How FFA formed who I am by Teagen

How FFA formed who I am by Teagen - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

I joined FFA during my freshman year of high school. I was extremely skeptical and just as scared to join. At that point, to me, FFA had the perception of only having ranchers and farmers be a part of it and I did not have any background farming.

My cousin Ethan, which is two years older than I am, was apart of FFA for two years prior. He was the one who helped persuade me into attending my first FFA contest. This first contest really pushed me to go outside of my comfort zone and try something I had never done before.

On September 25th my mom dropped me off at our Agricultural Education Center (AG center) at 5 o’clock in the morning. We took a school bus to Sheridan, Montana 3 hours away for a forestry competition. I practiced for 2 weeks coming up to this event but the many hours of practice did not ease away my nerves. Do you ever get that feeling that there are 100 butterflies in your stomach? Well, that is what I felt like. I wasn’t afraid of what the event held but rather of the perception that others have of me, if I finished poorly. I competed against members from across the state and they too were in the same shoes as I. Upon filling in the last bubble on my scantron, I gained a huge sense of relief. The butterflies have escaped and I was ready to do it again, believe it or not! After this simple but extravagant adventure I became addicted to the organization. I continued to compete in each and every event I could that year. I was apart of the team that won Envirothon, which is a competition that revolves around our natural resources. We were honored to represent Montana at the National level later that year during my sophomore year of high school!

Ever since my first ever FFA competition I have attended more than 60 competitions over my years of high school and represented Montana over two occasions at the national level. Being an officer of the Missoula chapter for two years now has given me many responsibilities that include setting up and being apart of running each meeting, coaching practices, contributing my help during competitions that we put on and most importantly getting new members involved. I strive to be like Ethan and encourage anyone and everyone to join no matter their hobbies or interests, FFA encompasses everyone.

I played sports every year into high school and I always had a difficult time creating a bond between my team. FFA brings a different kind of family. We spend many hours practicing and coaching each other to better our outcome. Usually each competition we attend is out of town which restricts us from sleeping at home all the time. I have spent countless nights in hotels with my fellow members where we are better able to bond with each other. I have made many relationships that will last a lifetime through this organization and have met people from not only across the state but across the whole United States.

I go to Big Sky High School and I am extremely fortunate to have a school farm only a mile and a half away from the main buildings. We raise everything from pigs and cattle to hay and flowers. Our AG center is a one of a kind school farm. We not only have over 100 acres of student run farm land but just last year our farm built an industrial meat processing lab. My AG teacher Mr. Andres once said, “we are the only school in the nation with the capability of raising our animals from conception to consumption.” Which means we are able to breed animals, raise them, then butcher them all by ourselves. I have spent countless hours in the meat lab gaining butchering skills and learning how to safely create a tasty and healthy product from start to finish.

Today, my two cousins and myself own our own business. We cut and harvest grass hay for our customers in the Orchard Homes area as well as down Mullan Road in Missoula, Montana. We started out with only 10 acres of pasture to use back in 2017. Our family has helped us to purchase all of our equipment at first and after three summers of hard work, we are close to paying off the equipment. We have over $30,000 in assets and utilize over 50 acres of land to this day. We would not be where we are today without FFA. FFA taught each of us how to better communicate with people. When our equipment broke down we called for help and that help was usually coming from a stranger. The skills we obtained from FFA will hold true and help us pursue our future careers. I am forever thankful for FFA and for everything I have learned and gained from this impeccable organization.