As a new Family and Consumer Agent, I wanted to provide some opportunities to meet and greet the different pockets of our community.  I created a workshop that offered children the opportunity to create a beaded infinity necklace for their maternal figure, for Mother's Day.  The workshop was well attended and very successful, all attendees created a necklace that he/she felt proud to give as a gift.  I left the event feeling extremely hopeful, but little did I know the impact would stretch beyond Mother's Day for one attender.  

                A few weeks after the necklace making workshop, I spoke with Vivian Smith, a ten year old who had attended the workshop.  She excitedly reported that she loves making jewelry.  She continued by sharing that she had made several additional pieces since the workshop.  She proudly listed off the pieces that she had given as gifts, and then boasted that she had even sold three bracelets.  She had become a proud to be an entrepreneur.  I was so pleased to hear, that she had used the knowledge she gained from the workshop to create a small cottage industry.  I asked her how much her bracelets were.  She enthusiastically explained, 

              "Well, they are ten dollars, the elastic string is 3.12 for 75 feet, I use about one foot per bracelet, and the beads set I bought cost 9.49, and I think I can make at                 least 15 bracelets with that set.  So, my cost is 26 cents for the elastic per bracelet, and 63 cents for the beads.  That means my profit is nine dollars and eleven               cents per bracelet.  My dad says I won't make enough to worry about taxes, but you never know I may need to pay some of those too at some point."  

              I asked Vivian what she planned to do with her new found income, and she answered, "I may buy some Barbie stuff."  Well, that sounded great to me.  The future sure will be bright for this young lady, and I am proud to have exposed her to an art form that she now loves.