October 5, 2015
National 4-H Week student feature: Chase Reed
For all members, present and past, 4-H will always hold a special place in their hearts. For these 4-H alumni, the program gave them important life skills that they plan to use for many years to come. Join K-State Research and Extension this week as we profile current students at Kansas State University who are former 4-H members, in celebration of National 4-H Week, Oct. 4-10.
Chase Reed, Winfield, Kansas, Cowley County
Unquestionably, Chase Reed says he would be lost in the world without his 11 years as a 4-H member. Projects from each end of the spectrum took him from a being a kid with "zero knowledge" of cattle judging, other than what he gained from the family ranch, to becoming a professor, livestock judging coach and now second-year veterinary student at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Interacting with youth and evaluating cattle are two of Reed's favorite things. Because of the skills he learned as a 4-H’er, he has been invited to judge livestock shows in eight different states from coast to coast. After graduation, Reed hopes to build a bovine specialty veterinary practice and work with the diverse needs of his clients, including a regional cooperative to help producers with their marketing needs.
"These things would have been totally unachievable without 4-H as the bedrock of my youth experience," Reed says. "Aside from responsibility and a strong sense of agriculture's importance within our daily lives, I would say that my interpersonal skills and work ethic were successfully jump started by interacting with other like-minded children and adults in 4-H. Not every youth organization can turn a kid, who grew up stuttering, into a collegiate judging coach or even a veterinary student. 4-H was the organization that shaped my skill set."
For more 4-H profiles, visit the K-State Research and Extension news blog.