National FFA week ran this week, all over the United States. With hundred of chapters located in high schools in every state, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico – the organization that wears the blue corduroy jacket united students together to promote FFA.
FFA stands for Future Farmers of America and no, it’s not all just shoveling cow poop and planting flowers (even though that can be a part of it). As a former FFA member, I have seen this organization make leaders out of students that use the skills they have gained in the different projects that they offer to help out their communities or grow as individuals.
(Photo courtesy by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)
1. Public Speaking
Going into college terrified of public speaking isn’t the best thing. Thankfully, if you ever find yourself stuck in an ag class, I guarantee you that you will also find yourself talking in front of the class with an ag teacher ready to throw paper clips at you if you mess up. Taking public speaking out of just being classrooms, FFA allows students to go to competitions to compete against other schools. Teams for opening and closing were always fun, and even if writing that 7 minute prepared speech was a drag, you can’t deny the satisfaction that came with delivering it to the judges made you proud to wear that jacket.
2. Conferences
Leadership conferences are available for different clubs, but I doubt that anyone will ever beat FFA conferences. With a conference designated for each grade, FFA members are given a chance to attend these amazing events where they meet people from different cities and learn a variety of skills. To be frank, the van rides to these conferences and the stays in the hotel rooms is what was fun because I loved being there with my friends. At the end of the day though, I always returned home a better person.
State Conferences and National Conventions are also tough ones to beat with thousands of members gathering one place, becoming a sea of blue. Conferences are just those things that you can’t erase from your memory, and you will always feel the tiredness of waking up at 5am, ripped nylons, and fighting over who would be the delegates. Not to mention, whoever is going to do their cover of Jolene that year on stage is probably going to do a great job and make their chapter proud.
3. Contests
Whether it was showing animals at the fair or doing a CDE (Career Development Event), FFA was made for competitive students. With ag teachers and parents rallying behind them, students are always able to channel the part inside of them that was born to win. With FFA, teenagers learn the definition of hard work, and the work they put in is representative in the results.
CDE’s are those events that take a lot of work and practice, and you have to learn how to work in teams. But you can’t deny that there’s always going to be a benefit to it. I did Vet Science in high school and yeah, I didn’t go on to wanting to be a vet, but I do know over 200 different animal breeds by heart.
(Photo courtesy by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)
4. Ag Teachers
Without ag teachers, FFA would be a bunch of kids running around in FFA jackets without ties, stuffing their jackets with 5’’ x 8’’ notecards, and trying to fit a chapter in a school bus instead of a creepy white van or ag truck that is worth either more than my college education or less than the amount of money a FFA girl spends on nylons through her FFA career (in the hundreds range). That’s a lot of chaos in one sentence, but it’s true.
Ag teachers are regular high school teachers during the day and super heros at the crack of dawn when they have to haul over 50 animals to the fairgrounds (also at night when the judges take too long to chose the winners). Besides being incredible role models, you can’t deny sometimes the bond students have with their teachers are parent like. I can personally say I had amazing ag teachers that were encouraging and supportive of everything that I did even when it was hard for me to keep my head up. They become lifelong friends after graduation, and students will always have this sense of appreciation for them the same way me and my friends do.
5. Relationships
Making friends with people at your high school is one thing, but making friends with people from different high schools because of FFA is a whole different level. Personally, I’m still friends with people I met from all over the state and I’ve been out of high school for almost a year now. This is because you can’t deny that the friends you make in the FFA are extra special.
If you’re looking for other ag nerds who will bond over all the crazy things your ag teachers put you through, just hop into a white van and you’ll probably meet them at a contest or conference. That was my favorite thing about FFA. That no matter how diverse our backgrounds were, we always found a way to connect.
(Photo by Tobias Mrzyk on Unsplash)
FFA is an amazing organization that any high schooler would be blessed to find themselves a part of. Even beyond the organization, it still shapes my life every day as I give presentation and talk to my friends from FFA.