What started as a love for showing sheep and pigs as a child blossomed into a passion for 4-H for Mary Alice Cole, 18, the organization’s new state president.
Cole, the first Izard County native since 1959 to be the state’s 4-H president, said 4-H has made her more outgoing, given her lifelong friendships and allowed her to make friends in almost every state in the country. The organization has even helped her determine her career path. The college freshman and Melbourne High School 2016 graduate currently studies animal science with a minor in digital photography and film at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
“Being in 4-H has completely changed everything. I was a shy individual who came in, and I couldn’t say a speech,” she said. “I couldn’t talk to anyone, I couldn’t talk to strangers, and I have been completely changed. I can talk to anyone. I can talk to any number of people and give a speech.”
Cole was elected state president this summer at the organization’s 2016 Arkansas State O’Rama, where 500 4-Hers from across the state gathered at the University of Arkansas to compete, network and attend workshops. For the election process, Cole was interviewed by Cooperative Extension Service specialists and gave a speech that “remixed” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” which the crowd liked, she said.
Cole said the memory of being named president is a blur and that she was emotional.
“Everyone was cheering, and I was in shock,” she said. “It was one of the most incredible moments ever.”
Cole was raised around animals and has rodeoed since a very early age, she said.
“My rodeo company always did a rodeo at the county fair. All the other kids wanted to go ride the rides. I wanted to go see the livestock in the barn,” she said. “They didn’t understand why, and I didn’t understand why because we had cows and animals like that at home. Why would I want to go to a show barn? Ever since then, I’ve always been interested in showing [animals], and it started out with my agriculture background, and then it grew.”
Cole’s 4-H involvement began when she was 12 after she and her mother visited an Izard County Cooperative Extension Service agent for chickens. Cole is the first in her family to join 4-H.
“I started with poultry, and I got my first goat that year and started showing livestock,” she said. “I started showing sheep and pigs, and that kind of developed into being more involved [in 4-H on] the county level. I have done everything from foods and nutrition to robotics, cooking, canning, sewing — a vast variety.”
Before being elected state president, Cole was a 4-H teen star and an ambassador for the organization. She also served as officer-at-large, which she said prepared her for the presidency.
“I was able to watch the 2015-2016 president, Travis Clark, grow and develop as president, and I could see some of the things I looked forward to and some of the things that I could bring to the table that may have been a little different,” she said.
Cole said she enjoys seeing other reserved 4-Hers come out of their shells at events, similar to how she did.
“[I like] being able to lead others at the state events and see them come into a conference [when they] might have been shy and didn’t talk to anyone and didn’t make friends easily, and then leaving the conference, they had become a completely different person and talked to everyone and were very emotional …,” she said. “That’s what 4-H is. It develops you; it makes you grow as a person.”
Being an officer-at-large was a “whirlwind,” Cole said. Angie Freel, state 4-H officer adviser, was new to her position, and the officers were also new to their roles.
“We had an expectation, and we completely exceeded that,” Cole said. “We were represented at over 20 events across the state. We started out at trainings, and then we went to an A-State football game, and we kind of started growing on that. We went to [the Teen Leadership Conference]; we went to the [University of Arkansas at Little Rock] Trojan basketball homecoming game. We went to the Pink Tomato Festival in Bradley County — that was really cool because that was one of the first times Arkansas 4-Hers got to be represented. It was awesome to get to interact with the governor and different representatives at the national and state levels.”
There are so many other aspects to 4-H than agriculture and livestock, Cole said. The organization has allowed her to be involved with canning and sewing. She also said the organization is big on education, science and technology.
“There’s a stereotypical view of 4-H as just agriculture, just cows and plows,” she said. “But throughout the years and here recently, people are starting to understand that 4-H is … so much more than that, and if you have an interest, then we probably have a project area for you. If you’re into insects and bugs, we have a project area for you. If you’re into dancing, then we have a project area for you.”
Cole’s 4-H travels have taken her from Arkansas to Washington, D.C., then to Atlanta, where she competed in a record-books competition, which honors the practice of record-keeping. Cole had a photography-based record book on the topics of her community service and leadership roles. While in Atlanta, she also visited local preschoolers to talk to them about agriculture and farming.
“When I walked in, I asked them where milk comes from, and they had no idea,” she said. “I told them about cows, and I told them about pigs, and I told them about what they eat. It was so amazing because I’ve grown up around it, and those kids hadn’t. I got to share my knowledge and my love for agriculture with kids who hadn’t ever seen a cow.”
Agriculture is also one of the main aspects that drew Cole to SAU, a school that she had always wanted to attend, she said.
“Whenever you walk on campus, I get this feeling of home and get this feeling of I belong here,” she said. “Everyone is so nice. It’s a big enough college to where you get to meet someone new every day, but it’s a small enough college to where you have friendships, and you can walk to class and know someone and talk to someone.”
However, the college experience has presented a new challenge for Cole, she said. Whereas in high school, she could more easily attend conferences and events as needed, as a college student, she now has to balance her coursework more carefully.
“I feel bad about missing an event, but I have to balance my education and 4-H,” she said. “It’s definitely different than high school. My professors are working very well with me and working with my schedule and understanding that I do have 145,000 4-Hers looking up to me, and I have roles and duties that I have to [fulfill].”
Next on Cole’s agenda is a trip to Tennessee, where she’ll attend the Southern Region 4-H Teen Leadership Conference from Sept. 22-25, and a visit to D.C., where she’ll attend a healthy-living forum Oct. 24-26.
Alexandria Hunter, a fellow SAU student and a former state 4-H officer, said 4-H can change a person for the better and provide many opportunities for a career.
“I know Mary Alice is a great leader, and I’m so excited to see the way that she’s going to take Arkansas 4-H,” Hunter said. “I’m so jealous that she’s getting to go to D.C., and to Tennessee for the healthy-living conference. I’m so excited for her.”
Cole said she cannot imagine her life without 4-H and that the organization has touched personal, educational and career-related aspects of her life.
“I have made friendships that will last a lifetime,” she said. “I have been able to lead individuals to better themselves and better the world and the communities and the country. I have been able to travel all across the country, and I have friends in almost every state. Without 4-H, I would not be the person that I am.”
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.