Look Out World, Here She Comes

A Potter girl became one of the highest achieving Cheyenne County 4-H speakers this year, taking the Grand Champion in the 4-H Speaking Contest at the Nebraska State Fair this year.

Hanah Stahl won the award with her speech, "If I Ruled The World." In it, she outlines her plan to begin with her 4-H domain, figuring out what to do with her new-found power, then moving on to conquer the actual world. As part of her speech she outlines the need for survival instinct, overcoming Glossophobia, and using the lessons she has learned in 4-H to bring it all together.

As part of the award for her win, Stahl received a cash award provided by Nebraska Rural Radio station KRVN in Lexington, plus a $250 scholarship from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Stahl, a senior at Potter-Dix High School, is the daughter of Shaun an Sarah Deeds of Potter. She had been a member of the Bunker Hillbillies 4-H Club for seven years.

The following is Stahl's speech:

If I Ruled the World

Have you ever had the desire to rule the world, I know I have. When I was little being a princess was something I saw myself being when I was older. Growing up, I realized that was not a possibility. Ruling the world was the next career option. When you google "ways to rule the world", you will find a book by Book by André De Guillaume. She says that," everyone wants to rule the world, but few have the skills to create an ironclad plan of attack." While this may be true for some, I have spent many years forming my plan of attack. My ironclad plan to rule the world starts a little bit smaller. I plan to start by ruling my 4-H world first. How I plan on accomplishing this, what I will do when I rule my 4-H world, and how my 4-H world will help me reach the top of the leadership board, are key points in understanding what to expect when I rule the world.

After many years of planning, ruling my 4-H world will be a piece of cake. The first step in how I plan to accomplish my aspiration of ruling my 4-H world starts by finishing all of my projects. By doing this I have started to take control of my world. When all of my projects are done, the stress from worrying about how to get them done will be gone. According to an article by Harvard Medical School it states that reactions to stress are refer to as "fight-or-flight". The survival instinct of a mammal when faced with a life-threatening situation is stress. The amygdala is the part of the brain that interprets if you are in danger and send a distress signal to the rest of your body. This can cause you to sweat and get shaky. Even though getting my 4-H projects done are not a life-threatening issue, getting rid of the stress helps me rule my 4-H world. Another thing that will help me rule my world is using less of my willpower. New discoveries show that every action that is done that is out of a person's comfort zone uses a little of the willpower they have. To help save willpower mathematician Alfred North Whitehead says that, "Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them." This means that the more operations I can perform without thinking about them will help save my willpower. Doing chores for my 4-H projects I can do without thinking about, or at least I think so. Ruling the world will take a great quantity of my willpower so I better start to save now. The last thing I will need to do to rule my 4-H world is learning to do one thing at a time instead of trying to do multiple things at once. Doing multiple things at once might seem like you are getting more done, but researchers did a study and uncovered this is actually counterproductive. Switching between tasks switches your focus, so it takes longer to do those tasks. In the study it was shown that the average time it would take to do the first task increases by 25%. Doing one task with 4-H at a time will help me rule my 4-H world because I won't have to switch my focus and can further complete a project. By discarding my stress, saving my willpower, and doing one thing at a time I have managed to rule my 4-H world.

After the triumph of ruling my 4-H world. I now need to figure out what to do with my new found power. Speaking is the backbone of our society. Many people have a fear of speaking, which is known as Glossophobia. Glossophobia is the number one fear throughout the globe. 3 ways speech is used is to win over a crowd, motivate people, or inform. When I rule the world I will need to use my speaking skills in abundance. I would use the skills I have developed from 4-H to help me overcome my Glossophobia. Speaking about my experience of ruling my 4-H world could help others learn and want to take control of their own lives. I would also make sure everyone had a creative outlet. When I say a creative outlet I don't mean you have to be the next Picasso. What I mean is doing something that you love to do for fun. Everyone has busy schedules and often forget to take a break and do something for themselves. CNN reported that creative outlets impact the body in similar ways like medication. So drawing those elaborate stickman are therapeutic. The third thing on my agenda for when I rule my 4-H world is that I would have everyone be exposed to 4-H animals. Studies have shown that cat owners enjoy a 30 percent reduction in heart attack risk. Watching swimming fish lowers blood pressure. Stroking a dog boosts the immune system. Imagine what a cute lamb or pig would do. Our pets profoundly change the biochemistry of our brains. Pets, glossophobia, and stickman oh my!! That is what I will do when I rule my 4-H world.

After figuring out what I will do after I rule my 4-H world, I will need to start to rule the actual world. 4-H has taught me many lessons that will help me accomplish this goal, one way is from the way that 4-H teaches me to interact with other people. Being social is something that I have learned in 4-H from interacting with nursing home residents with my 4-H club members to having a bake off. Being social is something that has to happen every day. Being social also has more benefits than just meeting people like you. Being social actually can affect your physical state as well. Being social with family and friends can increase your mental state. A study proves that when you "chill" with friends you tend to eat more food, and this then lowers your blood pressure. Another way 4-H will help me rule the world is from teaching me to never give up. For the past 5 years I strived to get grand sheep showman. Every year I tried my hardest to complete my goal, and every year I didn't succeed, but instead of giving up I tried again. Last year I decided that I was just going to have fun and not worry about my goal. That was the year that I was grand sheep showman. Without 4-H teaching me to never give up but have fun doing the things I love I never would have completed my goal. A skill that I could also use to rule the world that 4-H has taught me, is to help others. In 4-H I learned to help anyone that I saw that needed help. For instance, if I saw that another member needed help learning how to set a table, I now help them without even thinking about it.

4-H has taught me many valuable lessons that could help me rule the world. I am now ready to put my ironclad plan of attack into action. According to Irving Kristol, " What rules the world is ideas, because ideas define the way reality is perceived." The idea of how I will rule my 4-H world, what I would do when I rule it, and how 4-H has taught me lessons that will help me rule the actual world, was examined. Watch out world, because here I come.