The 4-H Ontario Ambassador program provides youth with advanced level training in leadership, citizenship, communications and public relations. Ambassadors put their energy and 4-H experiences to work recruiting new members and sharing the 4-H story. Throughout 2014, each of 4-H Ontario’s six Ambassadors will submit blog entries about their experiences in the program. The 4-H Ontario Ambassador program is proudly sponsored by GROWMARK, Inc. and UPI Energy LP. For more info on the Ambassador program click here. To book an Ambassador for you event please complete the request form. Submitted by Chris Deklein, 4-H Ontario Ambassador, Middlesex 4-H Association Hello, my name is Chris Deklein. I am from Dorchester, Ontario and live on a 150 acre hobby farm. I have three sisters that are all younger than me. My drive towards the dairy industry came when I was little going to the Royal with my mom. She would take me around the whole building and the coolest part of the whole experience for me was going to the 4-H Canadian Classic Jr. Dairy Show and the International Holstein Show. Being six years old at the time made me think ‘Wow I really would like to do this someday’. When I was 10 I started in the local 4-H Club in Dorchester in Middlesex County. My first two years were a learning curve and being in 4-H the motto is “Learn To Do By Doing”. In my third year I was able to do really well as a junior member. From this I was able to make the Middlesex Classic Team. At this point I did not know what I was getting myself into. I had to get sponsorship; I had to make sure everything was in top shape for when we left Saturday morning. Fortunately in my first year we had a lot of senior members on our team. When we went I did a lot of listening and did what I was told being a junior member on the team. On Sunday night for preliminary showmanship I was so nervous. I could not eat anything. By the time I left the pack to go to the ring I was shaking so much I didn’t know what to do. By the time I got into the ring 45 minutes later I was feeling a little calmer. I went into the ring with a heat of at least 40 junior members from all over the country. Luckily I was pulled in and made my heat for the first year attending this event. Going on the next day I did not know what to expect. I made my heat but now I had to go into the finals with 30 more people. Going in with high expectations does not always go so well. I was 28th that day but putting it into perspective, being 28th in junior across the country was not so bad. Later on going into senior showmanship we had a senior that made her heat the night before and was in senior showmanship finals. Looking at the TV screen in the barn I saw that she was in second place, which is really good but it was her last year and it would have been nice to see her win. All of a sudden, in the senior showmanship final lineup the first place showman’s calf would not stop moving in the lineup and the judge switched them. All of a sudden everyone from our team was cheering and were so happy for her. I am now 19 and this will be my sixth year attending the Classic. I am very excited yet again to meet and interact with the general public and other dairy youth across the country.