National
FFA convention is filled with excitement
by
Becca Stephen, posted Nov. 14, 2007
At
the 80th National FFA Convention, I was privileged to be one
of the national delegates. During the first session, my fellow
state officers and I were sitting in the third row on the
floor wearing our Missouri jackets proudly. Once the session
opened, the crowd went wild and the lights flashed on. I turned
around to see a sea of blue corduroy with rippling waves from
the crowd jumping with excitement. As I stared at the crowd
in awe, I could not help but feel the excitement in the room
for the FFA organization.
With
this trip to national convention, I learned the delegates
do not only get to sit on the floor and form a human tunnel
during pre-session, but they go through a lot of work and
debate to better FFA for the members. There are more than
400 student delegates, mostly state officers, representing
all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Two days prior to convention
we sat in committee meetings and each meeting focused on a
different proposed amendment to the constitution. As a delegation,
we spent a lot of time thoroughly discussing, debating and
voting on the proposed amendments to ultimately make the FFA
organization even better. A few of the things we talked about
were creating an FFA service week and agricultural literacy
packets and the involvement of middle school FFA chapters.
Once
all of the FFA members arrive, the streets of downtown Indianapolis
are filled with corduroy. The city is filled with such enthusiasm
as members from across the nation proudly wear the jackets
that represent their homes. However, once 50,000 FFA members
invade Indy, finding a place to eat becomes rather difficult.
The
highlight of the 80th National FFA Convention was during the
announcement of the newly elected national FFA officers. With
Zach Kinne, 2005-2007 Missouri state FFA president, running
for office, we were anxious to hear the results. When the
regional representatives were being announced, all of the
Missouri delegates stood with our arms linked and were shaking
from our nerves. Once the Colorado candidate received the
position as the central region national officer, we clinched
each other tighter.
“Don’t
worry; we got the president,” said Logan Chrislaw, the
Missouri state FFA vice president from area four.
Then,
the stadium went silent for the announcement of the national
FFA president, and then we finally stood still and held our
breath.
“The
national FFA president, from Missouri, Zach Kinne.”
We
erupted into screams of excitement and could not control our
enthusiasm. As we listened to the closing ceremonies presented
by a fellow Missourian, it was truly the end to a very exciting
national FFA convention.
