Make Time For Fun

Ah yes, yet another school year has begun, and the work is starting to pile up. There are due dates to be met, chapters to read, essays to write, and an endless amount of vocab to study. Before you get too lost in your to-do list, take a moment to enjoy yourself and have some fun.

Throughout high school, I usually found myself sitting at home reading a textbook or writing another lengthy paper for one of my online classes. Instead of spending my weekends with friends or going on adventures, I spent my time in my room doing schoolwork. At first, it didn’t seem like such a bad thing and I actually enjoyed it; however, as the weeks went on, it began to get old and boring. Even though I was burned out from school, I was dedicated to my studies and my grades for all of high school.

As college started up, I dreaded spending another ten months doing nothing but homework. This impending dread caused me to try something new by taking more time for fun. Instead of spending every weekend studying, I decided to dedicate some of them to trying new things and traveling to different places.

One of my favorite memories comes from two hour period I spent with some of my favorite people. After a district meeting, I went down to a broken boat ramp at Lake Red Rock with my teammates. We walked across the broken concrete of the ramp until we hit the very edge of the water. We paused to take pictures, watched the sunset, and laughed until a couple of us cried. As I watched the waves crash into the side of the ramp, the last thing on my mind was the stress of school and the worry of homework. I was simply enjoying myself and the people around me.

At this moment, I realized the importance of making time for fun. Yes, schoolwork and grades are important, but they don’t have to be your constant focus. Don’t be afraid to take a break from your busy schedule to enjoy yourself. Go for a walk, try something new, go on an adventure, hang out with the people who make you laugh, and most importantly, do something you enjoy. Life’s too short to work 24/7: make time for fun!

You Deserve It, 

Mickayla McGill 

South Central State Vice-President

Oh The Places You'll Go

As FFA members, we are always told there are so many opportunities for us, but maybe we find ourselves wondering what those are. I always found myself doing the same, looking for new places to go and activities to complete! Here are a few that I discovered to be my favorite!


National FFA Convention & Expo- From contests, to speakers, to expos, oh my! There is definitely something for everyone at the National Convention! My favorite part of Convention was meeting people from all 50 states and getting their signatures in the back of my convention booklet and of course the agriscience fair! Some other highlighted events are Sessions hosted by our National Officers or a visit to the Blue Room to experience the future of agriculture. This year National Convention will also be hosting motivational speakers Bob Goff and Michelle Poler. You also can’t forget about the entertainment at night! Old Dominion and Brett Young will be rocking in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, there will also be Rodeos and Hypnotist shows!


Greenhand Fire-up- Are you a new member that wants to learn more about FFA? Then this is the perfect event for you! As a freshman, I was a little nervous to go because this was my first FFA event but it was the best choice I could have made! This event allows members to interact while completing fun activities learning about various leadership skills. Make sure to talk to your advisor about registering!


Ignite, Amplify and Transform Conferences- Here is another great opportunity to get involved in a large conference! While attending members will have the chance to meet new people and learn from fun activities. This conference splits up students into three different conferences Ignite 7th-9th grades, Amplify 10th-11th grades, and Transform for seniors. These conferences are held on November 10 and January 5th, but registration is filling up fast!


Legislative Symposium- This is one of my personal favorite events! At this event, members have the chance to visit the capitol, meet with congress, and hear from our state officials! We have the chance to discuss agricultural issues and advocate for our industry. It is very cool to see the capitol filled with blue jackets! This event takes place on February 14, 2019.


Be sure to check out these and all the other opportunities FFA has to offer.

Aspire to Inspire,

Shelby Westhoff

Northeast State Vice President

It'll Fly By

When you start your first year of high school, everyone tells you that those four years will fly by. However, when you find yourself sitting in the high school classroom or walking down the crowded hallway, it’s hard to think about anything other than leaving high school behind.

I felt the exact same way. I went into high school thinking all I wanted to do was finish those four years and head off to college. I joined different activities like speech and marching band. These events were fun, I liked getting to be with friends and participating in extracurriculars. During my sophomore year, I got involved in FFA. Everything I was involved in was a great time, but still a part of me that was just waiting to graduate and move on.

Once I got my license, I attended every football game my junior and senior years. I would trade off driving with a group of friends. Every Friday night we would pile into someone’s car and follow the football team to wherever they were playing that night. Looking back, those two falls went too fast.

