Elementary School Carnival, and at the Weld County Food Bank. She then even took on leadership roles at a young age by helping at the 4-H showcase with Cake Decorating and Sport Fishing and with the Weld County Cake Decorating Workshops teaching unit 1. Her freshman year she joined FCCLA. she was the only freshman that stayed involved the whole year. As she continued through high school, FCCLA became a huge part of her life. FCCLA continued Emily’s push to serve, lead, and make a difference in her community. Emily wants to continue to help people and make a difference in the world. Emily’s strong activity in leadership and service has helped her to decide to continue to serve her community and lead the future of America through teaching. This love started when she joined 4-H and grew in it. 4-H helped give her the confidence to go out and join other activities and involve others while doing so. She joined FCCLA because she wanted to learn more about many of the FCS projects, she enjoyed in 4-H. People ask me why she wanted to be a teacher all the time. It is no secret that teachers don’t make a lot of money, so why be one? It all comes down to impact. 4-H and FCCLA has made such a huge impact on her life and given her the opportunity to do the same for others. Emily always wants the opportunity to make an impact in people’s lives, and she can’t think of a better way for her to do so than by teaching FCS. Emily is the recipient of the Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship.
Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship
Samantha Campbell is the daughter of Jason and Kristy Campbell of Eaton, CO and is a 11-year member of Crow Creek 4-H and is involved in Market/Breeding beef. She also participated in showing horses. She is a Senior at Briggsdale Undivided High School and is in volleyball, basketball, FFA and FCCLA (Family Community and Career Leaders of America). She is planning to attend Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS studying to get her degree in Animal Science so she can become a veterinarian. Her whole life she has always had a compassion for making sure other and animals are taken well cared for. In the industry that she wants to go into she will be working with people who are either upset or mad because their animal is sick or injured. The animal will be have to be put first as well as their emotions. When treating an animal, you want to find the cause of why the sick/injured are injured and fix it as fast as possible to prevent them from getting worse. Her main treatments are livestock, therapy, and chiropractic. Since it is her last year in high school, Samantha has been looking into colleges that fit her the best and for the career she wants to go into. At the beginning of her senior year, she investigated three colleges: Wyoming State University, West Texas A&M, and Kansas State University. Looking into all three of them there was one that caught her eye. She visited it once and fell in love with it when she went there for a visit. The college that she chose was Kansas State University. Kansas State has an amazing ag program, and the people were very polite there when she went. Since she was so interested in Kansas, Samantha put in an application to see if she could get excepted in. The night of her senior homecoming she got mail from Kansas. She opened it up to find that she had been accepted. In conclusion, Samantha is ready to take her next step into an adventure to see where it leads her to. To finish her high school and 4-H career with a heart full of gratitude. She couldn't be prouder of how far she has come as a person with her studies and livestock. She has had so much help and patience from others when she was in a bad mood or had a bad show day. To the people who have given their knowledge that they have accompanied over the years in their field of work, thank you everyone who has helped her become the person I am today. Overall, Samantha is so grateful for all the people that have been helping her very step of the way, without them she would not have learned what she knows without them. To the next step of her life, she is excited to see what she will do to keep on learning new things all the time. Samantha is the recipient of the Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship.
Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship
Jessica Bond is the daughter of Don and Lynn Bond of Kersey, CO. She is 9-year member of the Box Elder Ag 4-H Club and is involved in market/breeding swine. She is a Senior at Platte Valley High School and is involved in National Honor Society, Student Council, FFA and Class Vice-President She is planning to attend Laramie County Community College studying to be an embryo transplant vet. Her plans for her future college education are to go to a junior college for the first two years and earn an undergraduate degree in pre-vet science. She then plans on transferring to a four-year college; hopefully CSU or MSU. There Jessie plans on studying biology/anatomy. After she gets her bachelor’s degree she would then go to veterinary school. However, if veterinary school doesn’t work out, she has a backup plan with her biology degree to pursue a career as an agricultural biologist. Either after or during school she plans on job shadowing and interning at different veterinary offices to gain on the job experience and learn how a clinic is run. Her parents run a hog operation raising natural Berkshire pork. As long as she can remember she has been outside working and helping out wherever was needed. When Jessie was younger, she helped with little tasks such as running gates and cleaning pens but now she enjoys administering vaccines and aiding sows in the farrowing process. has had experience with doctoring animals just on our farm her whole life but never in a veterinary, so shadowing would be extremely beneficial towards her professional career. Jessie plans to put her education, communication skills, and problem-solving skills towards becoming an embryo transplant veterinarian. She has known she wanted to be a veterinarian since she was a six-year-old. Farrowing has been her favorite part about on living on a farm because she gets to help bring new lives into this world and it is such a fascinating process. Experiences like these helped her realize that the reproduction field is what would like to further study. Jessie would ideally like to specialize in large animals but is open to dogs and cats as well. Eventually she would like to have her own business and be able to travel to different dairies, large productions farms, and racehorse facilities. Overall, she would like to find a more efficient and safe way to better the agriculture field. 4-H has allowed Jessie to meet and make new connections with a lot of amazing people. The value of community service is another thing that she learned thought her time in 4-H. She learned that the service that she did for 4-H projects directly had a positive effect on others’ lives and that she is making a difference. 4-H has taught her many things that are hard to find anywhere else that she will carry with her in her future education and career throughout her life. Jessie is the recipient of the Weld County 4-H Foundation Scholarship.
Weld County Fair 100th Celebration Scholarship
Jordan Sidwell is the son of Tyrel and Kaycee Sidwell of Eaton, CO. He is a 9-year member of Country Boots and Skirts 4-H Club and is involved in Market/Breeding beef. He also participated in market/breeding goats and rocketry. He is a Senior at Eaton High School and is in basketball and football. He is also the basketball team captain. Jordan is planning to attend Kansas State University or CSU. His career goals are a work in process. His ultimate goal would be to run his own business and assist others by managing entrepreneurship endeavors. Right now, he’s thinking of majoring in Business Administration to direct him down that path, but also minor in Agricultural Business and a specialty in sports management. He would like to incorporate business, agriculture and sports/athletics in his future career or careers. Growing up on a farm that was deeply grounded in the Ag industry, he watched his family run a diversified business every day. Ag is not always a reliable or easy way to make a living, but it’s a rewarding way of life. By watching his family cultivate a business gave him a passion to have his own and manage others entrepreneurship endeavors. He was admitted into both colleges and is currently trying to decide which one to attend. Jordan’s 4-H career was born from a project he was anxious about beginning in his first year. He came from a long line of generations of showing in the cattle industry. He grew up on stories of his great-grandfather riding on boxcars with his cattle to how them in stock yards like the Denver National Stock Show. He wanted to continue the legacy and was excited to show cattle, but it also scared him. He learned to care for his animals on a daily basis, teaching them to lead and to trust him. Over the years, having his livestock projects has taught him life lessons of hard work, consistency and staying the course even on hard days. Every project he has taken in 4-H has made an impact on his life. He gained courage from taking the beef project, patience with his got projects and to explore, and expand his knowledge while doing rocketry. Over the years Jordan enjoyed being a part of a 4-H club, which he’s been a Vice-President and Reporter. He liked interacting and mentoring the younger kids. He feels as an older 4-Her that is part of what makes 4H great is being able to give back to help younger generations learn. 4-H helped him get involved in his community in helping families in need and honoring the military with Wreaths across America. Jordan is the recipient of the Weld County Fair 100th Celebration Scholarship.
