I am back from Minnesota! I had a fabulous idea to blog every evening about what I had done that day, so as not to forget it...but then I realized I was exhausted every evening, and even went to bed at 9 last night...though I woke up when my roommates came home half an hour later. :)
But now that I am back, I will record all that I can remember, starting with Friday.
My Friday started at around 7, when Wyatt DeJong from South Dakota picked me up and we made our way to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. We were met there by Katie Zenk from Minnesota, Eric Sawatzke, the Dassel-Cokato Minnesota agriculture teacher who organized the event, and two of Mr. Sawatzke's freshman students: Joel and Evan. Then after getting our visitor passes (very fancy!) we went upstairs to a conference room with Agriculture in the Classroom coordinator Al Withers.
We first heard from Mr. Withers about the importance of agricultural literacy in society at any age. After Mr. Withers brief remarks, we embarked on a day of presentations about agricultural issues. Mr. Withers expected a lot of us and encouraged us to ask the presenters questions so that we could get what we needed out of each presentation, and I really appreciated that. It forced me to be more confident!
The first meeting was about Livestock Development and Animal Agriculture Issues. I learned quite a bit about how animal agriculture is dealing with issues raised by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Just learning more about these issues increases my desire to become an effective communicator for the agricultural industry! I understand more now that agriculture- commercial, organic, small farmers and industrial farmers, farmers who support ethanol and those who don't- need to ban together to promote agriculture as a whole. And the one great thing I learned is- I need to learn more about these types of issues so I can more effectively discuss them!
The second meeting was with the director of Dairy and Food Inspection Division and we discussed Keeping Food Safe. We discussed how different types of salmonella infects food, and how food safety needs to come from legislation and self-policing. I also learned about the "raw milk movement," something I didn't really know existed, and how agricultural communicators need to target the "raw milk curious" in telling the story of the scientific facts surrounding the safety (or lack there of) of raw milk. I never even realized raw milk was so dangerous, as I grew up drinking it, and that reminds me, I need to ask my mom if she was trying to kill us all with E.coli. :)
After a quick break, we heard from the a member of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture staff about Social Media in Today's Agriculture. Being a communications junkie...I'd have to say this was my favorite presentation of the day! I learned so much about how the agricultural industry is using (or isn't using!) social media to target specific audiences and to tell their story. I loved the example used about the support Yellow Tail Wine gave to HSUS and the Facebook backlash that was the result. It gave me more hope about the difference we can make in policy and in public perception through communication.
After that we talked about Environmental Policy and Water Quality. This presentation was pretty interesting because of the amount of rain Minnesota had been getting in the last few days. At one point the presenter flipped a glass vial of clear water over so that we could see how contaminated it was, and I was shocked! I think more than anything it was good to be exposed to a different kind of agriculture and the other careers available in the environmental sciences.
Minnesota Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture ended the day with a few words of advice. I loved hearing her story about how FFA gave her a career pathway in agriculture even though she was never a "farm kid." I also loved one of the things she told us:
"Be readers and be leaders. You never know who's watching."
After leaving the Department of Agriculture, we made a brief stop at the FFA Leadership Center and the Miracle of Birth Center at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. I could only imagine what that big building looks like full of pregnant animals- but I'm sure it would be an impressive thing to see in reality sometime!
Then we headed to the University of Minnesota to eat pizza and meet with Dr. Leising about the pros and cons of program affiliation. This was another one or my favorite parts of the day, because I felt very comfortable and confident with my knowledge of program affiliation, but also got a much better handle on why some advisors are wary of the new program.
After a stop to change out of our official dress, Jessica (who met up with us at the Department of Ag around 11) and I hopped into Wyatt's car to drive to Hutchinson High School, about an hour or so away. We had the opportunity to talk a lot about how we had been preparing for National Office, what we enjoyed most about National Office, and what kind of FFA programs we'd been involved with in the past. We also had the opportunity to pick Wyatt's brain about what the process at National Convention is really like- since he ran last year. And we talked about some fun stuff- like what kind of beverages we prefer with popcorn. :)
When we arrived at Hutchinson we had an open forum discussion with local and current high school ag teachers to discuss the different hot topics for essays and stand and delivers. I learned a lot I didn't know- like that the National FFA no longer offers that H.O. Sargent award! I also learned a little bit about the Perkin's Technical Skills Attainment exam- enough to know that I needed to know more about that. That became even more obvious the next day...but that story is for my next blog posting.
After the forum discussion we had a dinner with the Minnesota FFA Alumni. It was a great casual opportunity to meet with many different people, including FFA members, legislators, and farm bureau personnel. I realize I need to be more proactive about getting people to talk about themselves, but I got a lot of really good advice and learned a lot from the people I met. We stayed and visited for quite a while!
One thing I reflected on Friday night was that no matter what happens, I can make a difference and use my leadership skills in the next year, and I'm prepared to do so. I also liked some advice from a former National Officer Candidate about the process:
"Sell yourself. You need to act like, 'I don't need to be a National Officer, but the National FFA Organziation needs me on their National Officer team!"
I felt really good about everything that night, and still (inexplicably!) confident. I know I need to work on my knowledge of agricultural issues, but I feel validated in that I have a good knowledge of program affiliation and the other hot topics.
There goes Day 1. Day 2 gets its own blog post next, so stay tuned. Also- I'm so fired up about convention! It's coming so fast, but I say bring it on! Come that week, I'll be as ready as I could hope to be. But until then, my every spare minute is going to prep! I only have four more hours until I've reached 400 hours. I probably won't make it to 500, but my goal range was 300-500, so I still feel good about where I'll be.
Have a great Monday! I get a double dose of improv tonight, so I know I will.
Rachel
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