Wilson Memorial Visit

Chapter visits are pretty much going to be the meat and potatoes of my state officer year. After visiting Wilson Memorial FFA, I know my year is going to be amazing. The members and agriculture students I met while there were so enthusiastic and we had a fantastic day! I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous because this was my first official chapter visit and I was planning to do some things that definitely put me outside my comfort zone…way outside my comfort zone.

Unfortunately for the first group of students, it took me a little while to get acclimated to presenting workshops. We had a lot of fun but it took me through the first few activities to finally get going. The activity we did to link teambuilding and trust was called mine field. Basically one team member has to navigate their blindfolded teammates across an obstacle course, however, the obstacle course changes while you are going through it…thanks to Ashlyn and I. I had so much fun trying to trick the members by moving stuff around and even pretending to navigate them, but lead them in the wrong direction. It was so crazy to see how well everyone trusted their leader even if they didn’t know them very well. It really made me think about myself and how sometimes it’s hard for me to trust others, especially if I don’t know them. These members were such an inspiration to me, teaching me to truly trust others, even when it’s not easy to do so.

Another activity we did that I really loved was a relay race, but it was no ordinary relay race. The students had to balance a tennis ball on a washer using six strings and they couldn’t touch the ball or washer once they got started. Each class period Ashlyn and I had a competition as to whose team would win; and my teams almost always won!J So many great ideas came from the groups, but the best part was seeing everyone work together. I know on our state officer team that is one thing we really strive for and it’s great to see that other members really believe in that as well.

While we were there we also spoke about FFA Opportunities for the chapter meeting. This is where I really got out of my comfort zone. I never and I mean NEVER sing in front of anyone and if I do I don’t do it very loud at all because I am NOT a good singer. However I wanted the members to know about my previous dream of being a rock star and I had to demonstrate why I wasn’t ever going to be one. Before the meeting I was excited, but extremely nervous because I knew I was going to make a fool of myself. After I gave them a taste of my singing, I realized that making a complete fool of yourself is not so bad as long as it’s all for fun and games. Looking back I can definitely say that was one of my most favorite parts of the visit. It’s crazy sometimes how we can be so afraid to look silly in front of others but when we’re done it really lightens the atmosphere and makes those around you feel more comfortable.

I had so much fun getting to meet so many great members at Wilson Memorial. I learned so much from them that will benefit me as a state officer but also as a person. I can only hope that they got something from me because I sure owe it to them.

Home Sweet Home!

Visiting my home chapter, Strasburg, for the first time as a state officer was a little nerve-racking yet very exciting. It was nerve-racking because not only am I now a state officer, but I was also facilitating a workshop for my home chapter!

Being an officer in my chapter for four years, I knew what to expect at this officer retreat; planning of the Program of Activities, workshops with the state officers, and recreational fun. The workshop started with a personal value assessment; it was very interesting to see which values the members eliminated first and which one they valued the most. When I was given the assessment, my number one value was empathy. While I value my family, friends, and love, I believe before you act on any situation you must put your feet in the other person’s shoes. Most of the time I base my decisions on how it will effect others.

For the teamwork portion of the workshop, we split the officer team in half and challenged them to perform a ‘group pushup’ for at least five seconds. At first the team was puzzled and looked at us like we were crazy. Soon they caught on and worked together to win the challenge. My favorite part about working with officer teams is seeing how well they work together; watching my home chapter’s officer team work together like they did made me very proud.

Commitment is a huge part of being a part of a team. You must also commit to yourselves and the members. At Blast Off (Building Leaders and Strong Teams of Officers), our team was put to the task of creating a team philosophy; how we wanted live this year as a state officer. I believe by creating a team philosophy, we are not only commitment to ourselves, but to our team & the members. At the workshop, we shared our philosophy with the officer team and then asked them to create one for their team. Many great ideas were shared, and then formed into a great philosophy for their team to live by this year. Each of them chose to sign the philosophy statement, committing themselves to a year for their team and their members.