Heritage Leadership Symposium

Friday December 3, Alycia and I were invited to attend the first ever Heritage High School Leadership Symposium. Heritage High School is a brand new school in Wake County that currently only has freshman and sophomore students. The teachers at Heritage thought it would be prudent to have a conference to develop leadership in students active in some of the extracurricular organizations. This visit provided a unique opportunity to not only talk to current FFA members but also to work with students involved in other clubs at Heritage High School. We were tasked with presenting workshops on the basics of running a meeting and two more on teamwork basics. As much as I enjoy working with FFA members, it was nice to mix it up today. The students were really enthusiastic and attentive. Everyone was eager to participate and learn. Also, I think it might be a universal truth that everyone loves balloons. I don't know what it is about balloons that just gets people excited, but when we brought out the balloons the students were over the moon. Looking back, it was one of those visits that make being a state officer really enjoyable. Heritage FFA has a bright future.

West Wilkes Wildlife Banquet

The West Wilkes Wildlife Banquet, aside from being very alliterative, was a blast. Having never been to Wilkes County before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but anywhere there would FFA members, food, and stuffed animal heads, I knew would be worth the trip. It was Tuesday, November 30 and Justin, Daniel, and I made the trip a boy's trip. Upon arrival, we wandered around the school for a few minutes before finally finding the cafeteria. Inside the cafeteria, the West Wilkes officer team were putting the final touches on wonderful decorations. The decorations included several different stuffed mounts over toward the back of the cafeteria. One particular mount, Oscar, was very memorable. Oscar was an honest to goodness razorback. Alive, Oscar must have weighed at least 400 lbs. He was shades of black and brown and his face was permanently a snarl framed by some nasty looking tusks. The story behind Oscar was that he had once been a pet that had escaped and chased then chased the present owner down the street, at which point Oscar was shot.

After we finished looking at the displays and hearing the stories behind each of the mounts, it was time for the banquet to begin. The Wilkes officers presented their opening ceremonies. For many of them, this was their first time presenting a program, but it was so much fun seeing members learning and growing right in front my eyes. They struggled a few times but did a great job. The highlight of the night was probably when Wilkes County's very own National Turkey Calling Champion came and talked about his experiences turkey calling and appearing on the David Letterman show. He even put on a demonstration for the audience. Justin, Daniel, and I eventually left our new friends well fed, entertained, and happy for having been invited to take part in West Wilkes' success.

Dairy Judging

It was cold. Other than that, I had a blast at my first Dairy Judging event. Growing up in Carteret County, I wasn't exposed to a lot of dairy cattle. It was awesome to go out and see students working with and developing their dairy skills. This year the event was held in Salisbury at the Rowan County fairgrounds. For the state-wide event we had record turn out with approximately 700 students there. I love seeing so many familiar faces, from students to Ag. teachers. And of course, I made some new friends too. All in all, it was a very successful and enjoyable first Dairy Judging for this member.

National Convention Continued

The rest of convention went by in a flash. It was one of the quickest weeks of my life, yet I was so busy. After all of our delegate business was taken care of, the general sessions began to recognize members for a year's worth of hard work. Our main job at these general sessions was to get as excited as humanly possible. We danced and carried on and had a good time. Until this point, I was totally unaware that people from Oregon, Washington, and Montana are the most amazing swing dancers I've ever seen. They were hitting flips and spins and twirls. It was downright ridiculous. The students from Texas, not to be outdone, stuck to their native two-step and danced with a grace and style native only to the Lone Star State. I witnessed all of this convention excitement from the floor directly in front of the giant stage in Conseco Field House in the very first row. It was an amazing experience.

Another highlight from convention was the North Carolina Association brunch. North Carolina always has a good showing at convention, and the brunch allows us to all come together and visit with familiar faces after a week of meeting new FFA members from different states. This year Mount Olive College sponsored our brunch, which had a great turnout.

Lastly, Saturday came. It was the day that our Association had been waiting for. We were ready to find out the results of the National Officer nominating committee. Kara Miller, our candidate, had trained for months for the opportunity to run for one of the 6 National Officer positions. We all held a collective breath as the results were announced, and we were all left disappointed. Unfortunately, Kara wasn't named an officer, but we still love her, and we know she did her best.

National Convention as a delegate was one of the best experiences I've ever had as an FFA member. It was surreal to know that you are affecting change in an organization that reaches over 520,000 students. You meet wonderful people from across the nation. The experience is second to none, and I will never forget my time as a delegate.

National Convention-Tuesday

Day 2 of our National Convention adventure started at 8 AM with delegate training. This is where the delegate coordinators stressed the importance of our tasks and described what committee sessions would entail. After delegate training, we were treated to an excellent meal at the Welcome to Indy Luncheon. This is where the delegates got an opportunity to mingle with sponsors and honored guests that helped make convention possible. I had a very nice lunch with two members of the Indianapolis Housing Bureau, an Indianapolis police officer, a state officer from Georgia, and another state officer from Kentucky. One of the most memorable things about the lunch was the autographed football on the table. At the center of every table was a football autographed by Peyton Manning and Dallas Clark. Unfortunately, I didn't win the football, but it was still pretty sweet.

After our lunch, we headed over to our committee meetings to get started. My committee was a steering committee for National FFA to create a Vet Science CDE. We had an expert come in from National FFA and breakdown the situation for us, and then it was up to us to create a guideline from a student perspective as to what we wanted in this CDE. It got heated at times, but eventually we put together a very respectable recommendation for the entire delegate body.

Finally finishing up the delegate sessions, it was time for the highly anticipated Wrangler dinner. As a first time delegate myself, I had heard stories of past Wrangler dinner's that had me excited. Basically, everyone dresses in their wranglers and flannel or plaid and puts on big belt buckles and then we eat a great meal. Wrangler sponsors the dinner and there is usually a guest speaker. This year, the speaker was a professional bull rider who overcame a speaking deficiency to pursue his dreams of riding bulls. The best thing about all of the dinners, aside from the delicious food, is probably getting to mingle with people from all across the United States. Delegates are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet, and everyone is so excited to learn about their counterparts from across the country. At the Wrangler dinner, I sat with some great folks from Texas. All in all, it was just a great meal.