GO LIGHT YOUR WORLD

Shannon

Wilcox,National

FFA

Secretary,Kenton,

Ohio

iereis

nothing

as excitingas getting agift. Birthdays,holidays

and

specialoccasions^allfocus

on exchanging and

sharinggifts.

Could you

everforgettheenergy

you

^felt

when you caught

the first

glimpse

ofthe biggest, shiniest

package on Christmas morning? The

anticipation

and agony

ofwaitingtodiscover

what was

inside

was

killingyou!

That's

no

different

from our

lives.

The

excitementis

about

thegiftinside.

That

isthe great thing

about each

ofus.

When we look

at

each

other

we

see

many

differentpackages.

Only when we

takethetimeto

unwrap

the

package do we

see the realgiftinside

each

person.

A

simplegiftof a clearvoice orthe right lyrics

can change

a

mood,

setting,or

even

alife.

This

world

issofortunateto

have

the talentsof

many

individuals

making

ita

more harmonious

placetolive.

Performers

who

discoveredtheir talents,

worked

diligently,

and had

thefaith to

succeed

in their fieldof

dreams

lift

our

hearts each

day with

the

sound

of music.

Even

alittlevoice

can

light

up

the

world

...

Thislittlelightof

mine

I'mgoingtolet itshine Thislittlelightof

mine

I'mgoingtolet itshine Let itshine

Letitshine Letitshine

The

giftofsong.It

was

^agiftI

discoveredearly inlifethatI

wanted

toshare.It

amazes me how

a

song can

take

you back

in time,

remind you

of

someone you once

were,bring

back

a

childhood dream. When

^I

was

four years old

my

lifelonggoal

was

tobethenextBarbara Mandrell.

Every evening

I

performed

aconcertfor

my two

biggest,

and

only,fans in

our

living

room.

AllI

needed was my microphone and my

record player

— ^and

^allofa

sudden

the lighting

was

perfect,the

audience was

wild,

and

I

was

the star.

Song

after

song

led

me

to a

world where

all

dreams became

realities. Icould envision myself

with

aband,notarecord player.

When

theapplause

would thunder from

the record,

it

was

for

me and

I

would

smile

and wave

tothe

imaginary crowd. My costumes were

old

dance

recital outfits,

complete with

high heels

and

a

cowboy

hat.

The

imagination

made

the

dream

arealityfor

me, even though

I

was

^reallyjust in

my

playroom with

a

pop

bottle, alot like thisone.

The

highlightof

my childhood

arrived

when

I

was

fiveyearsold

and

Barbara

Mandrell was

^playingatthe Allen

County

Fair. I

had

aticket

and

amission. I

was going

to

meet my

hero.

Listeningto"I

Was Country

When Country

Wasn't

Cool" and

"Mountain Dew" made me more anxious

to

be on

stage! 1

remember watching

thesequins sparkle

on

her red

and

black pantsuitasshebent

down

tolift

me on

stagewithher.

In frontofthousands, Barbara

hugged and

greetedher small fan. I

was

absolutely

mesmer-

ized.

She looked

just likeshe did

on

television

and on

the

album

cover! Justasperfect

and

niceasI

had

imagined. I

was

fascinated. This

famous person had

discovered hergift

and took

timetoshare

with

theworld!

Well,as

you can

tell,the

dream

ofbeing Barbara

Mandrell

faded

with

time,

and

the concertsinthe living

room

turnedinto

performances

in

church and

at

weddings. But

the giftstayedalive inhigh school. ^I

attempted

track,

and

discovered

my

friend

Gwen was much

betteratitthanIwas.

She had made

ittostatecompetition every year

and

she

was

sureto win. I

was

just in

awe

ofher ability to fly

through

ahurdle obstacle,whileIstruggledto

throw

thediscusa

measly

31 yards.Track

was

notatalentI

was

blessedwith.It'sthegifts

we

discoverwithin

and

the

avenues we

take that

make

thebiggest difference.

Beinga

farm

girlI

was

always playing outside

with any bug

or creaturethatIdidn't

squash

first.

Every

aspectof the

outdoors caught my

attention.I

was

especially fascinated

with

the butterfly. It

spends

so

much

timeas acaterpillar,

and works

so

hard

at

weaving

acocoon,

does

iteverrealize

what

a beautiful

reward God

hasin store forit?

Spending

halfof

your

lifeas a

worm

can't

be

fun,

dodging

ornery kids

with

big

Nikes,

hoping you

survivelong

enough

to findthe

limb

sturdy

enough

to

hold

a cocoon. Afterwaiting allwinter,lookatthe

outcome —

abeautiful butterfly. So

many

timesin

our

lives

we

forget todefine

what

talents

we

possess,

and

aretoo

busy wishing

forthegiftsof others.

