My FFAmily

Exactly three months and ten days ago I was elected Kansas FFA State Secretary and man has time flown by. These three months have been filled with new opportunities, countless new friends, and the joining of six friends who have become more like family.  In fact, let me describe to  you what I have learned about these amazing individuals.

Growing up in the same town as Karl and going to the same chapter with him, you could say we were already like family. We have been friends for years and hang out on a regular basis. Bailey, on the other hand, is the one person on the team that I didn’t get to know extremely well in the interview process, but in past three months I have found that she is one of the hardest working and kindhearted people I know. I also learned she is absolutely obsessed with cats and dogs. Lane has been a great person to build a friendship with. He is always looking for new people to create and sustain relationships with, which I believe is truly important in a friend. Kyler Langvardt is always thinking of something that we can do to make our team or any situation better. He is credited with editing and creating all of our videos, and he is hilarious at night when he becomes tired. Last, but certainly not least, is Gabryelle. This girl is fun to work with and makes every situation we have as a team a blast. We also are awesome at dueting any song together.

Working and spending time with these 5 individuals has made my life so much more interesting and enjoyable. I have to admit sometimes we are enjoying each others company so much that we don’t accomplish our work in the most efficient way. I can assure you though, that Kansas FFA is in good hands because the State Officer team has a passion for our members and we work together as a family to share that passion.

Now that I have explained how agriawesome, my teammates, let me tell you a little about myself. I have two amazing parents, Dennis and Eunice, and one wonderful brother, Dillon. My father works for the City of Holton Water Department and also farms. My mother is a 6th and 7th grade Special Education Teacher in Holton, and my brother just graduated from KU medical center this spring with a degree in Health Information Management.

I first joined FFA because my older brother was in it, but the first part of FFA that got me hooked was the FFA Creed. Studying those five paragraphs is what ignited my passion for FFA and I still love discussing the Creed today. My proudest accomplishment in FFA would be being on the 2014 Champion Horse Judging Team at National Convention. My favorite SAE would be my small cow/calf operation. In this operation I run nine pairs and one bull on a rotational grazing system. My ultimate goal is to have a registered Angus and SimAngus herd.