When senior year came, many of my classmates started to feel the inevitable “Senioritis.” As our graduation approached, they couldn’t wait to move on to bigger plans. As ready as I had been to leave high school, now I was terrified. I wasn’t ready to leave my little high school that I had grown to love over the last four years. Suddenly, I wanted everything to slow down.

Obviously, I graduated anyway. I now attend Iowa State University. As I started college two weeks ago, a part of me wanted to be back in my high school hallways. When my high school played their first football game, I would have done just about anything to be back in the stands cheering them on. College is a new experience, but don’t let it keep you from enjoying the four years you get to spend in high school.

I’ve been there. High school isn’t always fun. Some days you wish you could graduate right then and there. And you definitely don’t want to hear anyone tell you that those years fly by. I know it seems like the time in high school drags on, but don’t let the time you spend there go uncherished. Take time to enjoy volleyball practice with your teammates. When you march in the halftime show with your band, listen to the cheering crowd. Laugh with your friends at the cheesy school assemblies and sing along to the radio on the way to state convention with your FFA chapter. Make sure to cheer loudly and soak it all in at the Friday night football games. I know it doesn’t always seem like it in the moment, but someday you may miss the times you got to be a student at your high school.

I never thought I would miss my high school. But as senior year wound down, and as I find myself a college student, my heart aches for the times I spent on my school grounds. I miss the people and the activities. I wish I would’ve spent a little more time enjoying the moment as I lived it. It really will fly by, so enjoy making memories as they happen.

Run with your Challenges,

Natalie Jefson

State Secretary

Dreaming Big

Growing up, I was that stereotypical kid that wanted to be a professional baseball player. I was going to be a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, while simultaneously hitting 500 Home Runs throughout my career. I was going to win all of the awards, I was going to be famous, and I was going to make a lot of money. This at the time, seemed like a foolproof plan, but now looking back? Yikes. I don’t think I could name a pitcher that hit five home runs. I would tell everyone I met that I was going to be a baseball player, and nobody told me no.

In my later years, after I wisened up and realized that the dream I had, was a little farfetched. So I did some hard thinking as a normal 10-year-old would and I settled on being a sports broadcaster. I was going to work for ESPN and be that recognizable voice, that called every baseball game. I had my college picked out, bought some gear to prepare, and I was set. I knew what I was going to do. When I told people about it, they told me I could do it.

In life, you have to dream big. You have to give yourself the goals that will give you that sense of satisfaction. You’ll have naysayers, you’ll have people that will want to hold you back. As I am writing this blog, I’m living my biggest dream. There were a plethora of people that told me I wasn’t capable of getting to where I am today. I tuned them out and worked towards my dream. Nothing in life comes easy and you work for everything you earn. So what’s stopping you from achieving your biggest dream?

Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to achieve them.” Imagine yourself achieving your biggest dream. You finally becoming that baseball player, passing that test, or getting that job you’ve always wanted. No dream is too big or small. They are all capable of being reached, you just have to work towards them. So start taking those steps towards achieving your dreams, block out the people who tell you and believe in yourself. Because I know you are capable of doing whatever you wish.

Members of the Iowa FFA and those who are reading this, think back to a time where you came up short of a dream you’ve always had. How did that feel? How did you respond? If your dream doesn’t come true, don’t give up, just take the loss on the chin and move forward. You can do anything you set your mind to, it is in your control, not anyone else's. Dream big, because you are capable of achieving anything.

Yours in blue,

Nole Bochmann

2019-2020 NW State Vice President

Iowa FFA Association

What Box?

We’ve all heard it, “For this, I want you to think outside the box!”. If you’re anything like me, it's an exhausting and confusing phrase. Throughout this school year, we’re all going to be challenged to put a new spin on a concept that has already been done before. Believe it or not, we’re not the first ones to try and raise perennials in a greenhouse or write a research paper on Abraham Lincoln. That’s alright though, it’s how we accomplish them that matters.

One of the best analogies I’ve heard is that personalities are like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. Our personalities have a hand in the way we do even the smallest of things. Whether it’s putting milk in before the cereal or not cooking a Hot Pocket to the recommended length, personality governs part of those decisions.

With that being said, it’s easy for one to get caught in the rut of doing things the way they’ve always done them. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if this year was a clean slate?

I’m challenging you to think like there isn’t a box, not just outside it. When we allow our imaginations to go from “What If?” to “Let’s Try This” we open the door for our personality to leave its mark.

Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:
1. What if you tried a CDE/LDE you’ve never done before?

