Elevating Extension: The Joy and Rewards of Doing Hard Things
September 8, 2026
Submitted by Gregg Hadley
Many of you know that one of my passions in my personal life is coaching and competing in weightlifting.
A common theme among social media posts in the weightlifting circles focuses on the enjoyment and the rewards of doing hard things. You face a difficult challenge. You set goals. You work with your team to achieve those goals. You succeed. You and your team feel the pride and joy of overcoming that difficult challenge.
One of the most important of the previously mentioned steps is working with your team to achieve hard things. Going through the team phases of storming, norming and performing bring you and your team closer together as you pursue your hard challenges.
I was fortunate last week to bear witness to one of our many K-State Extension teams completing a hard thing. Wyandotte County staff members and their Extension Master Gardeners were celebrating a great achievement.
The Cooper Foreman Heirloom Gardens has been an educational resource and attraction in Wyandotte County since 1998. It had fallen on hard times. K-State Extension Wyandotte County and their Extension Master Gardeners were asked to step in and collaborate with Kansas City Kansas Community College to resurrect this important community and educational asset.
They worked hard, faced and overcame adversity, and on Sept. 1 celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony and garden party. The community members and college faculty attending were amazed. Our K-State Extension professionals and volunteers were proud. Everyone enjoyed achieving a hard thing.
I also need to point out how pleased I was to see the entire K-State Extension Wyandotte County team, regardless of specialization, present and contributing to the event.
Furthermore, K-State Extension professionals and volunteers from other local units were there to show their support for their neighboring colleagues and to congratulate them for accomplishing the hard thing.
While the setting and challenge may change, this story is repeated throughout our system over and over again. I want to thank all of you for taking on the hard challenges facing the people we serve, overcoming those challenges, and celebrating that success.
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