Adventures in May

I was in the Atlanta, Georgia airport three times in one week this May, I experienced flight delays for a total of 38 hours in a single month, and I have spoken to a total of 24,702 audience members so far. I have been as busy as ever, seeing 31 states, meeting thousands of great people, and having the time of my life!

May 4th began one of our longest stays adventures in any one location. Our home from the 4th to the 17th was College Station, Texas, home of the Texas A&M University Aggies. Here, complimenting an agricultural leadership college course, my teammates and I worked in pairs to present a conference on team-development and workshop facilitation. This four-day conference, called the National Leadership Conference for State Officers (NLCSO), will be presented in June and July at ten locations across the country. Each location will host anywhere from 30 to 60 state FFA officers from the surrounding area. With our NLCSO debut, Zach and I were surprised to find out some of our Aggie students were seeking their master’s degree and others were seven foot tall basketball stars! We thoroughly enjoyed our Lone Star stay.

The morning of the 17th, my teammates and I split up again to continue our travels in all corners of the country. I was blessed to return to Indiana and visit the Shenandoah FFA Chapter to speak at their annual awards banquet. Some of my family members drove up to visit with me, and because we don’t get to see family or old friends much, I cherished my time in Middletown, Indiana. Then, I remained in Trafalgar, Indiana at the Indiana FFA Leadership Center to develop some materials for my next event in New Jersey.

“After this event,” I thought, “I will have been on the road for over five weeks. Whoa!”

I arrived at Rutgers University in New Jersey for their state FFA convention. I presented a workshop for 134 students, gave a keynote speech to the 436 member audience, and found out how critical landscape and gardening is to New Jersey agriculture. Right after my stay in the Garden State, I headed, finally, for home.

As an FFA member who lives and works on a farm, I was blessed with the chance to spend some time cutting, bailing, hauling, and stacking wheat-hay while back in Haubstadt, Indiana. Working alongside my family, we finished up the season of harvesting round and square bales for our dairy and beef operation. While I was home, I also went to see “Iron Man” with some friends, watched my fourth-grade brother, Blake, win his baseball game, and I got ready for my next six weeks on the road. It was refreshing to see family and friends, to get my hands dirty, and to begin perfecting that incredible farmer’s tan!

It was May 29, and I was off to Falls Village, Connecticut for their state FFA convention. Just before their one-day annual FFA gathering at a local high school, I went kayaking on a Massachusetts lake to get a rural northeast experience. Though New England is known more for the Big Apple than a large lake, kayaking for an hour in Massachusetts was just the thing I needed to settle in. I stayed a few days in Connecticut, and I departed for Mississippi on June 2.

We have all heard of Hoosier Hospitality, but never did I realize the extent to which the Deep South engages this state of being. While at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, I realized the value they put into their experiences. Actually, an hour after I arrived, I hosted a 165 student workshop, followed by a different workshop with over 100 students there, as well. That evening I gave a keynote address, and throughout convention, if I wasn’t at a dance, emceeing a talent show, auctioning items for the alumni association, or eating Cajun food with FFA members, I was spending time with the current junior or senior state officer teams. Unlike Indiana, Mississippi organizes their membership into a junior association of sixth through ninth graders and a senior association of tenth through collegiate. Again, for every single FFA member, they look to increase value.

In a matter of days, I traveled from home to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and on June 4, I boarded a plane for Arkansas.

June 4 through the 7 ranks highly in my favorite set of events, and all of this was in the Natural State of Arkansas. FFA members, advisors and others embraced me as one of their own. I felt at home though I was several states south of Indiana. This 1,200-member convention is held at their state FFA Camp, similar to the Hoosier FFA headquarters. I felt more at home in Arkansas than in most states. Their hospitality, energy, enthusiasm, optimism, and understanding lead me to feel as if I was among old friends the very minute I arrived! I am grateful to have been chosen to spend some time in Arkansas as my final convention before my home convention at Purdue.

From then on, Zach and I met up at his Eagleville, Missouri home. We worked on final preparations for NLCSO in Wyoming, Tennessee and Colorado. We also rode horses with Gerren, Zach’s cousin, had a bon fire with the family, and enjoyed catching up on our experiences since we last parted in Texas. All of my teammates and I are so excited for our final state conventions and for visiting with the new officers at our NLCSO’s this June and July.