Today marks the first
official day of FFA week throughout the country. During this week chapters do
special activities at school and in their communities to promote FFA and
Agriculture. When I was still in high school our FFA chapter would do fun
things like have tractor day, let the greenhands paint their hands green, dress
like a farmer day, and have a petting zoo for the elementary. We would also do
special activities in our community. On the Sunday at the beginning of FFA week
we would go to one of the local churches in our town and have church service
with them. Then on the Sunday ending FFA week we held a free will donation
breakfast for the community. My freshman year communality people said they liked
the breakfasts so much that we decided to continue them every month. So on the
last Sunday of every month we open up the local café in town and hold a
breakfast. Along with FFA week I thought I would share with you all some of my
favorite memories. I will try to keep this as short as possible but there are
so many wonderful memories associated with this amazing organization.
Throughout the 4
years of FFA I had the opportunity to go on several different trips. I was
lucky enough to go to the state convention in Columbia, MO all 4 years. The
first year was the only year that I competed. Me and the same 3 other girls
were on 2 teams, livestock judging and knowledge, that qualified for state. The
other years I went as a delegate, earn my state degree, and sing in the choir.
In order for your team to qualify for state you had to compete at districts
which we were lucky enough to have it in our county so we didn’t have to drive.
Before districts you got to go to practice competitions all over the state to
practice up on your skills. That meant getting up early, long bus rides, and
most importantly missing lots of school.
Me recieving my State Degree in Columbia
We went and saw this on one of our practice Livestock Judging Trips
My sophomore and
senior years in high school I got to go to Indianapolis to the National
Convention. It is an amazing experience to be walking through the career fair
or down the street from one building to another and seeing hundreds of blue
corduroy jackets from all different states. A lot of the time I cussed wearing
the official dress (jacket, skirt, the dreaded panty hose, and black heels or
flats) but on one occasion myself and a couple of other students were stopped
at a fast food restaurant, in our official dress, when the lady taking our
order commented on how nice we were dressed.
She said that it was so great to see us kids respecting our organization
by dressing respectably. After that moment I really took pride in wearing the
official dress.
One of my two FFA Jackets
Back to the National Convention… when we go to
National Convention we spend about 3-4 days in Indianapolis. On the first night
your there you go to a big concert in Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Colts). I
got to see Toby Keith, the Eli Young Band, Little Big Town, and Blake Shelton.
The next day you get to go to the opening ceremony of the convention. That is
usually when they have a special keynote speaker. My sophomore year the speaker
was Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. He was an awesome speaker. One of the things I
remember him telling us was that “In order to make the green you have to get
down with brown”. What he meant by that was that in order for you to make money
you have to get a little dirty. Then the rest of the time you are there you
spend at different workshops, the career fair and special tours your advisor
sets up. The places we got to go extra were the NCAA Hall of Fame, Indianapolis
Speedway, this cool little popcorn factory,
and a mini zoo. Then on the final day you’re out there you get to watch
the kids get their American Degree (which is televised on RFD-TV). A little
boasting time…. Missouri has had the most number of students each year to
receive their American degree for I don’t know how many years and hopefully
this year I will be one of those lucky students.
Mike Rowe!!!!!!
We got to go on the Race track and "Kiss the Bricks" on the finish line at the Indy Speedway
Yes My favorite partwas meeting the Cowboy's ;) I got to meet Ty Atchison (PRCA Saddle Bronc Rider)- From Missouri Luke Snyder (PBR Bull Rider) and Coby Yates (PBR Bull Rider)
Colby Yates :)
Luke Snyder :)
Probably the biggest
and to date the best and most life changing trips I’ve ever been on was when I
went to Washington DC 2 summers ago for the Washington Leadership Conference
(WLC). It is a week-long conference that builds your leadership skills. When I
went my Ag teacher couldn’t go so my parents offered to chaperon since they
had lived out in Baltimore when they were first married. We actually flew into
Baltimore when we went out there so that we could do some sight-seeing there.
