The high school I graduated from did not offer any ag classes at the time, let alone FFA. However, a neighboring school did give those interested in joining a chance to be a part of their ag program. This came with two conditions: you had to miss two class periods a day due to conflicting schedules and you had to wait until your sophomore year to join. While I am extremely thankful to at least have been given a chance to take ag classes, I did feel at a disadvantage right from the get go. The other kids were able to start being a part of FFA when they were in 8th grade, so I was pretty much two years behind my peers. It definitely felt like it too. The school where I went for ag, had a long history and reputation of hosting a strong FFA chapter and ag program. The families in the chapter were all old farming families that had been in the community for generations. My dad is a first generation farmer, and I came from the rival school so I stuck out like a store thumb. I also have a tendency to be shy in new situations, so I felt very uncomfortable and out of place when I started FFA. To me, all the kids grew up with each other and so did their parents, and they knew what was going on. I was completely lost and too nervous to really get involved. Therefore, I did not attend a single FFA meeting my first year.
As I got older, I started to warm up to the program and began to show up to more meetings and tried to get involved. I participated in some CDE's such as Soils Judging, Livestock Judging, Horse Judging, Ag Marketing Team, and Ag Business Team and attempted to put together an SAE record book about my show pigs, but I definitely was not the "ideal" FFA member. I never attended National Convention and only attended State Convention because my advisor signed me up to compete on Ag Marketing Team and Ag Business Team. I never served as a chapter officer, though I did serve as substitute officer for a majority of the meetings during my senior. Somehow I managed to get my Iowa Degree but again it was one of those things that my advisor "made me do". At the time, I did not feel I could/should get involve in FFA because I was not with my own high school. It just didn't feel right, and it didn't help that when I went back to my own high school for my other classes, no one could care less about the importance of agriculture and FFA. Looking back I realize I passed up a lot of amazing opportunities and wasted way too much time worrying about what my classmates and teachers at my own school thought about FFA.
Now that I am in an agricultural major at a prestigious land grant university, I realize how beneficial FFA is for youth interested in ag. FFA members really do have a leg up on everyone who didn't get involved in FFA in high school. Ag teachers are awesome to put it simply. They devote their lives teaching their students information and skills that will actually be useful for them in the future. (Not that math and English aren't important, but I still haven't applied the quadratic formula to any of my animal science classes yet). FFA members are given so many opportunities to prepare for their career and network with numerous amount of companies who don't think twice about sponsoring FFA events because they know the impact it has on creating strong agriculturalists. These members also make memories and experience great things they wouldn't anywhere else. Finally and most importantly, FFA members make a crap ton of friends before they step foot onto campus. Many are really close friends and they would not have met if they hadn't gone to that soils judging contest or if their Parli Pro team hadn't won districts. They all have FFA as their connection and will for the rest of their lives.
Since I graduated, my old high school has started their own FFA chapter and ag program. My little sister is in 8th grade and has been given the opportunity to participate in a lot of the events the high school kids partake in. I can't count how many times I remind her how extremely lucky she is to be able to be a part of such an influential organization at a young age. I am constantly pushing her to get involved and encouraging her to put as much time and effort as she can into FFA. I don't want her to be like me and let so many opportunities pass by. I would say the same to any youth debating on whether to join FFA or not. JOIN! And don't just join but GET INVOLVED! You only get four maybe five years in an organization that can directly help you the rest of your life. Don't take it for granted.
I may not have gotten as involved in FFA as I should have, but I can say one thing: I do believe in the future of agriculture. I believe in the future of agriculture because I see what FFA is doing for the future generations of agriculturalists every day on campus. FFA is teaching its members some pretty awesome things, and as long as their is FFA their will never be a worry or fear about the future of agriculture.
"I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds- achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturalists" These words are iconic to any kid who ever put on that blue corduroy jacket. It's pounded into Greenhands' heads the moment they walk into their first ag class. It's the foundation for their next four years as they start their journey as an FFA member. I have been there. I have spent weeks studying for the creed test talking to myself to make sure I have it verbatim. This week, millions of FFA members will celebrate and reconcile their time in the FFA organization. They will talk and post about all the great memories they had at convention or being chapter officers or dressing up for FFA week. As for me, I will be kicking myself. No, my biggest regret is not that I was involved in FFA. My biggest regret from high school was how I was involved in FFA.