2. If you’re a chapter officer, what if a group of freshman did opening ceremonies at a fall get together?

3. What if you had a fall get together other than a meeting?

4. What if you tried out different sales tactics (social media/made an announcement at a place of worship/worked with a friend) this year selling fruit?

5. What if the chapter worked with a business in town to give members volunteer opportunities?

6. What if you offered to help other students after school with classes they’re struggling with?

A lot of these ideas have been done before, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t worth doing. The creativity doesn’t have to stop here! How are you going to leave your mark on these concepts/ideas? If you are able to start to master this skill now, it has the potential to help you farther along in life. Who knows, maybe someday someone will hire you for this talent?!

But for now, the next time you go to hand in your assignment, paper, report, etc. and the person in charge says “Wow, you really thought outside the box.!” I hope you grin and think to yourself: 

“What Box?”

Go Get Em,

Chandler Jahner

State President

Back to School

There’s no feeling quite like the one we get on the first day of a new school year. A few of us may feel excited, while others may feel anxious, sad or just plain annoyed. Realizing this in the past week made me reflect on a very memorable first day of school: my first day of kindergarten.

My mom had helped me pick out the perfect back to school outfit that morning and helped pull my hair into my favorite style: cute little pigtails. I had selected what I thought was the best backpack of all time (a hot pink bag, prominently featuring my favorite Care Bears, of course), and all of my brand new school supplies were carefully stored inside. I was ready to take on kindergarten! When my mom pulled our family minivan into the school parking lot, I couldn’t have been more excited to see all my friends. I hopped out of the van and expectantly waited for my mom to walk me up to the front doors of the elementary with me, just like she had done everyday of preschool.

Except she didn’t. I impatiently marched over to her door and knocked on it as hard as I could.

She rolled down her window and I said, “Mom, come on. I’m ready for you to walk me to school.”

Instead of climbing out of the van like I wanted her to, she said, “Grace, you’re in kindergarten this year. That means you get to walk into school all by yourself.”

Five-year-old me had never considered the possibility that my mom wouldn’t be walking up to the front doors of my elementary that morning. It wasn’t in my plan for how my first day of kindergarten would go, and my response was to throw a full-blown tantrum. However, my mom bravely stood her ground and, after a lot of crying, complaining and coaxing, I walked into school on my own that day.

Now, I realize that we aren’t kindergarteners crying about walking into school by themselves, but this was the first of many times in my life that I can remember things not going according to plan. That’s because life doesn’t happen according to our plans, as much as we may want it to.

Sometimes this can be difficult to accept, but when we encounter changes in our plans, it is important that we don’t let them derail us from working towards our goals. Instead of being afraid of change, we have to embrace it. Maybe you don’t get elected to that officer position you were hoping for, your best friend moves to another state or your day just isn’t playing out how you thought it would. Change can come in all forms and it can make our lives difficult, but just like 5-year-old me on my first day of kindergarten, we have to remember to work through our fears to embrace the changes in our lives and whatever they may bring.

Smile for the Camera,

Grace Long

State Reporter

Stick out the Course

Having 200 cow-calf pairs is never fun during the winter months to maintain. Getting up at 7:00 in the morning to feed cattle, tagging calves, eating lunch, then tagging more calves turns cattle producers into creatures of habit. Add a four letter word to their schedule and they will become upset. Snow and snow and more snow. This winter we saw record snowfall amounts and record cold temperatures.

Just when we thought the winter was awful, mother nature continued to pile on precipitation with excessive amounts of rain that flooded parts of the state. Farmers all over Iowa are still dealing with flooded acres with complete loss in some areas.

If there is one thing that agriculturalists know better than anyone else, it’s that things don’t always work their way. So many factors all working against one person, yet they stay the course. They know things will get better and refuse to abandon ship when things get tough.

Something my dad always told me was that if farming was easy, everybody would be doing it. As young agriculturalists, we get the opportunity to feed people and have fun while doing it. One thing I’ve learned from working on a farm my entire life, is that change may be hard, but is necessary when things can never be the same. Be willing to change, but never be afraid to stand up for what you believe in and stick the course.

In life we will be handed obstacles and challenges that we may not be prepared for or we don’t want. They may deter us from completing our objectives, or even help us. When times get tough, and we think we can’t go anymore, persevere and keep fighting. If you don’t get elected to chapter office, get more involved in FFA. Go to a new conference and redeem yourself so next year you can get better. Always remember to stick the course.

In Blue and Gold,

Tyler Comes

2019-2020 SW State Vice President