Clover Gaming was a game changer for 4-H Alumni Cooper Conrad.
Conrad is a freshman engineering student at Purdue University, and he credits his 4-H experience with helping him get there.
While Conrad enjoyed many traditional 4-H projects like Aerospace, Electric, Computer, and Woodworking, it was a new 4-H activity called Clover Gaming that truly sparked his interest.
“I got involved in Clover Gaming by attending a workshop at Purdue University. Initially it was called ‘The Science of Games.’ It was about game design and all that goes into it. It was really fun. We tried out different games and talked about storyboarding because that’s an important part of it,” said Conrad.
Conrad helped with subsequent 4-H gaming activities as a youth leader, including a small 4-H club totally dedicated to gaming. Conrad says this experience really brought him out of his shell.
“We talked about board games, the different kinds, and what goes in to making one. We spent a lot of time conceptualizing our board games and we were able to display them at the Hamilton County 4-H Fair for people to try,” said Conrad, “It’s enjoyable to spend time with people talking about something you all like doing.”
Conrad shared that his many 4-H-related trips to the West Lafayette campus made him feel confident about his college and career path. 4-H has given him valuable skills to help him navigate the independence of college life.
“Being able to balance academics and other activities is a skill that you develop through 4-H. 4-H also taught me how to document as I learn and work through a project activity (or school assignment). You have to be able to keep track of how you get to your end result,” said Conrad.
Conrad hopes to pursue electrical engineering.
“I loved always learning something new through the 4-H Electric project. For any 4-H project, the manual education activities are where a lot of the learning happens. It’s so important.”
“Even the skill of making a 4-H poster or display board has helped me. I use the same set of skills if I have to do a presentation.”
As a brand new 4-H alumnus, Conrad is still getting used to thinking of his 4-H experience in the past tense, but he did have this thought to share.
“What I take away (from the 4-H experience) and I hope others do as well, is the love of learning. That’s a huge part of 4-H, learning new things. I think that’s something everyone should want – to constantly be learning. 4-H give us the space to pick up a new project that might not be something you normally do. But you can learn something new.”
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