National Convention

THE 84th NATIONAL CONVENTION

Oh boy, where do I even start? National convention... or should I say "The 84th National FFA Convention!!!"

This was truly a life-changing experience. We stayed overnight at the FFA Enrichment Center on Saturday night, then traveled to Indianapolis on Sunday morning! When we arrived at our hotel, one of the first people we saw was Mr. Shane Jacques himself!

We spent the entire first day going to workshops and eating. We started off the morning doing a 'conversation' workshop with Mr. Ryan Foor, had a wonderful 'social media' workshop after dinner and wrapped up with a 'delegate process' workshop at the end of the night.

On Tuesday all of our state officer friends from the mid-west finally arrived and we started the national delegate process. I was on the committee for the 'restructure of the delegate process'. I thoroughly enjoyed this process! I am not just saying that, but I felt that what I was doing and my input would effect the entire future of the National FFA Organization and agricultural education. What I did through the delegate process truly makes a difference in the life all of the members yet to come!

Now, National Convention wasn't all (fun) business, but was jam packed (literally) with over 50,000 FFA members, exciting sessions, career fairs, sponsor dinners, swing dancing, key-note speakers, time to meet members and catch up with friends.

So you would never guess where the Iowa delegates were seated in Conseco... front row seats. Aww yea! This being my first national convention, I was UBER excited (I'm pretty sure I was excited for more reasons than it being my first, BUT...)! One person who definitely helped 'spruce things up' was Ben Zelle.

This guy never ceases to amaze me, whether it be from his incredible energy, to his determination to finish a race (even after dehydrating because he gave blood a day before), to his inspirational words. Thank you Ben and keep on prodding me in the right direction from time to time!

National Convention was truly amazing and life-changing simply because of all of the energy, excitement and passion conveyed from the members, advisors and staff. What I enjoyed most, besides talking with other members and officers, was listening to the whole variety of speakers. One speech that particularly sticks out to me is the address by National FFA Secretary, Landan Shaffert. Landan talked about how you must step with faith. I can not use words to describe my feelings and the emotions that swept through me during Landan's inspirational address. You'll have to watch it for yourself. Go to 1:44:24- https://www.ffa.org/Events/NationalFFAConvention/Highlights/2011/video/Pages/Session-3.aspx. Once you watch his retiring address, you will understand what I was feeling.

Friday night, I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Landan in the hotel lobby. I had introduced myself just days before. These several moments spent with him may seem small, but they have truly made my mind spin for the better. Landan's faith and belief is truly inspirational to all.

With Friday also being the last night of convention, of course I had to grasp every opportunity to catch up and enjoy my time with other state's officers. You could say that would entail of talking, going to 'Steak & Shake' (twice) and swing dancing all in one night until the sun should have been coming up!

The 84th National FFA Convention was the opportunity of a lifetime and I am a better person for attending it. I have to give a shout all of my amazing FFA Family! Thank you for making this year an incredible journey. I'll see you all along the way.