Carson Fulks has been selected to serve as one of eight youth from across the nation on the 2018 National 4-H Congress Youth Design Team. As a National 4-H Congress Youth Design Team member, Carson will plan and execute the national event with selected youth and adults. Carson will also have the opportunity to play a role in selecting session topics and speakers, while mentoring the National 4-H Congress Youth Leadership Team, and speaking in front of the entire 2018 Congress Delegation. Over the next year, Carson will travel to Atlanta, Georgia for on sight planning meetings and will participate in monthly conference calls to prepare for this event. To apply for this national 4-H opportunity, Carson completed a lengthy application, which included: a letter of introduction, a philosophy of personal leadership, a two-page resume, a description of his 4-H background, two recommendation letters, and a statement of what 4-H means to him. Additionally, he had to be nominated through Ohio 4-H, and he had to create a five-minute long original video to encompass his overall 4-H story and personality.  Carson was inspired to apply for the design team after he was an Ohio 4-H delegate who served on the Youth Leadership Team at the 2017 National 4-H Congress. Carson won the 2017 Ohio 4-H Achievement award in the CARTEENS project area to earn his way to the 2017 National 4-H Congress.

Carson is an alumnus of the Franklin County 4-H program where he completed seven years of work with the Fantastic Futures 4-H Club. He began his 4-H journey after attending Franklin County’s 4-H Camp twice. Carson’s 4-H project areas included Shooting Sports, Rabbits, CARTEENS, Laundry, and other miscellaneous projects. Carson was also very involved in 4-H leadership roles where he served as a Camp Counselor, a Cloverbud Counselor, a Teen Leadership Council member, a Franklin County Junior Fair Board member and officer, a CARTEENS program volunteer, and the 2017 Franklin County Junior Fair King. Carson is still a part of the Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council where he serves as the current Committee Chair of the Outreach Committee. In addition to serving on the Outreach Committee, he has served on the Ohio 4-H Conference Teen Luncheon Planning Committee. Carson is a current Freshman at the Ohio State University where he is studying Marketing. Carson has found his identity through the Franklin County 4-H program and he professes, “4-H is the biggest part of my life…as I only see my beginning as the small seed that sprouted my inner 4-H clover.”
 
Congratulations Carson! The OSU Extension, Franklin County is very proud of you and your 4-H accomplishments!