MEN WITH THE ANSWERS

Throughout the year the four young men that represent FFA as Na- tional Vice Presidents field thousands of questions from students, ad- visors, businessmen and parents. We've asked these four members of this year's National Officer team, in office since November, to answer the one question that he would like to share with

all

FFA members.

Ron

Wilson:

"How

can I help get

my

chapter

members

involved?"

"Any

coach cantell

you

thatittakes an entire

team

effort to win. Involve-

ment

ofyour entirechapter is thekey to our winning

team

of

FFA.

"

'What would you

like tosee your organization do?' Every

member

should ask

— ^and

^answer

—

^{that question indi-}

vidually afterbeing

made

awareof the endless opportunities forachievementin

FFA.

^After finding an interest, seeing

what

can be gained

and

learning

what

ittakes,

team

goalscan beset.

"If

members

are involved in the planning, then involvement in the ac- tivities shouldfollow. Positiverecogni- tion will help

—

^{take notice}

^and

^say

'Thanks.'

Be

friendly toyounger

mem-

bers

and

don'tbeafraidto tiea basket- ball

game

orrefreshments ontoameet- ing or project.

Members

will learn to joininthefun

and

inthework.

"You

can be a leader

by

being as involvedas possible yourself. Strive for

team

success.If

you

constantly

and

un- selfishly

promote

your fellow chapter

members and FFA, you

will find the personal benefits to be rich, natural,

and

abundant.

What

I've seen of in- volvement this year has provento

me

again the truth of that shortbut

pow-

erful saying,'GivetoGain.'^"

Leo

Anderson:

"What

canI gain

from

beingan

FFA member?"

"In lookingat it not as aNational Officer, nora paststate officer,but as an

FFA ^member,

^{I see}

^many

^specific

changes in

my

life as a result of

my

participation in the

FFA. And

ⁱⁿtalk- ing with other former

FFA members

during the year, I've found they too, have seen these changes in their

own

lives.

"The FFA

took a shy, quiet,

young boy who

lacked a great deal in self- confidence

and

changed

him

to

one who

believed in himself. I finally felt I couldhandlea job placed before

me

because of the responsibility given

me by my

fellow

FFA members. The

fact thatI

was

terrible atalmost everything and didn'thave

any

skills really didn't matter,becausethe

FFA was

taking

me

asthepersonI

was and

changing

me

to the bestperson Icouldever be. Itnot only increased

my

self-confidence but helped

me

^togain theabilityto present 38

myself in front of a groupto express clearly

my

thoughts

and

ideas. Ittakes your

weak

leadership skills

and

begins to sharpen them. But if

you

think the

FFA

^{will help}

you by

your just sitting around, you're wrong.

The

only

way

that

you

canseeachangeisto

become

involved, participate.

One

thing is for sure, you'llnever

know what

it'sabout until

you

giveitatry."

Wils Bouldin

Anderson

Loudenslager

Elton Bouldin:

"Why

shouldI

become

involvedinthe

FFA?"

"I

remember

years ago

when my

mother would

tell

me

toeateverything

on my

plate.

The

conversation

would

go something like this: 'Elton, finish eating.' 'Why?' 'Because.' 'Because why?' 'Becauseit is

good

for you!'

"It did not

seem

like a very

good

argument. It

was

hopeless for

mother

todescribe thingslikevitamins

and

min- erals. Telling

me

about those things

would

be like telling

Columbus

about landing

on

Mars.

"Not many

yearsagoI

remember my FFA

^{advisorurging}

me

to

become

in- volvedinthe

FFA. My

question:'Why?'

His answer: 'Becauseitwillbe

good

for you.'

"Maybe

those weren't the exact

words we

exchanged, but theyareclose.

Afterseveral science courses Ilearned thevalueofvitaminsinabalanceddiet.

Looking

back

on my

lastfiveyearsin the

FFA,

itisquiteeasyfor

me

tosee

why you

should

become

active in its

programs.Reasonsthatrange

from

im- proved abilityto speak, lead, organize

and

getthingsdone,toestablishmentin agriculture, financial awards, personal recognition,

new

opportunities

and

ex- periences.

"Despite all these reasons I find it

hard to answer the question, 'Why?'

You

asa

member

willhavetoactually

become

involved before

you

can under- stand the answer.

"You

ask'Why?'Isaysincerely 'Be- cause...it's

good

for you.' Believeme,

it is!" t

Doug

Loudenslager:

"How

can I ever

hope

to receive the

American Farmer

degree or

one

of the proficiency awards?"

"A

^{lot of}

members

I have talkedto this last year have reservations about everapplyingforthehighestdegreeone can receive in the

FFA ^(American

Farmer

degree) or

one

of the profi- ciency awards.

"How

can I ever

hope

to have an occupational experience

program

that equalsthose atstate

and

national con- ventions?

"Why

nottrya three step approach?

1.

Develop

a four to six year plan withyourparents

and

vo-aginstructor.

Map

out

where you want

togo.

When you

go

on

a vacation,

you

havetohave a plan,

same

with your projects. Re-

member —

^{start small}

^and

^gradually

build!

2.

Get

acopyof the

American Farm-

er degree

and

the proficiency awards that

you want

to apply for

and

use those applications to keep arecord of all your projects

and FFA

^activities

(i.e.) chapter offices, judging contest,

FFA

conventions.

Update

these applica- tions every three months.

3. Startearly

—

thefirst

day you

step in that vocational agriculture class should

mark

thebeginningofyourtrip towards the

American Farmer

degree and/orproficiencyaward.

Good

luck!"

TheNational

FUTURE FARMER

Weve ^{all grown.}

Together

Passing Mom

in

height. That's a

tall

moment

in

your boy's

^life.

Naturally,

he'll

take

much of the

credit.

But you know the care and attention he got during infant years were essential. The story of American agriculture and Production

Credit Association

is

similar. Sound credit service has played a big role

in

helping both farmer and rancher gain their present business

stature.

And we're ready

right

now

to

help you with most broad-shouldered tasks your future plans may include.

The go ahead people

II

^

iSEn

3N

:v* S&

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IE e

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Hundreds

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decibels.

k\.

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There are even

15

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__^____ IH

s