The

butterflyhasthe right idea. It

knows

its

purpose and works toward

thatgoal

with one

very

important

virtue

—

patience.

You must determine your

talent. Trial,error,

and

a

whole

lotofpatiencewillreveal the

answer

toyou.

Some

of

you

will

be

greatpublic speakers, lawyers, or

even

scientists.It

may

not

be

the

most recognized

giftatthis

moment, but you

will

be

ableto

do

greatthings

with

itinthefuture.

The

caterpillarspinsa cocoon,asingerrehearsesa song,

and

^a

person

developsa gift.

A

great

example

of

working

todevelopagift

comes

to

me through my

favorite

movie

"Titanic." I

found

myself researchingfacts

on

"Titanic,"

reading books,

and even

using the line

"Never

letgo!"in speeches! It

was more

thanjust

the

making

of a

movie

for director

James Cameron. He went above and beyond

thecall of

duty when producing

this

$300

^millionproject.

Cameron developed

hisgiftof creativity plusaloveofhistorytobring thetragedy of April 14, 1912,to life. Countless

hours

of rehearsals,scene changes,script edits,

and

retakes

made

the film

an Oscar-winning

production.

What we

didn'thear

about was

theyearsofrewriting thescript, the

concept

details,

and

the

doubts

in

Cameron's mind.

James Cameron

hasagiftthat

he chose

touse,

and

thewillingness

Choose to

make this life a

brighter place.

Light the world

with y ^{our gi)}

toneversettleforaverage.

He

didall

he

couldtobethe best.

Look

attheresultof

Cameron's

diligence. Dedication.

Never

settling foraverage.

We should

constantlystrive tobuild

our

talents. Justas asingerrehearses

and

a caterpillarspinsacocoon,

you must

continuetobuild

your

bestqualities.

Give one more hour

to

an

afterschoolpractice,

one more day

to aleadership conference,or

one more minute

tolistentoa friend.

Be

dedi- catedto

be your

best

by

spinning

your cocoon and developing your

gifts.

Defining

and

developinggifts isn't

enough — you have

touse thosegiftsthat

God

has given you. If

you can imagine

^a

cocoon

dangling

from

alimb, then

you may

relate to the feelingof "the

unknown." The most

frightening

and rewarding

step

you can

takeinlife istaking aleap offaith.

Whether

itis

stepping

onto an

airplane,

moving

tocollege, orgiving

your

firstspeech,

we must have

faith inourselves

and

faithin

our

abilitiestosucceed.

So many

times

we miss

opportunities

and achievements because we have

fear.

What

are

we

trulyscared of? In

many

casesitisthe

unknown. Did

fearcapturethe

dreams

ofAlbertEinstein,Neil

Armstrong,

or

Thomas Edison?

Don'tbeafraidtoshare

your

talents. Lifeislike a

show-and-

tellclassroom.

You have

toget outof

your

chair,tell

your

story,

and show

the

world what you

areallabout. Inthe

book

of

James

^itstates"Faith

by

itself, if

itisnot

accompanied by

action, isdead."

To

say

you have

faith inyourself

and

in ahigher

power

is

one

thing,butto

show you have

faithisanother. Inhis

book

"Sources ofStrength,"

former

President

and

past

FFA member Jimmy

^Carterstates the following:

"Some

ofusgetso

proud

of

our works

that

we

thinkthatisallthereis."

Definingthegifts

we have and

perfecting

them

isonly

complete when you have

the faithtouse

your

talents.

Justlikethefour-year-oldgirl

who

loved Barbara Mandrell, the beautiful caterpillar

emerging from

a

cocoon and James

Cameron

developingatalent,

we have one

thingin

common — we

aresharinggiftswithothers.

Every

day you

shareagift

you have been

blessedwith. I

know my

lifehas

been

givenavery specialgiftthisyear

—

thatgiftis

you.

Watching your

faceshine with success

when you

received

your

statedegree,sharingtalks with

you

at

camps,

thesmiles

and hugs you have

given

me, and most

ofall

— your glowing

heart.

Your

hearts

have burned

likea candle

and made my world

a brighterplacetolive. Justlike

opening

apackage,

you have opened your

heartsto

me and

shared

your

giftswith

me.

Ladies

and

gentlemen,it's

been

Christ-

mas

allyearlongfor

me

because of thegifts

you have

shared.

Some

gifts

come

inbig packages.

Only you can

fillthis

package with

gifts,talents,

and memories

that will

make _you

a

complete

person. Discover

your

gift,

develop

thatgift,

and simply have

faith. Just^likethe

caterpillar,

you have no

idea

how

beautiful

your

gift

can become.

Your

gift

can be

the difference thatimpactsanother'slife forever.

Choose

to

make

thislife abrighterplace.Light the

world with your

gift.