Kenneth & Clarice Benson and Helmut & Bob Brunner Memorial Scholarships
Carson Zacharias is the son of Josh and Shaya Zacharias of Gill, CO. He is a 10-year member Wyatt 4-H Club and in involved in horse judging. He also participated in market goats, lambs and chickens, archery, woodworking, and dogs. He is a Senior at Eaton High School and is in FFA, horse judging and student ambassador Link Leader. He is planning to attend CSU in Ft Collins studying to be a large animal vet and specialize in equine surgery, specifically in the sports medicine field. Carson doesn’t remember the first time he said he wanted to be a vet, but assumed it was because he wanted to be like his dad, and although he did idolize his dad because he was a good person, that wasn’t the real reason. He wanted to be a vet because he developed a passion for it and felt it was his calling. In middle school, he was able to sit in on quite a few surgeries, watch a few mares give birth, and be around horses even more than before. Carson’s family was able to move to an acreage outside of Eaton, Colorado. Carson started 4-H after some encouragement from a family friend. He helped me get started in 4-H in showing goats, chickens, dogs, and his dad helped him do archery and woodworking. When he started, he didn’t know a lot about showing livestock, and learned a ton about desirable features in animals. After the first few years of doing 4-H, he decided to stop showing dogs and competing in archery, mainly to make time to start showing horses. Carson started showing horses on a gelding named Chip, which ended up being onery and they sold him. He came back the next year riding a horse named Colonel, who he showed in western and ranch horse divisions. His freshman year, he bought a reining mare named Spyder, who he rode in western division, and continued to ride Colonel in the ranch division. After Colonel started showing lameness, he showed Spyder in the ranch division. He also showed his dad’s broodmare in the green horse division and worked on training her. By the time Carson got into high school, he was eligible to run for an officer position in his club. His first year he was president of my 4-H club, he ran meetings and helped organize fundraisers. His second year he was vice-president, took notes on the meetings, and helped assist the president in their duties. His junior year he was president once again and ran meetings and helped organize the Mardi Gras booth, and their food drive. This year he decided to not to run for an officer position because he would not be attending meetings in the fall and that would leave his club short an officer. Through his time being an officer, Carson learned how to mediate arguments, run a meeting, and develop his public speaking skills. Also, during his 4-H career, he was a part of horse judging and horse bowl. His horse bowl team was very successful in their competitions, taking reserve at state. Carson’s horse judging team is doing well, this year is his second year doing it, and is excited to get started. His club held a canned food drive every year and also volunteered at the Weld County Food Bank. These activities brought him to understand the importance of serving his community and displaying good values of citizenship. 4-H has been a foundational piece to his development as a person and has been part of my inspiration to go on to college. Carson has learned to be a good citizen, a good leader, and a good person from 4-H, while also learning some life skills in the process. Carson is the recipient of the Kenneth and Clarice Benson Memorial Scholarship and the Helmut and Bob Bruner Memorial Scholarship.
Josh Jarman Memorial Scholarship
Jamie Bond is the daughter of Don and Lynn Bond of Kersey, CO. She is a 9-year member of Box Elder Ag 4-H Club and is involved in market swine, turkeys, and chickens. She is a Senior at Platte Valley High School and is in Student Council, National Honor Society, Senior Class Officer, FFA, softball and, track and field. She was also Senior Class Treasurer. Jamie is planning to attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology studying to be a chemical engineer, hoping to make a more sustainable way of drilling for oil and gas. She plans to enter chemical engineering because she wants to make a less invasive and more environmentally friendly method of fracking oil and gas. The oil and gas industry employs roughly 30,00 people and if that industry gets shut down, they all lose their jobs. She hopes she can make a way for those people to retain their positions and possibly open up some new opportunities. The oil and gas industry has dropped 40% in the last year and will only continue to do so if a more sustainable way of fracking is not found. Jamie has grown up surrounded by the oil and gas industry as many of her classmates have family working in that field and it would be disastrous if they lost work. She simply wants to make the world a better place to live in and make it easier to find work. Jamie was born on a pig farm and grew up around agriculture. She joined 4-H when she was 8 and has shown pigs ever since. 3 years into my 4-H career she began showing turkeys at the county fair and 3 years ago began showing turkeys and chickens at the state fair. She won Grand Champion Market Turkey at the 2019 county fair and won Grand Champion Market pen of Chickens and Reserve Champion Market Turkey at the 2021 Colorado State Fair. Jamie was the Box Elder 4-H club treasurer for 4 years and learned how to balance a checkbook and keep records of finance. Her 4-H club runs a food booth at the Colorado Farm Show, and it has helped many of the members gain leadership skills and learn how to talk to new people. She learned throughout her 4-H career how to effectively communicate with others and public speaking skills. Jamie is the recipient of the Josh Jarman Memorial Scholarship.
