SOUTH CAROLINA

Hillcrest;Loris;

McBee;

Pelion

TENNESSEE:

Gordonsville;

Munford;

Ripley

TEXAS: Brownsboro;

Central;

Comfort;

Cotulla;

DelValle;

Ganado;

Iola;

McGregor; Orange

Grove;

Raymondville; Rockdale;

Sealy;Sidney Lanier;

Throckmorton; Tidehaven UTAH:

BearRiver;Davis;

Emery

Sr.

VIRGINIA:

Atlee;Carroll

County

WASHINGTON:

Liberty;

Mount

Baker;

White

River

WISCONSIN: Cambridge:

Freedom; Mauston;

Mishicot;

Mondovi;

Slinger

3T

"How Do ^I Get There From Here?"

Corey Rosenbusch National FFA

President

Glen

Rose,Texas

Fifteenminutesto sharewithyou almost20years of

my

life. Fifteen minutestotellyou what has been thebiggest factor inhelping

me

get themostout of

my

involvementin theFFA. It'svirtuallyanimpossible task. Theironycomesinthefact thatwewere putinthissituation onceas stateofficers;deliveringour last"FFA Words."

Now

wehaveto doitagain.Thelasttime,Itriedthe ultimatewhen1pulled a big disappearing trick out of

my

suitcase.This timeIdon'thaveany illusions,but whatIdo haveis somethingthatisgoingtotakeyou forthe ride ofyourlife!

In thewordsof Dr. Seuss,"Oh, thePlaces You'llGo!"Ihave definitelybeenalotofplacesthis year,andeverytimeIplannedout a tripIfocusedononething.

How

do

Igettherefromhere?As youknow from yourtravelingexperiences, there arethousandsofwaystoreach yourdestination;fromplanes,trains, toautomobiles!Andtodayweare goingtofindoutwhatmodeof transportationisbest to getyou where you wanttogo.

H Wherever your destination might

be, everyone has their very own

unique way that

will

work best to get them there.))

FFAmembers-fastenthose seat belts,holdontothatrope, strap in thosefeet,put onthathelmet,and holdonforourtriptosuccess.Let's getreadytohavesomefun!!

Whatis

my

favoritewaytoget frompoint

A

topoint B?Ok,Iguess aHarley Davidsonisnot

my

style.

Letmetrysomethingelse. No,when

Itravel,Itravel instyle.You rememberIsaidweallhaveplaces wewanttogoandthere are thousandsofwaystoget there. Well, for

me my

destinationwasthetop of theSmokyMountains.That'sright, point

A

wasGatlinburg, Tenn.,and pointBwasthetop of theSmoky Mountains.Withthehelpofsome

state officers,wedecidedthatthe bestwaytoreachourdestination wasto takemopedstothe top!

Oneof thestate officers, Kristie, andIjumpedon oneof themopeds and tookofffirst.

We

hadeight peopleon^fourmopeds,butwelost thefirsttwocomingout of the parkinglotwhentheyhitavanin oncomingtraffic.

We

wereatthe frontanddidn'tnotice,sowekepton going.Herewewere headingupthe mountainon ourstylingmopeds, and thenithappened.Itbegantorain.

AtthispointIwasthinkingwhata brilliantideathishad beentotake mopedssowecouldgetsoppingwet.

Itonly gotworse becauseaswe climbedthemountain,thetempera- turedroppedaswehithigher elevations.

We

werenot only soaked, wewerefreezing as well.Actuallywe lookedlikethecharactersfrom

"Dumband Dumber".

We

finallyreachedthe top,thenit

was timetoheadback. Beingthe

gentlemen1am,Idecidedto offer Kristie theopportunityto drive, especiallysinceshepaidforhalf of therental.Itwas onlyfair. Idrove up, so sheshouldget to drivedown.

We

starteddownthehill.Aswe approachedasharp,90-degree curve,Ifeltthebikestarttowobble.

ThenInoticedwewerecrossing the yellowstripe.

