Flights to catch, FFA members to meet

It’s now March of my National FFA president year, and I have a lot to catch you up on. There’s been a whole lot of delayed flights, late nights, a few times where it’s gone wrong and a few times where it’s gone right.

If I don’t go by destination, I’ll get myself confused, so follow along with me here!

On our international experience trip to Japan, our team met with Future Farmers of Japan members, their agricultural youth organization that started in the 1950s after WWII.

While traveling through Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Kagoshima, we met farmers who raise Wagyu cattle, vegetables, green tea and radishes.

The biggest cultural difference for me? The respect they have for authority was incredibly noticeable.

When exchanging business cards, for example, a person has to place their business card higher or lower, reflecting status, and then both read the card, smile and bow.

Last time we chatted, I mentioned the keynote that I’d written. In the past two months, I had enough time to practice that original keynote, “The Orange Ribbon,” and then to rewrite and come up with my new keynote, “Take the Shot.”

The lesson I’m learning? The only person who can tell you if your work is good enough is yourself.

And if you are going to hold yourself to high standards, buckle in. You might be trying to finish your speech in a Waffle House, with a chocolate chip pancake and eggs cheering you on.

I got the privilege of spending my FFA Week in South Dakota. In many ways, it felt like I was home.

When I told FFA members that my high school had around 100 students, they said “Oh, so you get it!”

I loved getting to spend a full six days there, learning about their cattle industry, talking about goals with FFA members and trying the famous South Dakota roast beef sandwich — they somehow put mashed potatoes in the sandwich.

I spent about five days in the great state of North Carolina and my favorite moment was meeting students at Lerory Martin Magnet Middle School.

I used an activity where three decks of cards are shuffled around three groups and the first group to put together a full deck of cards wins. They loved it. And, at the end of our visit together, we played 156-card pickup as fast as we possibly could.

The great state of Utah has been calling my name ever since I went there on a National Parks hiking trip with my brother, Luke. This time, though, I spent three days at their convention.

The most impactful piece for me was learning about their culture of service and how many of them spend two years serving missions around the world.

A couple FFA members even told me how they are going to be postponing that service in order to compete at National FFA Convention — that’s how much our organization means to them.

There are more flights to catch and FFA members to meet, and I can’t wait to tell you about them. Till next time.

Thaddeus Bergschneider, a former member of the Franklin FFA Chapter in west-central Illinois, is the 2024-2025 president of the National FFA Organization.