So,

cany your

candle

Run

tothedarkness Seekout the hopeless Confused

and

torn

Carry your

candle

For

alltosee^it Take

your

candle

Go

light

your

world Take

your

candle

Go

light

your

world

Audiencesyoungandoldenjoyed the wackyanticsof

Cowboy

Poet Baxter Blackduring the 1998 convention. Since

1982,Black hasbeen rhyminghis

way

intothenational spotlight,and

now

standsasthebest-selling

cowboy

poet

inthe world.

The

¹998WaltDisneyOutstanding TeacheroftheYear,Ray Chelewski, addressed theConventionsession.

Bf i

"My theme has been involvement, that

is

what

• I'm doing

to

make

v

m*k ^the connection."

vV Mh~\-

t _Lr£l ^M

<{£-

Stormchaser

Warren

Faidleydescribeshis scariest

moment,

encounteringsoftball-sized hailstoneswhile followingatornadoinTexas.

"You must put yourself

in position for good

Jl ^{things to happen}

^1

B ^v M ^B

B ^{*v *}

^/

^if

B ^«ii'*

ⁱ

^'m

Basketballgreatandfirst

woman

sportscaster forESPN,RobinRobertschallenged students totry

new

thingsandstepoutof their

comfortzone.

i

The

motivationaladdress given by Les

Brown

impacted themindsofstudentsasthey started theirconventionexperienceon Thursdaymorning.

What's This Life For?

Mark

Wilburn,National

FFA

VicePresident

—

CentralRegion Laddonia,

Mo.

As

a

sophomore

intheVan-Far

FFA

chapterIset agoalto

become

achapterofficer. I

was

scaredto death

when my

advisortold

me

an interview process

was

the customary procedureforselecting ourchapterofficerteam. Forthe firsttimein

my

life,Istood beforea panel of

my

peers

and

answered questionafterquestion. Questions

like: What'syour

SAE? What

office

do you want

tohold?

Who

^isthe State

FFA

President? Thosetricky seniorseven askedus questionsto surpriseuslike:

Who won

the

World

Series?

What

golfer

won The

Masters?

How many

steers were bornlastyearinthe

US?

I

still

remember

answeringthatwith

some

astronomicalfigure likethree million,onlyto realize later that

no

steersareborn,they'reallbulls!

Beginning

on November

9th of lastyear,across thestreet,

on

the secondfloorof theMarriotthotel, thirty-ninenationalofficer candidateswere asked

many

questionslike: Ishonestyever situational?

What

istheimpor- tance of international tradeto agriculture?

How

canthe

FFA combat

theshortage of agricultural educators?

What

fivethingsdo

you

valuemost?

Who

^is

Mark

Wilburn?

Why

doyou

want

tobea nationalofficer?

I'venoticedthroughout

my FFA

interviewdaysthatthequestions have

become more

difficult.

However,it'slife'squestionsthatare the

most

difficult toanswer. What's thislifefor?

A

questionthatfaces theshygreenhand,theconfidant stateofficer,theteenagerunaway, thehighschooldropout,theclass valedictorian,eventhemillionaire businesspersonasks"What'sthis lifefor?"

Ihavefoundthreeanswersto thisdifficultquestion. What's

my

lifefor?

My

life isforvaluing the people

who

surround me,it'sfor

making

the

most

ofeachday,and

it'sforenjoyingeach day1have beenblessedtolive. Thesearethe answersthatprovide focusand strengthfor

my

life.

Throughout my

shortlifeand especiallythisyearIhave found thislife isforvaluing thepeople

who

surroundus;ourparents, guardians, teachers,friends, relatives,and eventhe perfect strangers

who

enter

and

exitour livessoquickly.

Ithasbeendifficultbeing

away

fromfamily

and

friendsthisyear.

However,Ihavebeenblessedto spendthe past365 days withyou, the

FFA members.

You have accepted

me

intoyour

homes

and schools;

you

havesharedyourlife storieswithme. I'veseen

you

laugh,I'vewatchedyoucry. You've let

me

shareinyoursuccesses

and

disappointments. Inyoureyes,I've

seen

you

ask yourselves, "What's thislifefor?"

Thank you

forletting

me

beapart ofyour^lives,and especiallythank

you

forbeinga

huge

partofmine.

Inthe

summer

of1990,

1

witnessedtwoindividuals

who

had thewonderfulability to

show

appreciationand touchthelivesof peoplearound them.

One was

a sevenyear oldlittlegirlandthe otheracountrymusicstar.

The

VandaliaAreaFair,ourlocalfair,is

known

forlandingup-and-coming countrymusicstarsforthe concerts. This particularenter- tainerhadjustburst

on

tothe countrymusicscene,

and

onlytwo or three ofhissongs had been released

on

theradio.