We

lostcontrol of a bikegoing30miles per hour,down ahill,onacurve withwet pavement, andIlookeduptosee acarcoming towardus.Iimmediately developed thatdeer-m-the-headlights look.

As

my

^lifeflashedbefore

my

eyes

—

^andwhenyou're20itdoesn't take long,itwasbasicallyonebig blur ofbluecorduroy

—

Irealizedwe werenolonger travelingperpendicu- lartothe road. Insteadwewere travelingparallel.

Thebikehad turnedover,and KristieandIwere skiddingacross thepavement.

We

cameto a stop onlyby slamminginto arockwall.

I'llneverforget

my

^firstwordsasI

stoodupfromthewreck..."Cool."

IturnedtoKristie,whohadserved onthenominatingcommitteewhich electedustheyear before,andsaid,

"Iknowyou put

me

inoffice,butif

you wantedtotakemeout,you didn'thaveto try tokillme!"

Inthe end, otherthanthis scar,a ratherbatteredshirt,anda heavily damagedbike,wewere bothokay.I

did learnonething.Mopedsarenot the bestformoftransportation for

me

to reach

my

destination.

Idecidedtomoveontoother meansof gettingfrom oneplace to another.Thistime, thedestination

wastheendofLake Jacksonin Georgia. Beingthebrave or stupid personthatIam,IdecidedIwould trythis triponskis. 1had never skied before in

my

entirelife,soI

thoughtIwouldgiveitatry.

Needlesstosay,thatturnedinto a disastrousexpenenceas well.

When

1letgoof therope,ithit

me

onthe top of

my

foot.

My

footwassobadly injured thatwhenIgot in theboatI couldn'twalk. ^Ihadtobecarried out of theboattothe truck,and backinto

my

room. Itwasn't until 5 a.m.,after fivehoursinthe emergency room,thatIrealized skiing wasn'tforme. 1did get to nde throughthe airport thenextday inoneofthosewheelchairsthough!

Iknow

now

mopedsand water skiswerenot the bestmeanstoget frompoint

A

to pointB.They were great for

my

travelcompanions, but what'simportantiswhat formof transportationisbest forme. That's when1knewImustreturn towhatI

enjoythemost, whichiscruising downthehighwayin

my

car. There's nothinglikearoadtripin acar.You have completecontroloverwhere youaregoingduringyourtrip.You canstop asmanytimes asyou want, andyoucontrol the directionyou wantto go.Best ofall,there's nothinglikethe thinkingtimeyou havewhenyoudrive!

Maybecars or trucksaren'tyour favoritewayto get therefromhere.

Maybewhatbest suitsyouisataxi, or aHarleyDavidson,orhang gliding,but wherever your destinationmightbe,everyone has theirveryownuniquewaythat will workbest to getthemthere.

AndthatiswhatI'm talkingabout whenIrefer to the struggleIhad whenIwaswriting

my

retiring address.1wantedsomuchtopick out the threemost importantthings you could doas apersontohelpyou reachyourdestination. That'swhen

Irealized thatif Istoodhereandtold youthatyou havetohavea positive attitude,you havetobeconfident.

*3Z

andyou havetosacrifice,thatI

wouldbelying.Because1wouldbe tellingyou whatworkedforCoreyto reach his ultimate goal,notwhat wouldworkforyou.

Sooftenwhen wetalkintermsof success,wesay the bestwayto achieve thisisbydoingitems one, twoandthree. Wellmaybeit'snot thebestthing foryou.Maybethe bestwayforyoutobesuccessfulis by doingthree,two,oneoreven12, 44 and68.

Let

me

^giveyou an example.

When

Iwas young,Idecidedthat

my

goal in^lifewastobeastateFFA president. Iwouldlistenand watch everyoneandtry to learnwhatit takes tobeastate officer.ThenI

foundthegodofallFFArolemodels.

