Agriculture + Lifestyle
What's it like to be a National FFA Officer?
Posted on April 25, 2018 12:00 AM
Interview by John Holcomb, Multimedia Journalist
你在哪里长大?你是如何接触到农业的?
I grew up in Hahira, Georgia, 我接触农业的方式其实是在我家的农场. 我来自第三代纯种夏洛莱斯犬, 我一学会走路就开始锻炼了. 我记得我和爷爷坐在拖拉机上在地里干活. 当我上六年级的时候，当我进入全国FFA组织的时候, is when I really got involved with agriculture. 我有机会参加一个SAE项目，并在其中做了一些不同的事情, 这就是让我真正投入到我家农场的原因，也是激发我生活激情的原因.
Talk about your journey through FFA.
I joined the FFA in the sixth grade. Georgia has middle school FFA, which isn’t something that’s all across the nation, 但在我们州，这是一个很好的机会, and I joined the FFA at Hahira middle school. I really just got involved with that, 因为我爸爸建议我去参加一个AG-ed课程，而且我参加了一个AG-ed课程, you join the FFA. My AG teacher got me involved. I did a couple public speaking events, got started showing livestock, 当我上七年级和高中的时候, I started competing in the Agri-science fair, 我想那是我真正在FFA找到自己的步伐的时候. 我是第一个证明你可以在温度计上使用数字红外激光并使用它来测量牲畜的精确温度的人之一, which is a pretty good time saver, pretty good humane treatment of animals, and a lot of different things incorporated with that, 这就是我通过FFA所做的大部分工作, was take that research project. 我做了几个不同的研究，做了几个不同的试验. I ended up designing my own thermometer, 在此背景下做了很多研究, 我想说FFA的这些领域是我参与最多的地方, and that was the public speaking side of things, I was an area officer several times, I was a state secretary in 2015-2016. Kind of those two aspects of things, with the Agri-science fair, 领导能力和公众演讲能力让我走到了今天.
What are your duties in this new role?
So, 全国FFA组织是全国最大的学生领导组织之一, 我是这个组织的六个学生领袖之一. I’m a junior at the university of Georgia, 所以我会休一个春季学期和一个秋季学期的假, 明年我要花三百天在路上. I’ll travel over one hundred thousand miles. 我会在大约65个便利工作坊附近做, 不管是去学校，在教室里上课, 或者是为来自全国各地的一些州官员召开会议. 我将在全年大约100个不同的活动中发表主题演讲. 所以，这可能是像拜访赞助商或在州大会上演讲这样的事情.
当你被宣布当选时，你是什么感觉?
That was a pretty incredible opportunity. You know, going into it, we’d been there about a week doing almost thirteen, 为了获得当国家官员的机会，参加了14次面试. So, going into it, 在这个过程中，我们大约还剩下22个人, and they only selected six, 所以在宣布这个消息之前，我非常紧张. 这是一个很棒的机会，我真的很幸运有机会担任国家官员. 所以，这对我来说是一个非常非常不可思议的时刻，这是肯定的.
你有没有想过你能走到今天这一步?
So, from about the seventh grade on, 我一直都知道，竞选国家公职是我想做的事情. My reason behind that changed a lot over the years, and I always knew that I had the ability; it was just a matter of taking advantage of that opportunity. So, 这是我花了很长时间才得到的, 但直到他们喊出我的名字，我跑上舞台的那一刻, I wasn’t really sure if it was ever going to work out.
What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you?
我认为明年我将面临的最大挑战之一是我要工作的时间, and the number of miles that I’m going to be traveling, and meeting with different groups of students. 我可能有一天在阿肯色州的一间教室里，24小时后在加州的一个州代表大会上发表主旨演讲. Each place I go, and each group of students that I meet with, 我必须百分之百地为他们服务, even if I’m going off two, three hours of sleep. 对我来说，最大的挑战是把这种能量和激情带给我在这条路上遇到的每一个学生.
What are you looking forward to the most?
我最期待的就是明年在我面前的机会. 明年我将有300天在路上, 所以每一天都会给我带来新的机会、新的挑战和新的成长方式, 对我来说，这是一个新的机会，让我走出去，做出改变, whether that’s for a sponsor, whether it’s at a school visit, 或者只是花时间和其他十大靠谱网赌官方平台聊天. I think the thing that really excites me the most, 我最期待的是我作为国家官员所面临的机会.
What is your goal in this new position?
我认为我最大的目标就是帮助成功人士获得成功. 这个组织可能是为我们的成员提供最广泛机会的组织之一, and as a national officer, 我真的很想帮助我们的学生利用所有这些机会，尽可能地取得成功. So, whether that means helping someone compete in a C.D. event, 这是否意味着当某人试图竞选地区或分会办公室时，帮助他们写演讲稿, 我只是想在那里，帮助我们的成员利用每一个机会.