Picture this: A shy freshman walking into class and being told the next three months of class would be focused solely on public speaking. To add on to this, you also have to memorize five paragraphs and present each paragraph to the class and possibly even recite it to a panel of judges.
Freshman year Emma was terrified and dreaded this assignment. I had joined my high school’s FFA chapter when I got to high school and was super excited to start the journey. If you don’t know, FFA is a national organization that promotes agriculture and leadership. However, I learned that FFA included public speaking, I was a little terrified.
During my freshman year I was definitely quiet; I walked into class, did my work, and left, barely saying a word in many of my classes. So, the task of memorizing and presenting the FFA Creed wasn’t exactly something I was looking forward to.
Luckily, I had an advisor who knew that she needed to push me a little to break me out of my shell. I learned through that assignment that public speaking isn’t the worst thing ever and that I enjoyed doing it. Looking back on the FFA Creed assignment, I think the biggest thing it taught me is that I could be an advocate for agriculture with my voice.
Before I joined FFA, I had been showing livestock since I was eight years old. I joined my local 4-H club that year and was able to start showing pigs. This allowed me to really get to see the agriculture industry and interact with livestock from a young age. It also gave me the chance to be able to experience and make many memories in agriculture with my friends and family. You spend many hours in the barn with friends and family, which can make for some very fun times and memories that last a lifetime.
Not only did showing teach me about hard work and responsibility, but it also gave me the chance to fall in love with the agriculture industry. Showing livestock was something that I always looked forward to as a kid and having those positive experiences showed me just how fun agriculture is. Without 4-H and getting the opportunity to show, I don’t know that I would have ever discovered how much I loved the industry.
Once I got to high school, I joined FFA and officially got to wear the famous blue jacket.
FFA gave me the chance to branch out of just showing livestock and learn more about agriculture. After my freshman year and the almost terrifying public speaking experience, I continued to slowly break out of my shell and become a leader.
Through FFA, I was able to compete in public speaking events, participate in different state and national conferences and learn more about agriculture. FFA taught me how important it is to use your voice, be a leader and advocate for the things you love.
One of my favorite memories from FFA was traveling to Washington, D.C. to go to a leadership conference with FFA members from all over the country. Throughout this conference, we got the chance to meet different members, tour D.C. and learn how we can promote agriculture in our own hometowns. My favorite thing about this conference (besides the people I met) was getting to learn about agriculture from all over and how it can bring people together. I walked into this conference knowing one person and left with two new best friends from completely different states. Our friendship was built off our passion for the FFA and agriculture industry.
My FFA and 4-H experiences have shaped me into the person I am today in so many ways. The experiences, memories and knowledge gained from those years helped me become the person I am today. If I would have decided to quit FFA because of public speaking (trust me, I thought about it) I wouldn’t have learned how to become an advocate for the agriculture industry and gotten to fall more in love with agriculture.
I’ve had so many experiences throughout 4-H and FFA, so there will definitely be more blogs about them in the future! As always, thank you for reading the Farmer’s Daughter!