He waseven oneof

my

neighbors:

Curtis Childers. Hewas

my

father's firststateandnationalpresidentand

IknewthatIhadtoemulatehimif 1

wantedtodothesame.1honestly believed thatwhenIdidn'twin districtpresident likehim,andI didn'twinthenationalextemporane- ous speakingcontestlikehim,andI didn'twinareapresidentlikehim, thatitwouldneverhappen. Inthe endwebothserved as national presidents,butwetooktotally differentdirections to get here.

Curtismight have takenthatmoped becausethatwas whatworkedfor him,butitwasn'twhatwasbest for

me

¹ For me,abicyclemight have beenthepreferredwayof getting here. So

how

doweknowwhich vehicle,ifyouwill,that willbebest suited foryou?

In

my

journeyto

my

destination,

Ithoughtthewaywastobea great public speaker,1thoughtthatwas thekeyforCorey,becausethat'swhat

everyonetold

me

I

hadtobegoodat.

So fromthetimeI

wasin junior high,I

was workingon speeches. 1would do anythingtogive a speech.You'reall saying,"junior high?^1"Yes,that's

how

caughtupI

wasinthatpreconceivednotion.

Thatwas me! Me,beforeIgrewa brainandrealized thatIdidn'tneed to focusonpublicspeaking.There wasa

much

deeperelementIneeded toworkon. Ihadto lose theflattop andgrowtheFFAhair.Iwouldsit infrontof themirrorforhours with several differentbrushesso that

my

hairwouldlookjustlikethe state andnationalofficers'did! Thatwas nottheanswereither.The answer wassimple.1neededtostop listening towhat everyoneelse said todo,andfocusonwhatthereal answerswereforCorey. Thatis

whenIdevelopedalist.

Idid adeepsoul search,and ratherthanfocusingoneveryone else'sideas,IdecidedthatIneeded toworkon what Coreyknowshe needstoworkontobeasuccess.

That'swhenIevaluatedmyselfand wrotedownallof

my

character elementsthatIcouldimproveon.

Anditwasthat day,thedaythatI

decidedtogetoffthemopedandthe waterskis,andgetintothecar,that1

begantogrowasanindividual. I

hadtochoose

my

own modeof transportation for gettingfrompoint

A

to pointB.

Let

me

warnyouof the biggest problemyou'llface inchoosingyour transportation.

When

you're focusing, try tomeditateon^things deepinyourheart,notonappear- ancesandother people.

Appearances canglossoverwhat's reallyimportant. Your shoesmustbe polished,yourtiehas tobeperfect, nolintcanbeonyourjacket,and there can'tbeawrinkleinthose slacks. Itwasn't untillaterthatI

figuredout that thisisnot what's

mostimportant. Whatmattersis

developingcharacter. The daythat appearanceismoresignificantthan developingstrong characteristhe daywehavelostfocus. Becausetoo oftenwegetcaughtupinthe look, butthatmeansnothingifyoudon't havewhat's inside tohelpholditup.

Ourmissionisnottodevelopthe look,our missionistodevelopthe person.

And

now

isthetimetodevelop thatperson. That'sright,

now

isthe time foryoutochooseyourmodeof transportation.Therearetwo ultimatequestions thatallofyou havetoanswerprior to leavingyour homes.Numberone:What'syour destination?Whatisitthatyou have apassionfor?And numbertwo:

How

areyou goingtoget there?For fouryearsIhavetried toanswerthat second questionandtellyouhowto getthere,andIhavefinallyfiguredit out. Idonothavetheanswer.

No

one hastheanswer,butyou.

My

solepurpose,andthewhole purpose ofallofour speechesistomotivate youtofind that answer. Ican'tdoit,

onlyyoucan.

Here's

how

you canfinditthough.

Ifyou're flyinghometoday, assoonas yougetonthatplane,Iwantyouto reach in thatpocketin frontofyou andpullout thatmotionsickness bag, orgrab a napkin.Ifyou'redriving home,Iwant youtograbanapkin,a receiptorsomethingtownte on duringyourfirststop.

On

thatpiece ofpaper,atthevery top,Iwant you towritewhat yourprioritiesarein

yourlife.Whatisyourdestination?

