Searcy, AR. (LP) — This past week, the Searcy High School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) attended the annual FFA National Convention. This nation wide event took place in Indianapolis, Indiana where over 69,000 FFA members, alumni, advisors, and guests attended. This was the 92 year anniversary for the world’s largest student convention to take place.
The Searcy High School FFA chapter gets to travel to the national convention every two years. There, Searcy members get to participate in the many great opportunities the event offers. Leadership workshops helped students with building upon their leadership skills, not just inside of FFA but in the real world as well. Career fairs took place where different colleges and job opportunities were offered to those who were interested. General sessions occurred with speakers speaking out over important topics in the FFA realm. National officers and keynote speakers got to speak out to the thousands of students, and the head of the United States Department of Agriculture even took the stage to lend some words.
Madelyn Hambrick, a Searcy High FFA member, describes the workshop she got to participate in. “One thing that I learned from going to a workshop was more about farm soil. We were informed on the importance of soil, how it affects America, and how our soil today will probably never be the same as it is right now. A lot of people don’t know about these types of situations,” says Hambrick.
While not only do the students have fun with the workshop portion of the convention, they also get to enjoy the free concert the convention puts on and the other small activities the Searcy FFA chapter got to do in their own free time.
“This year our chapter was able to see Old Dominion in concert, go to Dave and Busters, and attend a rodeo. While the actual convention is fun, it is always nice getting to do other small fun things with my friends as well,” comments Gwenyth Schowe, another member of the Searcy FFA.
National convention lasts for several days, so the time the Searcy FFA chapter got to spend together of course brought them closer to each other more than they were before.
“Being able to share this amazing experience with my chapter helped us grow closer and be able to connect with other chapters who share the same love for agriculture as we do,” says Schowe.
Being surrounded by thousands of other FFA members gave Searcy the chance to meet new people and make even more friends to last a lifetime.
“My favorite part of national convention is seeing everyone coming in from every state together for one organization that we all love,” says Hambrick.
While it may be another two years before the Searcy FFA chapter gets the chance to go to FFA National Convention again, they’ll always have the special memories and new knowledge that they received from their trip this year.
