For three ISU juniors, meeting while on the state 4-H council in high school started a friendship that has continued until today.

Haley Cook, junior in journalism and mass communication; Alison Dreeszen, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication; and Brianne Tabke, junior in agricultural education, are sharing an apartment at Frederiksen Court this fall.

“You form relationships with people, and [Collegiate 4-H] is a way to continue that,” Cook said.

Thirty high school juniors and seniors from around Iowa are picked to be state council members, Tabke said.

She said it was natural for her to continue her involvement in 4-H after coming to Iowa State.

“I’d feel lost without it,” she said.

As the youngest child, Tabke said she went to her older siblings’ 4-H meetings even before she was old enough to join.

As a member of the Arlington Future Farmers 4-H club in Woodbury County, Tabke exhibited hogs, sheep and cattle. She also competed in non-livestock areas, such as photography, and rounded out her high school 4-H career with a trip to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, Ga.

“I did pretty much everything,” she said.

Then her Collegiate 4-H career began.

When Iowa State agreed to host this year’s regional conference, the former state council members relived the planning process they went through to plan the state 4-H conference.

Collegiate 4-H normally gathers for one community service activity and one social event per month, but this fall some members got together two or three times a week in preparation for the regional conference, Cook said.

“Everything has run smoothly,” Cook said at lunch during the conference Saturday. “We haven’t had a hitch at all.”

While passing out pop, Dreeszen said putting on the successful conference after months of planning reminded her of the 4-H conference she planned in high school.

“I forgot what that felt like, everybody having fun as a result of your hard work,” Dreeszen said.

Alicia Clancy, sophomore in journalism and mass communication, was on the state 4-H council after Cook, Dreeszen and Tabke graduated from high school.

About 90 students from seven universities attended the Collegiate 4-H regional conference last weekend, Clancy said.

“We started brainstorming [and] looking for sponsors in the spring,” Clancy said. “The members of the club have done everything.”

The state council adviser they worked with in high school, Brenda Allen, youth and 4-H extension program specialist, is the adviser for Collegiate 4-H.

In the past ten years, Iowa State has hosted the conference once, Allen said.

The conference began Friday night with a bonfire and hay ride at the Ag 450 farm, 52097 260th St., Tabke said.

On Saturday morning, conference participants split up for workshops and tours, and then a regional business meeting was held.

At the meeting, conference attendees selected two members of Iowa State’s club to serve as regional officers for the coming year.

They selected Cook for president and Clancy for secretary.

As president, Cook said she will encourage Collegiate 4-H clubs in every state in the region to participate in the regional conference.

“The main reason for regionals is to talk to people from other clubs,” Cook said.

The club, which has about 35 dues-paying members, received both the regional club of the year award and the national club of the year award last year, Cook said.

“We have a smaller chapter, but we’re more involved,” Dreeszen said.