The

singer arrivedatthe fairgroundsearly inthe afternoon;

it

was

a hot,

muggy

Julydayinthe upper90s,notthekindofdaytobe outsidesetting

up band

equipment.

Aftergoofingoffandplaying catch with

some

localyoungsters, the singer

was

approached byalady

whose mom was

illand

would

be unabletoattend the concert.

The

ladytold

him

thather

mom was

his biggest fanand askedifhe

would

autographhis

CD. He

quickly obligedandasked,

"Where

does she live?" Afterhepersonally delivered her theautographed

CD,

the countrymusicstarspentseveral hours withoneofhisbiggestfans.

His actionstrulydemonstratedhis value of people.

Thatnightaftertheconcert the entertainer stood,let

me

repeat that,hestoodandsigned auto- graphsforovertwohours,until a littlegirljustsevenyearsold

who

justso

happened

tobe

my

little sisterKayla,approachedthesinger andshyly asked, "Mr.Brooks,

would

youlike tosit

down?"

Yes,

my

littlesisterfoundaseat forthe oneandonly,GarthBrooks. Garth immediatelylether

jump

inline, signed her shoes,

and

gave herfree autographedpictures.

KaylaandGarth,two people

who on

ahotdayinearly July, answered oneoflife'squestionsfor me. Garth'sappreciationforhis fans

was

obviousthroughhis actions,andKayla'sadmirationand appreciationforGarth shined throughher

random

actof kindness.

I

was

fortunatetohave

many

specialpeople

who

inspired

me

and encouraged

my

dreams.

Mom,

Dad,_Jay,Danny,Kayla,

Grandma

and Grandpa,Chrissy,andso

many

otherpeople

who

have helped

me-

you

know who you

are;thank

you

foryourloveand supportover the pasttwenty-oneyears. Ilove

you

allvery

much. And

bytheway,

Mom

and Dad,

Happy

Anniversary!

A

simple"thankyou"

and

"I loveyou" goalong way. Each day taketimetoshare appreciationwith friendsandfamily. Tonightcall

someone

back

home

andtell

them what

agreattimeyouarehavingin KansasCity

and

then saythanksfor helping

me

gethere.Before leaving conventiontellafellow

FFA member

oryouradvisorthankslor allthefun times you've shared.

As you

return

home,

writean encouragingnoteforafamily

member

andleaveit

on

their pillow.

What'sthislifefor? ^It'sfor valuingthepeoplearoundyou.

Thislifeisalso for

making

the

most

ofeachday.

We

can

make

each

new

day countby havingthe will to trythenew. It'sso easyto lay

on

thecouchallday withthe remotecontrolwatching soaps^-

my

personalfavoriteisDaysof

Our

Lives^-and watching

WCW

wrestling. It'sso easytositinthe backof theclassroomwherethe teacherwon'tcall

on

you. It'sso easytodothe

same

routinedayin and dayout.

Through new

experiencesand

new

challenges,

you

willbe

making

themostof eachday.

As

atenyearold,I

was

faced witha

new

challenge-the pedal tractorpullatthelocalfair. Ihad nevertriedanythinglike this before.

My

familyencouraged

me

toparticipate. I

was

hesitantatfirst

butafterlearning thewinner

would

take

home

five

hundred

cents,ok,a measlyfive dollars;Isigned up!

That

would

befivedollarsIcould spendinthe carnival tryingto

win

agoldfishorrabbit,you

know

somethingIreallyneeded.

Let

me

tell

you

alittleabout myselfas atenyearold. Istooda

macho

^4'2",weigheda

whopping

eighty-fivepounds, soakingwet,in athreepiece^suit;

and

believeitor not,I

was

the oldestand^biggest competitorinthepedaltractor pull.

There

was no way

1couldlose.

As you

couldsee,

my

first

and

onlyappearancein apedaltractor pull

was

amajor disappointment, onethat1

am

stillteasedaboutby

my

lovingfamily.

The

sled

moved

a

whole

eight inches.Ikeptlooking around,hopingthat

someone was

playingajoke

on me

by holdingthe sled,butthatwasn't thecase. I

watchedasthesmaller,but

more

experiencedandbetterequipped pullerssuccessfullypedaledout the gateforafullpull. Infact,that afternoon

my

little sister,Kayla,

had

apullof28feet! AtthetimeI

was

embarrassed,butafteranightin the carnival

on mom

anddad's money,

my

frustrationsweregone.

Tothis day,Istillblameit

on

the laws of physics. I

was

thetallest

competitorinthepull. Therefore,

my

legswerethelongestandit

was

the length of

my

legs thatprevented

me

from applyingthe necessaryand proper

amount

of forceand leverage

on

thepedals. Ok,so

you

don't

buy

that! Maybe,physicshad nothingto

do

withit. Maybe, Ijust wasn't

meant

tobeapedaltractor pullingchamp.