Written by Bryn Bird, Licking County 4-H Alumna
When sisters Emlyn and Paige Walsh of Kids and Kritters 4-H Club packed their belongings and moved from Licking County, Ohio, to Tokyo, Japan, this spring, one tradition came with them: 4-H.
Working with Licking County 4-H Educator Lisa McCutcheon before leaving Ohio, the sisters enrolled in projects they could complete while living overseas. What began as a way to provide familiarity during an international move quickly became something much bigger, connecting the girls with mentors, careers, and experiences they never expected to find 6,500 miles from home.
For Emlyn, the journey began with *Make Over My Space*. After moving to Japan, she had a bedroom of her own for the first time and used the project to thoughtfully design a space that reflected her personality.
Then an unexpected connection transformed the experience.
After learning that a former Licking County resident had recently opened a furniture design studio in Tokyo, Emlyn reached out to award-winning designer Jonathan Stratton. Although the two grew up only eight miles apart in Ohio, they met for the first time in Japan.
Stratton shared how he built a woodworking business in a foreign country, developed local partnerships, and established an internationally recognized design studio. He also answered questions about craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, and creativity, giving Emlyn a firsthand look at turning a passion into a career.
"I didn't think I would get to do 4-H for two years, but this has helped me not feel as homesick and know people at home won't be forgetting us," said Emlyn Walsh.
Paige's project took her in a different direction, straight toward space. Through *Missions in Microgravity*, Paige explored how gravity influences scientific research before designing her own space experiment using the engineering design process. Inspired by her family's produce farm, she developed an experiment exploring whether lessons from microgravity could improve the storage of heirloom tomatoes.
Living on Yokota Air Base gave Paige the opportunity to present her idea to Capt. Mikayla Szipszky of the United States Space Force. The conversation allowed Paige to ask questions about engineering, education, and careers in space operations while receiving feedback on her experiment. More importantly, it helped her see how her interests in math and space science could someday become a career.
“It was like meeting my future self. I got to learn even more about space because it wasn’t just experiments in the book but about her life and job,” Paige said about taking her project the extra step in Japan.
Both projects demonstrate one of 4-H's greatest strengths: learning doesn't stop with completing a project book. By encouraging young people to ask questions, seek out experts, and apply their knowledge in the real world, 4-H creates opportunities far beyond county fairs or club meetings.
For Emlyn and Paige, completing 4-H projects from Japan helped make an unfamiliar country feel a little smaller. Whether meeting an internationally recognized furniture designer who once called Licking County home or presenting an original research idea to a Space Force officer, the sisters discovered that the skills developed through 4-H can open doors almost anywhere in the world.