Steps Back to the FFA

How does a girl who spent 18 years in retail wind up working for the Iowa FFA Foundation? A winding path and a 20 year hiatus from FFA…

I grew up on a farm in southeastern Iowa. At the time, my family raised cattle, hogs, corn and soybeans. My little sister (who spent 14 years as an ag teacher) will tell you that I was the worst farm girl in the world! Being allergic to almost everything on the farm, I spent more time doing “inside chores” to take care of the house when my mom went back to work off of the farm. My interests changed a bit in 6th grade when I attended my first State FFA Convention. My oldest brother received the SE District Star Farmer and my family went to Des Moines to see him receive it. I was amazed!!! I had been around my brothers’ FFA chapter a bit (they held their chapter’s Greenhand orientation at our house) and I thought it was cool but experiencing my first State Convention just blew me AWAY!!! I couldn’t WAIT until I could have my own blue corduroy jacket!

When I got to high school, the chapter wasn’t quite as active as it was in my brothers’ days. (I had three ag teachers during my four years of high school.) FFA just wasn’t a cool thing to do at my school but I didn’t care. I got involved in any activity that I could. I went to district for creed speaking my freshman year, was elected to district office my sophomore year, ushered at the state fair for three years, attended Made for Excellence (now better known as 212/360) and took part in the Washington Conference Program (now known as Washington Leadership Conference.) (Yes, I know…I’m old! ☺) Being part of such a small community, I’d always felt like I had to be the person that “they” thought I should be. Being involved in FFA and getting to know people outside of my tiny little high school (with my graduating class of 39…) helped me gain confidence to become the person that I felt like I was inside. My proudest FFA moment was when I (finally) received my Iowa Degree in 1994.

I ended up attending Iowa State University to get a degree in Elementary Education. I got a part-time job at Target after my freshman year and met the man who is now my husband of 18 years. We got married a few months after I graduated from college and we both spent the next 15 years working for Target full-time in a variety of positions, in three different states. Target was an awesome company for us, but we were excited in 2013 to make career changes and get back to Iowa.

I worked remotely for a company out of Cedar Falls doing association management. I learned pretty quickly that being at home alone for my job all day didn’t quite work for me. Those who know me aren’t surprised to learn that I need a bit more social interaction during the day! During a particularly bad day at work, my sister and I were emailing about her FFA chapter’s upcoming trip to the FFA Enrichment Center, which lead me to the Iowa FFA Foundation’s home page. I was intrigued when I saw the posting for what is now my position. My sister emailed Josh to inquire about the position, wondering if it was an old posting. He wondered how in the heck she’d heard about it already, since he’d just posted the two hours before. I guess some things are just meant to be since I started to work for the Iowa FFA Foundation in March of 2014. Less than one month later, I attended State Leadership Conference 20 years after I’d received my Iowa Degree.

Now, having the opportunity to work for the organization that made such a difference to me when I was in high school, is just pretty darn cool. I only hope that the small contributions that I make every day can help today’s members become the people that they truly feel that they are inside. I didn’t pursue a career in agriculture but the things that I learned as a member helped me have the confidence to make my own footsteps. I am however, incredibly happy that those steps brought me back to FFA.

Becky McCullough

Iowa FFA Foundation Staff