This was my fifth year to discovery days. The first once we get up there is the best, the Kansas Youth Council serves us ice cream from call hall which is very good. As your walking around you trying to meet new friends or find friends that you previously met at discovery days. This year was amazing. The three things I enjoyed most this year at discovery days.
Meeting up with my friends from the past and figure out if they have any classes with you or going to lunch/hanging out and just catching up over the past year. Also another thing that I enjoyed very much was the keynote speaker he was a amazing. He could relate to young adults. I think that was probably the best thing this year. Another thing that I enjoy every year is meeting new friends to gain friendship that could possibly last forever.
Many people believe that discovery days is just about all the fun. It is a lot of fun but another main part of discovery days is how much you learn in your classes. If you pick classes that spark you interest you will have a lot of fun and learn a lot. Make sure when you go to register you do it early so you get classes that fit you better than classes that were left and don’t spark your interest. You won’t regret signing up to go. Have fun and meet lots of people.
Danielle Chilcott
As the school year came to a close i was lookinng forward to attending 4-H discovey day at k-state for the 2nd year. I had been excited about going again since i had gone last year and knew i would have fun and a great time again. As everyone thats gone to discovery days before, you have to go through the catalog of class choices. This is a big job trying to narrow down so many diffrent subjects and decide what classes you most want to take. Discovery days is leaning about college and choosing is part of it. This year a couple of the classes i choose and where the most enjoyble to me where meat scinece choosing and evaluating photos for cometition. As you go around campus going to your classes, you get very familler with where the various buildings are located. You soon learn your way around. I relly enjoyed my meat science class. I got to see and do stuff i had never seen or done before . i leared so much. We went on a tour of the “meat lab’’ this included going on the killfloor, through the entire process and to when the meat is ready to be uses for consamption. Probably what the highlight of this class was that we got to make sausage. We used various cuts of the pork and ground it in a meat grinder. Then using the”secret k-state spices wwe added the spoces to give it the right flavor. Then we filled casing and mad limk sausages. After it was cooked we got to eat what we had made. I have to say is was the best sausage i have ever eaten. I learded alot about making a meat product and what happes in the process. K-state supp;ies this sausage to the campus cafferia. Another one of my favorit classes was the photography class that i took. I learned about how photos are judged at the kansas state fair. At the kansas state fair there is a panil of three judges, each judge is allowed 5 pionts. The three judges each have one category. The categories are technigue, Composition, and eye appeal they each judge their category. Then they total the three categories to get a total of points pre photo. The ribbon placings are as follows 13-15 points =purple 10-12 points =blue 8-9points =red 6-7points=white. Discovery days is a great experincs and lost of fun. From eatinmng delicious k-state ice cream to going bowling or taking a movie in the union and even having the fire alarn going off in the dorm next door! 9 it was set off by construction works) i would encourage other 4-Hers to attend 4-H discovery days and see how much fun its and have a great learning experience
Trevor Johnson
I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up for Discovery Days. I had only ever been to 4-H camp and KYLF and all I really knew about Discovery Days was that I was going to be taking some pretty cool classes. I signed up for 8 classes that I thought sounded fun and that I was interested in. One of the first things I discovered when I got to the Kansas State campus was that these next few days were going to be an authentic college experience. We stayed in real dorms with community showers and all. You also had to find your own way to your classes. My first class was just across the street from my dorm so I had no problems finding it at all. This class was about raising service dogs. We learned about how service dogs were trained from birth and how anyone can take in these puppies at just a few weeks old and raise them until they are ready to go out into the real service dog world. We ended the class with meeting some puppies and even doing a few training exercises. On the way to my next class, I really got to see a lot of the campus. I got lost for an hour trying to find the building I needed and ended up getting directions over the phone. I was 20 minutes late to my class but I still learned a great deal. This class was called “gray for a day” and was about the experience of being elderly. We put a cotton ball up our nose, put in ear plugs and more and did normal everyday things like tying our shoes. This class gave me a lot more appreciation toward my elders and what they deal with everyday. After this class I ended up getting lost about five more times but because of my first expedition, I learned how to find landmarks to keep track of where I was. I had tons of fun at Discovery Days and I enjoyed all of my classes. I hope to attend next year and discover even more about me and the world I live in.
Taylor Barlett
Personally, I love discovery days. Meeting new friends with similar interests is one of the best things. Also the classes that help us make decisions on possible careers. My favorite class was the Meat Science Class. Not only did I get to make sausage, it also gave me a possible idea for a future career. In addition, I like the responsibility they give us to walk to our own classes or be on time to floor meetings. Discovery Days is not only fun, it gives me a better understanding of college life. This makes me want to go to college even more than I already did. It’s one of the best camp experiences that anyone could have. Each year I am able to see my friends from previous years which is always great and helps me keep in touch with them over the summer. This year the closing speaker was very inspirational. He helped me realize that we are very fortunate to have the lifestyle that many 4-Hers do, including myself. Attending the photography class helped me with my skills for my 4-H project. The class allowed me to take some amazing pictures that I can be proud of. It also gave me ideas for pictures in the future years to come. Tuttle Creek is always a part of some of the outdoor class opportunities. My favortite Tuttle Creek activity is to kayak, which makes the whole Discovery Day experience more memorable. I also enjoyed making new friends and be able to make long lasting relationships. These are the kinds of friendships that with out Discovery I would not be able to make. Also, I thought that the classes I took were educational and interesting. I already mentioned Meat Science but food science was very informational. The last class was Junk Drawer Robotics was very fun and gave me ideas that I can use in another activity. I’m in Best Robotics through my school and experiencing robotics from a different angle will only add to my skills. Addionally, I thought that the concert was pretty cool, I will be looking forward to it next year. I liked the wide variety of the music, I also thought it was cool that they involved a previous 4-her. All in all, I love Discovery Days as much as my mom did when she went 20 years ago and I am sure my sister will love it even more when she is old enough. I couldn’t ask for a better experience.