Andthenbelow,it Iwantyoutowrite downallof the things thatyou need todoinorder toaccomplishthat

ultimate goal inyourlife. Itwill requiresomedeep thought and evaluation ofwhat youlikeanddon't likeaboutyourself.Wntedownallof thethingsyouthinkyou needto workonto reach that destination.At thatpointyouwillnot onlyknow whereyouaregoing,butyouwillalso knowyourmodeof transportation.

You'llprobablysay,"Oh,I'lldoit

whenIgethome!" No!You must do

itnow,beforeyouarrivehome.You mustdoitwhileit'sonyour mind.

Writedownwhat you can improve

oninyourlife. Onceyou'redone,

keepitwithyou. Hangitonyour mirror,putitin apictureframe, throwitinyourwallet.Putit

somewhereso thatyou canseeit everyday.Ipromiseyouitwillhelp, butitsnotsomethingthatisgoingto happenovernight. Ideveloped

my

listoverfour years,andIstillkeepit in

my

planner,andI

am

^stillworking onsomeofthem!

Thedestinationandwayyouare goingtoget thereisalluptoyou!

My

brother, Tate,isafreshmanthis yearand hassomereallybigplans forhisyears tocomeintheFFA.As muchas1hopethatIwasable to passonsomemotivationtohim,we mustalwaysrememberthatTateis theonlyone

who

can choose where heisgoingand

how

heisgoingto get there. Hedoesn'thavetodo everythingthat hisbrotherdid, becauseTateisnotme.Whatever he accomplishes,Iwillbeproudofhim!

Soitis

now

Tate'sturn. Itis

now

yourturn tolookfor

how

you're goingtoreachyourdestination,andI don't carewhatmodeof transporta- tionyouuse.Ican'ttellyouthe answers,but whatIcantellyouis thatonceyou'vechosenthatvehicle youwillstartto builda stronger you.

When

youbuild a strongyouitgives you somethingtoholdupthatFFA jacket.Andthat'swhat'sgoingto makethatFFAjacketlooksharp.And

that'showtogettherefromhere.

&

33-

"Heroes

^{. .}

.when the Ordinary become Extraordinary"

Holly Bentley

National FFA

Secretary Sabina,

Ohio

Itwastheglimmer,glory,shimmer andshine thatleftawide-eyedlittle girlsittingontheedgeofher bleacher seatduringhalf-time of the EastClintonHigh SchoolFootball game.Thereshewas, the center of attention.Her uniformglitteredand sparkledunderthelights,especially whenshelitthefirebaton.

Themetalstickwith fiery endswould seemtoflythroughthe night, twisting andturning.Shewouldtoss^itinthe air,catchitbehind her back,anddoall kinds of daredevilacts. Toa big-eyed eightyearoldwhoneeded ahero,she andherfirebatonswerelargerthanlife.

Ineededaheroandshewaslarger thanlife.

Whilemanyeight-year-oldswere makingSuperman,Wonder

Woman

or the IncredibleHulktheirheroes,I

decidedthepersonIwantedtolook upto,thepersonIfound worthyof beingcalled

my

herohadthe titleof....

featurebaton twirlerof the EastClinton High School band.Now, thatmaynot seemlikea very thrilling titletomany, okay,mostof you, especially

whencomparedto the Incredible Hulk. Buttoanaspiringbaton twirler,GinaFlintcould have walked onwater. Itwastheglory,glimmer, shimmer, andshine thatshehadout onthefieldthatmadeaneight-year- oldlittlegirl sitontheedgeof a cold bleacher everyfallFriday night duringhalf-timeof the footballgame

just tocatch aglimpseofherand herfirebaton.

Itwas herabilitytostandoutona footballfieldandmakeafirestick twirlthatdrewmetoGina,butlater she taught

me

beingaheroisabout muchmore than beinginthe limelight.Shetaught

me

that ahero did nothavetoleapoverbuildings, climbmountains, befamousoreven twirlafirebaton. Shetaught

me

a herowas simply anordinaryperson

who

becameextraordinary in the eyes of another.

