Embrace the Journey: Enjoy the Attention

Picture for the Program

The Induction Ceremony for the National 4-H Hall of Fame was special. My sister Penni, Donnie, and several colleagues from NC Cooperative Extension who nominated me attended with me. I learned about the award in March, 2022. The Hall of Fame is an on-line repository of information about each inductee for the past twenty years.  

My letter contained specific instructions and deadline for "homework". I was to submit a laureate picture, my motto, full biography, short biography and several other items. Basically my life story in brief, and pictures. I don't do pictures well now! 

Later I learned I would be doing a three minute acceptance speech. This was exciting and challenging. 

Celebratory dinner, new look worked

The quote I used that appeared in the program was, “When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you do good.” I needed to feel good, feel confident. Hence, a shopping trip for just the right dress. Check!

I was going for confidence, so I tried on a new "look" with boots for our celebratory dinner with Penni. It worked!

Next I had to get that acceptance speech prepared and practiced. Compressing my thoughts into a three minute speech would be a trick.

Giving my acceptance speech

My Toastmaster training and friends helped me. They listened, critiqued and generally gave me the confidence I needed. I focused my remarks on how 4-H prepared me to manage Multiple Sclerosis. 

I organized my remarks around the 4-H pledge with head, heart, hands and health being my guiding principles. I concluded telling about my blog. I said, "It's a roadmap for anyone who is newly diagnosed, or family and friends who want to understand better what symptoms to expect." I concluded on a positive note with, “My goal is to make my best better. I don’t think I’ve reached my best yet.”

Former colleague, Dr. Travis Burke

The ceremony and my speech all swam together into a big blur. My fear of looking spastic walking across the stage didn’t happen. Travis made sure I was stable before leaving me on stage. 

During my speech, the audience laughed with me. I felt like they listened to me the full three minutes. I prefer not using notes. I knew my content, the order and timing, especially where I should be at one minute left. I got off my outline slightly midway through. Suddenly I had a moment, “What next, where am I?” Then, I saw the timer with the one minute signal. “Finish strong. Tell about the blog.” 

For the first time ever and because this was the twentieth anniversary of the National Hall of Fame, live streaming was available. My Four Seasons Toastmasters friends put together a compressed eight minute version of my speech and some of the ceremony. https://fourseasonstoastmasters.com/tm-milestones/

Wreath from Dr. Mike Davis

With assistance, I walked off stage, back to my seat and sat down, I was relieved to be done and satisfied. It wasn’t perfect, but maybe it was okay. Several people remarked to me after the program that they were glad I talked about my MS experience. Some said they knew people with the disease they planned to encourage. 

There were sixteen Laureates and each one had a different story. Their stories were all inspiring. My story was different from the others but seemed to resonate with the audience. My impressions of the entire experience, start to finish are: 1) Inclusion, 2) Honor, 3) Family. The event was organized and conducted to make each Laureate feel worthy and special. I was very proud to be honored.

Being the center of attention and honored that way was challenging for me. I realized I would much rather be on the other side, helping do the honoring. Accepting this honor was much like receiving a compliment I don’t think I’ve earned. Being a 4-H’er and working as a 4-H professional was my reward. It allowed me to be what I wanted to be and do what I loved doing.