Gene Inloes Memorial Livestock Judging Scholarship
Wyatt Wiedeman is the son of Nate and Becky Wiedeman of Eaton, CO. He is an 8-year member of Country Boots and Skirts 4-H Club and is involved in market lambs. He is a Senior at Eaton High School and is in FFA, 400 Points Club, District Rep for Creed Speaking competition and Academics Honors. He is planning to attend Northeastern Jr. College, Oklahoma State University and his goal is to learn, grow and develop in the ag industry to further the technological advances that have been made in the last several decades, as well as to assist in the sustainability for future generations. He plans to do this while learning and working in the production ad industries of crop management and cattle production. Wyatt has been fortunate to learn from some of the best farmers and ranchers in the western United States. Seeing their passing for agriculture and life in general has help him to make the decision for his future to also be based in ag. He has been a long-standing active member of 4-h holding Treasurer and vice-president positions within the club. He learned a level of responsibility that will assist him in all aspects of his life. He is grateful for the mentors that helped shape and guide him, reinforcing his career path decision to stay in agriculture. He hopes to make a lasting impact on society through hard work, determination, and perseverance, demonstrating all the positives that the ag industry brings to our world. He will be a lifelong advocate for agriculture. Nine years ago, Wyatt embarked in his first 4-H project of two market lambs. He was grateful to have family who had also learned from and grew up in the 4-H world. The first year was so exciting because of the newness of his project and the friends he got to meet. He was shocked by the magnitude of the competition in their county. The 4-H club had great leaders and older members who were patient and kind who helped Wyatt complete his project. Seeing the competition in the county and having a desire to be my best he sought out information from various industry leaders on what is needed to compete at the highest level. With this knowledge, he made investments in equipment as well as built pens and various items that every year he changed or tweaked in hopes of Improving the final outcome. With his final years of 4-H looming, he’s hoping that his best years are to come. After getting his feet wet that first year, Wyatt realized he wanted to be more active in his club. However, due to the by-laws, officers must be in middle school to hold an office. He was informed of an opportunity to apply to be a youth ambassador for the Weld County Junior Livestock Sale. he was accepted into the program and learned the definition of "dog-tired" that night of the sale. Nonetheless, he had fun and got the opportunities to assist with the production of a such major part of the Weld County Fair, as well as meet some new people. Wyatt was so grateful that he was selected that first year as he has been a member of the youth ambassador team for the last eight years. Spending this much time in that program has given him many leadership opportunities to help guide the younger members and to get them excited and motivated, which in turn makes the sale better for everyone. Along with the youth ambassadors, Wyatt engaged in Livestock Judging. Through livestock judging, he learned new and helpful ways to communicate and organize his thoughts which has in turn lessened his fear of public speaking. He believes these opportunities have provided him the confidence to seek out and be elected to several officer positions not only in 4-H, but in FFA as well. 4-H has opened up his world to various community service projects. Operation Shoebox and Wreathes Across America are two that have immensely changed my life. Wyatt learned compassion and empathy and to honor the service and sacrifices of so many on his behalf. His 4-H career has been a path of doorways, after going through one doorway, there is always something new ahead of him in a new open door. Community service projects like Wreathes Across America and Operation Shoebox have developed a passion in him to assist others and to shine the light in our world where it is needed most. Wyatt is grateful for these opportunities and looks forward to furthering his passion around these types of events in his community and world. Wyatt is the recipient of the Gene Inloes Memorial Livestock Judging Scholarship.