John-Michael Arnold
I want to say thank you for the scholarship that allowed me to go to Discovery Days. I went last year for the first time and I think this year I had more fun. I would encourage everyone to go to Discovery Days if gave the chance. I was able to receive my scholarship because I turned in my 4-H record book and did the KAP. I also sold calendars to receive another scholarship from my club. If you are wanting to go and not sure how to pay for it, I encourage you to talk to your club to see if there is a way to receive a scholarship. It is worth the extra work just to be able to go.
When going to Discovery Days you get to stay on the K-State campus and in the dorms. It is like you would be if you went to college there. When you sign up to go to Discovery Days, you have to choose which classes you would want to attend.
One of the classes I chose was the relationship class. It was kind of boring. Another class was Low Stress Cattle Handling. That was a great class. I was able to bring what I learned in that class and use it on my steer at home. It is a slow process but it worked. Another class that I chose was the bovine (I can’t remember the exact name of it) class. It was fun to learn about the bovine animal. One of my favorites was Meat Science. We learned what was in a brat and we learned how to make them. Then we got to eat the brats.
At night after the classes and supper, we were able to choose to go to a movie, bowling, or go to a dance. I of course chose the dance. It was great to hang out with the people that attended Discovery Days. I was able to meet some new people and see some others that I had met at 4-H camp. I encourage everyone at some point go to Discovery Days. It is a great experience. I will have those memories forever.
Bailee Goad
Overall being at Discovery Days was a great experience and I loved learning new interesting facts. For example, not Tuesday, but Wednesday I went to a Family Ancestry Class, I learned so much about my family that I had no idea I would ever learn that much. Although, I didn’t learn much about my mom’s side I enjoyed the small little details I did learn. On the other hand, I learned so much about my dad’s side of family it was outstanding. When my research had to come to an end it was because an illegal ancestor of mine changed his name. Which is disappointing but also another mystery to look into. Let’s not dwell on that because that’s not the only thing we did on Wednesday! We went to a fancier kind of graveyard and learned of the care and difficult decisions. When mowing a graveyard I never knew the great consequences it could come with. We had Keynote Speaker, Yahya Bakar, who was such an inspirational speaker and I wouldn’t mind listening to him again. Going on to Thursday, I started the day going to the Grind It and Bake It Class and the first part of that class, baking, was by far my favorite part of the week. We focused on what a cookie can look like with different flours and to brag my group’s cookies looked awesome. Even though the second part wasn’t as good as the first and hurt your legs from standing a lot there was very much to learn. We learned the process of how to process flour and what all different equipment was needed.
After that class was over we ate lunch and moved on to the next class. The class I went to was very similar to the second part of the last class. Although, the equipment used in the class, “Through the Mill,” was enlarged tremendously, there were different levels/floors of steps it took to process flour. Even though it was a repeat of the last class the process is definitely engraved in my brain now! Later that night we had a comedian and then a band. Of course, I took a lot of pictures and videos because I
definitely was going to show my family and friends my experience. One of my favorite parts was when we got to socialize and learn about new people. Although, I think that they should make it so there is more time to get to know new friends and socialize, my experience was great and I wouldn’t give a second thought about going again. Thank you.
Chelsea Tate
My experience at Discovery Days this year was amazing compared to my first couple years of going. I had some amazing classes where I learned a lot about who I am and what I like to do. Although they didn’t have my shooting class or swing dance class I had an amazing time. I went up early with my Mom to help her move from her old office to her new office. That afternoon started my experience at Discovery Days, where I discovered I had a suite as my room and a roommate from another county. My room was really cool because I had my own bathroom!! We had dinner on and hit the hay after the picture and opening session. On Wednesday I went to a class called Family Detectives where I learned about my family ancestors. I learned a lot about my mom’s side of the family and that I have German, Swiss, and Swedish in me! I didn’t get to learn as much about my dad’s side as he is adopted and he doesn’t know who his birth parents. We ate lunch at Sunrise Cemetery. After lunch, we learned about how a cemetery is kept well mowed and how you would have consequences if you messed up the graves. When class was finished, we ate dinner and went to the speaker, Yahya Bakar. He was a very inspirational speaker. I would go and listen to him speak again if I had the chance. Oh, and Yahya went to the dance. I was disappointed in the dance this year. They played too much of the new terrible hip stuff and not enough of the good old music.
My Thursday morning class was “Grind It, Bake It.” The grinding part was kinda boring, but I did get a 5# bag of cake flour to try for my cakes this year. That was the highlight. The baking part of the class was the best part. I would have liked the grind it part if it had had more ‘hands-on’ and less standing around and watching. After class, I ran into a family friend and had a chance to talk to him for a few minutes. It was good to see him while I was there. My afternoon class was a Robotics class. I was the host for this class, where I learned a lot about robots and how much robotics are used in modern civilization. We ate our last dinner in The Derb and headed out to our the Lucas Maddy Band and the comedian, then off to the dance. The capnote speaker on Friday was good. Then it was home to rest and recouperate.
Dalton Perez