Mead FFA Attends National Convention
by Jamie Larsen
During the week of October 18th, FFA members Jenna Schutt,
Lindsey Pearson, Amanda Ruhe, Allison Hough, Michele Garcia, Nicole
Otte, Jamie Larsen, and Catherine Coady prepared to leave for FFA
National Convention in the great city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
After the volleyball game in Elmwood Murdock on Tuesday night, the
girls headed to Lincoln, where they enjoyed pizza at FFA advisor,
Mrs. Jensen’s house while they waited. Then they headed to Wal-Mart
to wait for their bus to arrive. At a little after 11:30p.m. they
started their 14 hour adventure to Indiana.
They arrived in Indianapolis at around 2 o'clock on Wednesday
afternoon, and had to be ready for the first session by 5:30. At
the session, they were very excited to get to see Emily Garcia
perform with the National FFA Chorus. The theme for this year was
‘Lead Out Loud,’ and at the sessions they enjoyed great laser shows
and graphics, good music, excellent performances by the National
FFA Band and Chorus, and listened to various speakers tell stories
and motive people to ‘Lead Out Loud’ by leading with actions. The
guest speaker at the first session was Mike Rowe from the show
"Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery channel. He kept everyone entertained
with his humorous stories, and his message about ‘Getting Down with
Brown’ before ‘Going Green’. He also talked about labels and the
importance of making a name for yourself.
On Thursday their day was filled with watching many different
contests such as public speaking finals. They also attended the
career fair, which is filled with hundreds of agriculture-related
booths from colleges and businesses across the nation. They
attended another session, got to watch Emily perform at the Rose
Garden in the mall, had time to shop in the mall connected their
hotel, ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and finally went to
the Nebraska dance at the hotel.
Friday was packed with watching the Parliamentary Procedure contest
and attending the career fair and Hall of States. They also
attended a workshop and the National FFA Band and Choir concert,
and went to another state-sponsored dance at the hotel. On Saturday
it was time for them to come home. All of the girls enjoyed their
trip and they had many good things to say about it. Sophomore,
Lindsey Pearson says that “This trip was a wonderful experience for
us to get to meet other FFA members from all across the nation and
learn more about what we can do to make a difference in our chapter
and community.” Catherine Coady, a junior, commented that “It's
amazing to get to see all of those blue jackets and meet so many
new people! It was also a good opportunity to get to see contests
performed at the National level.” And finally sophomore Michele
Garcia added that, “We all had tons fun, we shared many laughs, met
lots of people, and learned new things. We really appreciate Ms.
Moser sponsoring the trip; we wouldn’t have been able to go without
her.”