Beef Excellence Committee Award
Collin Ochsner is the son of Kevin and Julie Ochsner of Kersey, CO. He is a 10-year member of High Plains Ag 4-H Club and is involved in market/breeding beef and horse. He has also participated in shooting sports. He is a Senior at Platte Valley High School and is in FFA, National Honor Society, Student Council, FBLA, and Beef Show and Sheep Show Manager. He is planning to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX and his goal is to earn a bachelor’s degree in animal science with a minor in agribusiness and be on a National Champion Collegiate Ranch Horse Team. Another goal is to learn more about riding and training reined cow horses. After graduation, he hopes to get a job working for a progressive cow/calf operation, feed yard or stocker operation. He believes the experience of getting away from home and learning how people raise livestock and crops in another part of the country will prove beneficial to him as he pursues his ultimate goal of owning and operating a commercial cow/calf and stocker/backgrounding operations. He hopes to one day serve as a board member of organizations that serve both the cattle industry and his community. Growing up on a farm and ranch, Collin learned the value of hard work, personal responsibility, accountability, and continual learning. Growing up on the family operation not only fueled his passion for ag, but his involvement in 4-H inspired his love for leadership community service and mad a huge difference in his personal growth. It enabled him to discover additional passions and develop new skills by introducing him to projects he never would have considered when he first joined 4-H. It provides great opportunities to develop communications and leadership skills through demonstrations, club activities and office positions. From his early years in 4-H livestock judging to annual demonstrations, he developed his speaking and communication skills, he also had the opportunity to serve as president for three years and treasurer for one year in his club. 4-H also reinforced the importance of community involvement and community service. Ove the past ten years, he participated in a variety of community service projects. 4-H helped Collin confirm his passion for the cattle business and taught him some valuable business lessons. Because his family runs a registered cow/calf operation, it was only natural for him to show breeding beef and market calves in 4-H. He learned how to select and purchase high quality animals from our operation and gained a lot of appreciation for the hard work it takes to feed, break, wash, fit and show cattle. He also learned business skills and the importance of making wise investments. While Collin won a variety of awards showing cattle, he’s most proud of winning the Mitch Bowman Sportsmanship Award at the Weld County Fair. Over his ten years in 4-H, he’s been on both ends of incredibly competitive cattle classes and has tried to discipline himself to be a humble winner and a gracious loser. This award meant a lot to Collin as it’s more reflective of his character than the attributes of his show animals and was voted on by his fellow exhibitors. Another benefit of his 4-H experience was that it also helped him discover new passions and interests. When he was fourteen, a friend encouraged him to take the horse project and participate in the Weld County 4-H Ranch Horse Show. The first year he borrowed his dad’s ranch gelding and fell in love with the ranch horse events. The following year Collin used some of the money he saved selling 4-H calves in the junior livestock auction to purchase a five-year-old mare from the CSU Legends of Ranching Sale. His early 4-H horse experience shaped his future in a significant way as he plans to compete as a member of the ranch horse team at Texas Tech University. Collin is the recipient of the Beef Excellence Committee Scholarship.
Dorothy Martin Zabka Memorial Scholarship
Rachael White is the daughter of Josh and Dianna White of Keenesburg, CO. She is a 9-year member of Prospectors 4-H Club and is involved in Market Swine. She is a Senior at Wiggins High School and participated in CCGS volleyball, LPAA all conference 1st team and 2021 Fall season state semi-finalists. She is planning to attend Western Texas College in Snyder, TX studying to obtain a degree in Ag Business and Communications. She would also like to be in the marketing industry as it officers a variety of career fields that she could be interested in. Rachel is also attending Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas, in the Fall on a volleyball scholarship. She’s played sports her whole life and been heavily involved in agriculture as well. Ever since she was a little girl, she has been taught what it means to have true hard work and dedication. She has carried these traits with her along the way as she has grown into a young woman. The decision she made in a career path is to study Agricultural Business Communications, and Marketing. Rachael chose this path because she’s very involved in Agriculture and is good with people. Her dream job is to help ranchers, farmers, and other Ag influences to promote their business and stand out from other brands and companies. She wants to be a marketing coordinator that will make a difference on the Ag Industry. The memories and more importantly the lessons Rachael has learned in 4-H will benefit her in the future. She learned what hard work truly means and how to be dedicated to her goals. The work you choose to put into something will affect how the results turn out. You will only be satisfied with how performed or how you did based on how much work you are willing to give in to your project. Over the years she has learned how to properly take care of, feed, and show market swine. She also learned people skills by being able to talk with adults and consult about livestock. Rachel has obtained skills that include, dedication, determination, grit, hard work, confidence, etc. These will be skills that she carries on into her future career paths and life. Some accomplishments that she has are winning 8 belt buckles for Reserve Grand Champion and Grand Champion Showman over the course of 8 years showing at Weld County Fair as well as SEWC Fair and Rodeo. She also won Grand Champion Market Swine in 2018 at my hometown fair. She won Reserve Grand Champion Market Swine this past year in 2021 at her hometown fair as well. These awards that she received only taught her that hard work truly does pay off and she will forever be thankful for the opportunities that she has been given through the 4-H world. Rachael is the recipient of the Dorothy Martin Zabka Memorial Scholarship.
