Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Miranda.
Hi Matthew, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My 4-H and Extension story begins in the late 90s; my family saw an advertisement for the 4-H program in San Antonio (Bexar Co.) and thought it would be something good for my brothers and I to get involved in. We were homeschooled from 1990 to 2005-06, so this would be another way to get involved in something other than the Boy Scouts and our home school support group, HAVEN Home Educators. Over the next seven years, I got as involved in the 4-H Program as you could be, serving on the Texas 4-H Council, attending National 4-H Congress, and helping to start 4-H Clubs around San Antonio.
After years of growing up wanting to be a meteorologist and storm chaser, but during my senior year, I decided that I wanted to make a career out of the 4-H Program! It had done many things for me, including helping me to earn a San Antonio Livestock Expo Scholarship and Texas A&M Regents’ Scholarship as the first in my family to attend college. I decided then that I wanted to help give kids a chance to have the same and better experiences in 4-H that I had and give them the chance to achieve their dreams too. I attended Texas A&M University in College Station, majoring in Agriculture Communications and Journalism, and decided the become a County Extension Agent for 4-H in the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
4-H has traditionally been an organization that focuses on agriculture. Growing up inside Loop 410 in San Antonio, I was not raised around livestock, crops, or other agriculture areas. My parents always tried to teach us about agriculture and its importance; my dad was in the FFA Program in Hondo, but there is only so much you can see in town! 4-H was a good way to help us learn about not only agriculture but the vast array of projects and programs within it. As an extension agent, I wanted to focus on non-traditional programs in 4-H: public speaking, leadership, nutrition, sewing, robotics, outdoor education, and more.
I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in 2009 and my master’s degree in Ag Leadership, Education, and Communication in 2010. In 2011, I was offered the job as the 4-H Agent in Guadalupe County just east of San Antonio, and I have been here ever since! I’ve been lucky to be supported by the best family there is, as well as the best friends turned family out there. They all have supported me over the years through many different things, and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without each of them!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
You know, the hardest part of getting here was the education! College is expensive. I had to rely on scholarships, student loans, and a job to pay for my college education. Since I was the first in my family to go to graduate from college, there were lots of unknowns along the way. I spent many hours driving a bus at A&M to make ends meet. At the time of my education, my parents didn’t make enough money to help pay for my college, but they always made sure my brothers and I had all that we needed to get by.
My dad spent all week working his regular job and would cut grass, empty trash, do electrical work, and more on the weekends to help us out. My mom had many small jobs making and selling things while taking care of my great-grandparents and grandmother that lived with us. She got a job as a tutor as well, helping us to get by with myself at A&M, and my brothers attending Texas State and Baylor University. While we didn’t always have money to do this or that, my parents made sure that our education was the most important so we wouldn’t have to work as hard as they did their entire lives.
In the end, the education we all struggled to obtain has paid off for us, and my brothers, parents, and I are all doing what we always wanted to do in a career! My parents have also be able to donate a scholarship to a 4-Her every year! Our hope is that it helps someone else achieve their education goals too! There were so many people that helped me get to this point; I have made it a point to donate whenever I can, and support these youths in their education goals, whether it be for a four-year university, technical degree, or job training for a career! Everyone deserves someone to be their biggest supporter and cheerleader; I hope I have been able to be that for someone!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, one of the only state agencies with a presence in all 254 Texas counties. The Mission of AgriLife Extension is, “Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service works daily to make Texas better by providing innovative solutions at the intersection of agriculture, natural resources, youth, and health, thereby improving the well-being of individuals, families, businesses, and communities through education and service” (https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/about/who-we-are/). However, I organize and run the Guadalupe County 4-H Program. As such, I am responsible for the overall planning, implementation, and interpretation of the 4-H Program in Guadalupe County to local stakeholders, county commissioners’ courts, school districts, and much more. I am not the only one that works here though. We also have three agriculture agents, and Family and Community Health Agent, support staff, and over 200 volunteers that help make this program one of the best in the area!
In a non-covid year, we typically have 550+ youth in our 4-H program in 26 project areas and 14 4-H clubs. Additionally, we reach over 5,500 youth a year through programs in our local schools. Every county in Texas has a 4-H program, so even if you are not a resident in Guadalupe County, you can find a program close to you! All of our volunteers are screened and cleared through the state of Texas. Specifically, I work one on one with youths and adults in the county in a variety of areas including hatching in the classroom, ag in the classroom, water education, 4-H promotion, leadership, public speaking, parliamentary procedure, and much more. In a normal year, my 4-H ambassadors and I will present or speak to over 25,000 people about the 4-H program!
One thing I try to ensure is that our 4-H program is like a family. We help each other, we work with each other and we teach each other in all areas. We support each other when someone has an illness, injury, or death in the family. We work with each other through community service projects all year long to help those in need in and around our county. We teach each other many things…patience, humility, hard work, communication, and more through our 4-H projects. I truly work with the best 4-H youths and adult leaders in the state of Texas!
There are several families I have met in Guadalupe County that have become like my own family. They check up on me, ask if I need help with anything, watch my pets when I’m traveling for work, check to see if I have eaten after a long day, or just called me to see how I’m doing. I cannot thank them enough for keeping me going, even when all else is overwhelming! That is what I love about this program and this county; no matter the issue, we watch out for each other to ensure everyone is cared for!
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
The best thing you can do is to follow us on our social media; we are Guadalupe County 4-H on Facebook and guadco4h on Instagram. You can sign up for 4-H by contacting your local county extension agents, and they will give you the info you need to get enrolled. As for supporting us, Guadalupe County 4-H is a 501(C)3 tax-deductible organization. We run the program through donations and fundraisers. If you or someone you know would like to donate to the program, send us a message, and we will point you in the right direction!
We also like to talk and teach people about 4-H with our Ambassador program, so if you are a part of an organization and would like to learn more about the 4-H program, contact us, and we will conduct a presentation for you. Within the extension service, we always say that 4-H is the best-kept secret out there. It should not be that way! One of my main goals is to teach as many people about 4-H as I can so they have those opportunities that will help them to grow into the best possible adults they can be! 4-H is an organization for all youths of every background, and if just one is able to improve their life through the program, then I have done my job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://guadalupe.agrilife.org
- Instagram: guadco4h
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuadalupeCounty4H
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/guadalupecounty4h
