Indianapolis, Indiana. FFA members from chapters all over America will get together and honor what FFA has become. The FFA National Convention is only held once a year, marking it as a special tradition that many of the FFA members look forward to. This year’s attendees are preparing to participate at the end of this month.
Rolla junior and FFA Vice President Cady Lewis is planning on going to Convention this year, making it her third year attending. Lewis is excited to know what’s coming ahead because of the memories made from the previous conventions during her freshman and sophomore year.
“I’ve been to national convention both my freshman year and sophomore year. It’s both very fun. I love it every time, and I’m applying to go again this year. We have our national officers who promote national FFA to our younger audience of our freshmen, and, basically, it’s also a promotion event for our national competitor teams [and] for our contest teams. You can go there and you find all these different colleges across the nation. It’s kind of like going into Walmart, but FFA, you know?” Lewis said.
FFA prepares its members for any career path that participants may choose. It isn’t just for farming or agriculture, unlike what most assume.
“When I’m older, I want to be a pediatric neurosurgeon, but I also want to own a ranch that just has a team of Belgians [horses]. I also like barrel racing, so I also want to be a barrel racer as well … FFA helps me with those career choices. It helps prepare me at the high school level for my agricultural experiences,” Lewis said. “Take my SAE, for example—SAE being Supervised Agricultural Experience. I love to work with horses, and right now I’m actually taking lessons to be a good barrel racer and also to do reining. And FFA helped me find my way to find these horses and figure out I was low-key a horse girl, and it basically just prepares you mentally, physically, and it undoubtedly shapes your mind to stay to complete your goals.”
FFA’s growth has been continuous, constantly giving new opportunities to all students nationwide. Junior and FFA historian officer Hayden Schuetz enjoys the challenges presented by the organization’s expansion.
“This past year, I was on a contest team, so that was a really big step. It was just kind of cool seeing how it used to be till now, and hearing my mom talk about things that she did when she was in FFA to things we do now. It’s just really eye-opening to see the different things. And another thing I like about being in there is that it used to just be for males, so being a female in an agricultural-based class can show that girls don’t just have to be like the stereotype,” Schuetz said.
FFA sheds light on many more activities and programs than a lot of people recognize, fostering an organization where anyone and everyone has a place. Senior and FFA chaplain officer Samarcus Anderson believes that FFA is truly a powerful and important organization.
“FFA has molded me into the person I am. Before I knew FFA, before I was introduced to it, I was completely lost. I wanted to be a scientist because I thought inventing things would change a nation. But really, when I joined FFA, I found out that even one word could change the nation. As long as I spread and advocate for the things that matter, I could mold my generation to the future,” Anderson said.
FFA also helps its members find people to connect with.
“I’ve met some of my really, really close friends [through FFA]. The bond we have between the officers is a connection most friends don’t have. FFA has brought many new people into my life, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. The girls in the chapter have become my best friends, and I’m excited to have two more years with them,” Schuetz said.
The National Convention always provides Lewis with a positive outlook to foster growth and strength in herself.
“The main achievement they [the National Convention] want to achieve is publication of our organization and also getting the word out [about] FFA to people like Farm Bureau or Washington, D.C. We also want to promote the happiness and outgoingness of FFA to our underclassmen and show, ‘Hey, this is a cool organization that you are a part of,’” Lewis said.
The FFA National Convention even reaches outside of the U.S. mainland to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
“National Convention; let me stop using fancy words. It is the bomb. It is peak-level. It’s so fun, [and] you get to go with your friends. Now, there are a lot of criteria and stuff you have to do to get in there. But if you get the chance, it is the best thing ever. I went last year with a bunch of my friends, and I met people from all over the place. Alaska; I didn’t even know people had agriculture there. There was a school from Puerto Rico, and they were telling me how they started from the bottom, and they built their schools, greenhouse and all that stuff. I was like, ‘That’s so sick,’” Anderson said.
National FFA Convention teaches so much more than what meets the eye. Everyone takes something home that they learn. Senior and officer reporter Shelby Parker recalls hearing from an influential speaker who built a chute system for cattle that prevented them from startling. Parker encourages other FFA members to look for convention moments like this.
“Have fun and take back as much as you can, because it’s a lot of fun. Go with an open mind. Don’t just go because you want to be with the people. Just go because you want to learn stuff,” Parker said.