We went to the Inner Harbor and ate lunch and walked around looking at the cool
boats. Then we went to Fort McHenry (where Francis Scott Key was inspired to
write the Star Spangled Banner). For the actual conference we had small group
activities and large group activities to build our leadership skills. We also
had one day where we got to do a community service project. I got to go to a
habitat for humanity Re-store and work. Along with the conference we had
several opportunities to do sight-seeing in DC too. We went to Mt Vernon
(George Washington’s Home), the National Mall during the day and at night, the
Smithsonian Museums of American and Natural History, Ford’s theater, Arlington National Cemetery, and the
Capitol. We saw the White House but only from a distance. I highly recommend it
to anyone who loves history to go to Washington DC because it is chalked full
of it.
The Backside of Mt. Vernon overlooking the Potomac
Fort McHenry (the inside of the fort)
Lincoln Memorial- Fun fact from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument is 1 mile!! It doesn't look that far on TV but when your standing at one or the other it looks really far away!
Of the 4 years that I
while I was still in high school I was an officer 3 of them. I have held the
positions of junior reporter, Vice President and President for my chapter and
then during my junior year I was also the Area 1 Sentinel. This meant that we
got to lead the meetings and banquets by doing the official ceremonies and plan
activities for our chapters. While I was an Area officer I got to go down to
the Lake of the Ozarks to an officer retreat to develop our team building
skills. We also had the awesome opportunity to charter in a new chapter. I did
apply and interview for a state office my senior year but didn’t get it. It was
something that I really wanted but was ok with that I didn’t receive. The boy
who got the position has done an amazing job and has represented our Area well.
Me and my Area Officer Team at Area Banquet
My chapter officer team one year.
Over the years I competed in several different
Career Development Events or as we call them CDE’s. My favorite one would
probably be livestock judging. This is where you have 6 classes of 4 animals in
each class to place first, second, third, and fourth. Each animal will have a
number on its back. After some of the classes you have to give a set of
“reasons” to a judge. This is basically telling them why you placed what animal
the way you did. Basically “I place this class of cross bread heifers 3,4,2,1.
In my initial pair I placed the number 3 heifer over the number 4 heifer
because…..” and you describe their positive and negative qualities. Not to brag
but I was rather good at that contest. I qualified for state my freshman year
doing it. I competed in livestock three times at a fall contest that the
university about 10 min from where I live puts on. The first year was when I
was first getting started and wasn’t that good yet. Then the second year I
placed 4th place individually out of about 250 kids, then my senior
year I placed 7th place out of about 300 kids. If I had it my way
that would have been the only contest I would have ever done because I really
enjoyed it. Some of the other contests I did that were similar to livestock
were poultry judging and dairy cattle judging. I also did parliamentary
procedure (how to run a meeting), knowledge, soils, and several speeches.
Through FFA I have
won several awards. I won the star greenhand and star chapter farmer awards. I
received my leadership and scholarship pins all 4 years. I lettered in FFA. I
earned my greenhand, chapter, and state degrees.
State Degree Pin
Like I’ve said before
FFA was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. FFA has brought
me many friendships, bettered me as a person, increased my appreciation and
love of agriculture, and brought me many joys. I’m a little sad to know that
this will be my last official year as an FFA member. The night I gave my
retiring address as a president I cried while giving my speech because it was
so hard to say good bye and know that it was going to be over. I was blessed to
have such an amazing Advisor, Mr. Wilmes, who not only was my favorite teacher
but a role model and most importantly someone who believed more in me than I
ever believed in myself. There were many times when I was writing a speech, filling
out an application, or contemplating running for an office where he kept me
from quitting, giving up, or not even trying. He kept pushing me and because of
that I achieved so much.
I know some of you
weren’t in FFA but I would like for you, if the opportunity ever arises, to
support the FFA. It is a great organization that is creating better leaders for
tomorrow. Kids who are in FFA not only will be the future people who feed
America but could be the next president or person to cure cancer.
I will leave you with
one of my favorite quotes from Thomas Jefferson.
“Agriculture is our
wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good
morals, and happiness.”
Please go Check out
The Midwest Farm Girls blog she will be posting about her experiences in FFA!
