Can't Stay Away from Illinois FFA

    As a shy, meek freshman in high school, I joined an organization that changed my life in more ways than I could ever imagine. I attended every CDE, convention, conference, and held many leadership roles, but before I knew if my time in FFA was over. After graduating, I went on to receive my American FFA Degree and remained very involved within the Farmington FFA Alumni chapter, yet I still missed being in FFA. When I saw an email advertising a summer internship with the Illinois FFA Center, I was eager to apply.

    This summer I gained a new perspective of Illinois FFA, what it's like to be behind the scenes, and even a peek of life as an agriculture teacher. When I arrived at the office on May 15th, I was quickly thrown into state convention preparation, which I found out is happening year round. My main projects for state convention included writing press releases and organizing the Press Corps and Courtesy Corps. The Press Corps and Courtesy Corps are made up of groups of students who volunteer their time to work in the Farm Credit Newsroom, backstage, and around the convention hall in general. During state convention, I was busy serving as a judge at state CDEs, organizing volunteers, and I even had some time to visit with my classmates.

    After state convention, I headed to the IAVAT (Illinois Association Vocational Agriculture Teachers) Conference. At the IAVAT Conference, I helped with registration, sat in on business meetings, and attended professional development workshops. I then had some time in the office to begin working on my independent project, a photography contest for Illinois FFA members. My project will be launched this fall, and we should see results in the spring of 2018.

    I worked one on one with FFA members, Section Presidents, and the Major State Officers at Leadership Camp and the August State Officer Meeting. At camp, I had the opportunity to be a group leader to eleven campers and two section presidents. The week following camp, I was able to attend the August State Officer Meeting and help organize a “Pizza Challenge.” Through teamwork and creativity, some teams made excellent pizzas (other teams not so much.)

    All in all this summer has been packed full of adventure working for an organization I will always hold near and dear to my heart.