American FFA Degree helped prepare me for the future.
Starting in FFA my freshman year of high school, I was in for a rude awakening of what I thought it would be. I originally thought FFA was nothing but farmers who just learned more about crops in high school and nothing more. My first day I walked in the teacher went over what FFA really was and what it can do for you.
He talked about competitions, different areas of agriculture you can look into, summer jobs, and managing money. This was all foreign to me, granted I did grow up working on my uncles’ 1000 acre farm but I never really put that much thought into what agriculture really was. Being a freshman in high school I was looking for some kind of club or activity to do outside of sports and listening to my teacher this was the opportunity I was looking for.
Aside from all the competitions and different areas I studied while in FFA the most important thing I did and that stuck with me still to this day 4 years after I graduated high school is the summer job and money managing we went over. Every year we would be given job placement books and have to fill them out over the summer for proof that we did do something over summer. By getting my first job as a farm hand and working long hours every week I slowly developed a strong work ethic for myself. I helped the whole summer with planting, taking care of animals, and various chores. At the end of the year and harvest in season I was able to see all my hard work pay off and see what I was able to help achieve. Also with my summer job I was actually starting to make some money. I was able to finally feel what it feels like to be reciprocated for long hours of hard back breaking work.
These both helped prepare me for my future because now I’m able to say that I have a strong work ethic and can manage my money and time in a responsible way and don’t depend on everybody for everything like I did growing up. That is how working hard for my American FFA Degree helped prepare me for the future.
Me with my grandparents who gave me the opportunity to start working.