Iwas anaspiringthird-grade batontwirlerand becauseofthat,I

tookbatonlessons everyWednesday rightafterschool.OneWednesday,I

couldhardly wait for school to be overbecauseitwasthedaywhenI

was goingtolearn todoatoss,turn- aroundcatch.Thismeant1would throwthebatonin theair,turn aroundandcatch^it.Ihadthetoss,

andtheturn-around, butIjust couldn't quite get the catchpart.

On

thatparticularWednesdayIwas goingto learn to catch the turn- aroundcatch. Thebellfinallyrang.

1grabbed

my

^thingsand went runningoutside of the school,but

my

teacherwas notthere. 1decided shewouldbethere inafewminutes soIbegantopractice whileIwaited.

After acoupleofhardhitsonthe head,Isatdownleaningonthebike rackand begantolosehopethat

my

teacherwouldevershow upor thatI

wouldeverdoatoss,turn-around catch.

Itwas aboutthattimewhenGina Flint,the featurebatontwirler,came walkingby withagroupofher friends. ThereIwas, adorkylittle elementary student holding

my

baton withtearsin

my

eyes.Thereshewas acoolhighschoolstudenthanging outwithherevencooler friends.And astheywere walkingby,shestopped.

She stoppedto talk tome. After finding outwhat

my

problemwas, sheleftherfriendsand even though shewasnot

my

teachershespent the nexthourteaching

me

todotoss turn-aroundcatches.

Now,itmayhavebeenherfire batonsthatcaught

my

eye,butitwas thetimeshe spentwith

me

thatday thatmadeher

my

truehero.No,she didnotleapoverbuildings,move mountains,becomefamousoreven twirlherfirebatons.Shedid somethingmuchgreater. She took timeforan elementarykid she did notevenknow. She sharedsomeof whatshehad beengiven,sheshared someofhertalentswithme.Andby simply stoppingto take time for another,GinaFlint,anordinaryhigh school studentbecameextraordinary

m my

eyes.

Time.It'ssuchasimplething,we sometimes overlookit. It'ssucha powerfulthing thatwecannotforget toshareit.

We

musttaketimefor other people. Now,Iknowwhat you maybethinking,"Ihaveclasses to studyfor,careerdevelopmentevents topreparefor,basketball, football,or baseballteamsthatIneedto practice

for.Ido not havetime to getallof

my

thingsdone,letalone to stopand helpothers."

Itliterallytakesonlyaminute. It

wouldonlytake amomentofyour time to give acompliment,tosay

"hi"tothatpersonwhosits allby herself in the cafeteria or tospeakto thepersonwho,well,most people wouldnoteventalkto. Itonlytakes 10 minutesto talkwithorlistento the storiesofanelderlyperson. It takesfiveminutestoplay agame withyourlittlebrotherorsisteror thatelementarystudent

who

looks uptoyou withthosesamebig eyes throughwhichIlookedupto Gina.

Itonlytakes akindactandaminute tobecomeextraordinary inanother personseyes.

ItonlytookaminuteforGinato stopandtalk tome,and onlyafew moreminutestoteach

me

todoa toss,turn-aroundcatch. But the time she spentwith

me

wasmuch morepowerful thanthat. Yousee, fromthatdayforward,Iknew1

wantedtobe justlikeGinaFlint.

WheneverIwouldcometo abaton movethatseemedtoohardtodoor wheneverIjustseemedtoobusyto practice,Iwouldthink of that WednesdayafternoonwithGina.

Withthosethoughts,1would be motivatedtokeepongoing.

Thatis allittookuntilIreached eighth grade.Yousee, attheendof

my

eighthgradeyear,just aseachof youdid,Ihadtomakeoneof the biggest decisionsIhadevermade.1

hadtoschedule

my

classes forhigh school.Iwaspretty excitedbecause aftereightyears of takingbaton lessons,Iwasfinallygoingto signup forbandand1wouldfinallyhavethe

K34-