Norgren Family Scholarship
Ashlyn Ochsner is the daughter of Kevin and Julie Ochsner of Kersey, CO. She is an 11-year member of High Plains Ag 4-H Club and was involved in market/breeding beef and dogs. She is a Sophomore at the Texas Tech University continuing to pursue her degree in Animal Science with a minor in agribusiness. During her first three semesters at Texas Tech, she worked for Raider Red Meats, the retail store in the meat science department. Despite growing up in the beef industry, she quickly realized she had a lot to learn about this side of the business. The more time she spent in the meat lab and store, the more she realized how much she enjoyed learning all the different cuts, gaining a broader understanding of consumer preferences and how much fun it is to work in sales and marketing. In addition to classes and campus activities, Ashlyn has also worked 20 hours per week during her time at TTU in the meat science department as a student assistant. Her first three semesters, she worked at Raider Red Meats in sales and marketing. She was responsible for a variety of jobs such as taking customer orders, organizing shipping orders, delivering wholesale products to restaurants in Lubbock and creating wholesale invoices. She also helped take custom cutting instructions for the custom processing team and loaded out those orders from the cooler. This opportunity gave Ashlyn real work experience in an industry that she is very passionate about. This semester she wanted to expand her work experience and knowledge, so she’s currently working for world renown meat scientist and professor, Dr. Dale Werner. With this position, she supports his graduate students and learns about their research projects. She also helped plan industry conferences where new research is shared. They are currently making plans for the Beef on Dairy Symposium that Dr. Woerner is hosting in May for beef industry leaders. All her college experiences so far have confirmed that She’s in the right place, learning from the right people and in a field of study that matches her passions and interests. Ashlyn’s goal after college is still to pursue a career in sales and marketing with a national branded beef company. Her longer-term dream is to one day return to Weld County to manage the family’s registered cow/calf operation and local branded beef business. Through 4-H, she learned to set big goals and when you are "swinging for the bleachers," there are times when you fall short of your goal. Following a difficult setback, her junior year in high school, her dad shared this quote with her called, The Man in the Arena. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." President Theodore Roosevelt had enough insight to share this inspiring and timeless message with the "doers" in life. Four years later it is still an anthem for how she wants to live her life. She believes that her 4-H experience also taught her to be "the man in the arena" by teaching her the value of failure and persistence. Ashlyn is the recipient of the Norgren Family Memorial Scholarship.
Ben Wilson Memorial Scholarship
Amanda Terrell is the daughter of Dirt and Sherry Terrell of LaSalle. She is a Sophomore at Northeastern Jr. College, and her current career goal is to obtain her degree in Agricultural Communications from Northeastern Junior College and Texas Tech University. From there, she wants to stay tied into the agricultural industry, primarily through rodeo. Her dream is to be able to work for the Cowboy Channel and cover all things rodeo. Amanda would also love to design the interiors of living quarters trailers. Her dream someday is to be a part of Bloomer Trailers with her own interior design line. She ultimately would like to give back and impact future generations through her career and personal endeavors. Amanda is pursuing a degree in Agriculture Communications as well as competing on the rodeo team. From there, she will transfer to Texas Tech University to continue her academic and rodeo career. Back in 2020, she had an amazing internship opportunity working for the Team Roping Journal and the Breakaway Roping Journal magazines. Although Amanda had plenty of experience in the rodeo industry, she was quite inexperienced when it came to the media and news coverage side of things. Through this internship, she was able to get hands on experience in that field. Her boss, Chelsea, helped her tremendously and really showed her what the industry was all about. she truly enjoyed her time there, and it gave her a better sense of what she would like to do for the rest of her life. Ultimately, that is what pushed her to pursue an Agriculture Communications major. She has thoroughly enjoyed her time at NJC learning about all things agriculture and growing as a student, competitor, and person. Amanda intends to keep learning and growing for the rest of her life. As said earlier, she would love to work for The Cowboy Channel or Bloomer Trailers, staying connected to the agriculture industry. Eventually, she would also like to open up her own non-profit, an equine therapy facility for children with special needs. She also wants to bring awareness to rural mental health and suicide prevention. Those are both very close to her heart and dreams she would eventually like to make a reality. Amanda’s future goals include, make the College National Finals Rodeo, buy my WPRA permit, win Rookie of the Year, go on to make the NFR in the breakaway roping, and most importantly, make a difference. Amanda can see her education and career being a new door opening for her and cannot wait to pursue it and begin this next chapter in Texas. Today, Amanda has several state championships, awards, honors, and wins under her belt from rodeo. She contributes her success to the knowledge, horsemanship, and foundation she’s obtained over the years from 4-H. This organization has not only given her a great foundation to start on, but it has grown with her over the years. Amanda cannot believe how much she has grown in and out of the arena since starting 4-H. She will forever cherish the wonderful opportunities, experiences, and memories the organization has given her over the past twelve years, and the positive impact it has had on her life. Amanda is the recipient of the Ben Wilson Memorial Scholarship.
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Weld County 4-H Leader's Council College Scholarship
Wyatt Patton is the son of Troy and Dawn Patton of Briggsdale, CO. He is 12-year member of Crow Creek 4-H Club and was involved in shooting sports and CWF. He is currently a Sophomore at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and is working toward his bachelor’s degree in marketing. During the last semester Wyatt was given the opportunity to be an intern at Dallas Motor Speedway under their sales department. The internship has the possibility of leading to a full-time job, which he has a very strong interest in. He would also like to own and operate his own real estate business where he buys and rents out properties such as houses and apartments. During the summer of 2021, he knew that he would have to work very hard to try and raise funds for the upcoming school year. Wyatt decided to take on a task that at the time seemed impossible but ended up working very well; he worked three different jobs throughout the summer, which helped to fund his second year at Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OKWU). He was able to work at a local country club on the grounds crew, as a shop helper at an HVAC company, and worked for a local rancher on the weekends. While it was stressful and took up a lot of time, he knew that it would pay off in the long run. Although COVID was a slight issue for the students at OKWU, for the most part they were able to attend in-person classes and activities, so as Wyatt continued his education in Oklahoma, he was able to be very involved, not only in school but also within the community. He is on the OKWU men’s basketball team, therefore much of his time is spent in the gym or the weight room for required practices and workouts. He also participates in multiple campus activities which include game nights, intramural sports, and many others. For the fall semester Wyatt was named to the dean’s list, and he has continued to be a part of the top 20% in the business school which places him in a special group called Pareto group. The group is for students that have excelled in the business school. There are many benefits to being in Pareto group which include first chances at internships and jobs, chances to speak with esteemed businessmen and women, and free tuition toward grad school classes in the future, among many others. During the fall semester Wyatt was given the opportunity to do an internship with the Nascar organization at Dallas Motor Speedway over fall break. The internship gave him great insight into the world of business and just how much work goes on behind the scenes for such a large sporting event such as the Nascar races that were happening that weekend. He says that getting the chance to do that internship gave him knowledge and experiences that he will carry with him for the rest of his life. He has recently been offered the opportunity to begin taking grad school classes, and start toward the journey of receiving his MBA, the second part of this spring semester while still taking classes in his undergrad program and working toward his bachelor’s degree in marketing and is planning to pursue the opportunity. Wyatt is the recipient of the Weld County 4-H Leader’s Council (College) Scholarship.