Aron Hutchins State FFA Officer Experiences for AL

Area V started out my next week of travel as I headed up to Sherman and met up with Jeremiah Miller and Kody Kale. Now for those of you who don’t know, Area V is the north Texas region of the state, and for those who are geographically challenged north Texas is flat, open and endless.  There is beautiful countryside and wherever you look, you are sure to see horses and cattle roaming everywhere. My first night in Area V, I was assigned the task to assist a few chapter officers in relocating some miniature ponies. Now after meeting these individuals and telling them I was from Stephenville, (The Cowboy Capital of the World), they automatically assumed I had been swinging a rope and riding horses my whole life. To say the least I think I might have embarrassed myself just a little bit when my first rope throw ended getting caught up around Kody’s feet. Hey at least I was living proof of the false stereotype that “FFA members are all cowboys.”  After quieting down a few FFA member’s laughter, they proceeded in teaching me the technique of throwing a rope and how to successfully rope your target. After a few hours of practicing, I still couldn’t rope my target completely, but at least I kept my loop out of Kody’s and Jeremiah’s feet for the most part. After having a fun night, we were invited back the following night. The next day came my true test. We showed back up at Smith’s Show Horses, to find three mares saddled up for us to ride. Now I can’t complain too much about my riding experience seeing as…I survived. Survival was about the only positive thing that happened. Cooper, Justin, and a few others thought it was a lot funnier than I did giving me the horse that had two gears: walk and sprint. Of course after I was on the horse, and of course after I had already kicked the horse to get it to go, I hear them shouting at me, “That one is a little touchy, I probably wouldn’t kick her if I was you!” By this time I was already a mile ahead and had my arms wrapped around the horse’s neck holding on for dear life. When I finally opened my eyes I figured I better loosen my grip around the mane of the horse and learn how to put the brakes on this thing. So I yanked back on the reins and the horse came to a halting stop. I bailed off the thing and decided to call it off with any more horse riding. Next we rode back to the barns and watch a training session on a few horses. I was very surprised to see how hard these individuals worked and how knowledgeable they were with horses and other livestock. To wrap up the week, let’s just say that we met some crazy members and it was definitely a week full of “first times” including holding an alligator one member had living in his water trough. Friday we left town and headed to Dallas for the Texas Stampede Rodeo. After an exciting night of watching the rodeo, and Pat Green Concert, we headed to our hotel to call it a night. The next morning we had a great team meeting, went over our upcoming schedule, and team goals, and soon after said our goodbyes as we split off in our separate directions.

This week started out on the road back to my hometown Stephenville. I had promised my past ag teachers and students from Stephenville that I would come down for a week and help them get ready for all of their upcoming Leadership Development Event (LDE) contests. I was able to specifically work one on one for several hours with the Junior and Senior Creed speakers. I’m not going to lie demonstrating the FFA Creed in front of a few students made me miss FFA competitions a whole lot, but hopefully I could help the new Creed Speakers out a little. The past few months I have had the privilege of going through several weeks of public speaking training, and now I was given the opportunity to share a little bit of the knowledge I had gained. After several hours of working with the speakers, I could see their confidence increasing as they continued to practice more and more. After working with the creed speakers, I was able to help out our Public Relations team as they asked if they could interview me and briefly describe a little bit of my experiences so far as a state officer. After that I was able to act as a judge as I graded the Junior and Senior Chapter Conducting teams. When I finished up my ag teacher asked me to follow her into her officer and she surprised me with a brand new pair of alligator skinned Justin boots! I was pumped as I tried them on and they were a perfect fit.  It was always great to go back home to my chapter and visit with the students and my ag teachers. There is no possible was that I could have made it this far without my two ag teachers, Laurah Williams and Blake Edwards. They were there every step of the way to help me and keep pushing me. I do not give them near enough thanks for getting me where I am today. Also without the Stephenville FFA members there to encourage me and be supportive of me, I can honestly say this road would have been much more difficult. Hopefully after practicing with each team for a little bit this week they will be prepared at their upcoming contests. I want to wish the teams all around the state competing this week at their district LDE contests the best of luck!!

This past week, all of the officers were given the first two days off for rest and recovery. National Convention was awesome and a great experience, but wore us down a little bit as well. After almost five straight weeks of traveling without being home, I was finally able to head to Stephenville for a few days to see the family.  The entire officer team has been very blessed to have the awesome opportunity to serve our state for a year; however it is enjoyable to take time off and visit the ones who helped bring us here. Monday through Wednesday I was able to stay in Stephenville, visit and hangout with my family, as well as meet up with some old high school buddies. After a few days of rest, relaxation, and recuperation, it was time to start back to work.  Saturday, I was invited alongside Alli to attend Area III Greenhand Camp located at Caney Creek High School. Thursday Alli and I prepared material on what we would go over during the camp, and Friday we were able to meet and discuss exactly what we would present the following day. Saturday morning we were up early and headed to Conroe for the Greenhand Camp. It was awesome to see the turnout of students at an FFA activity on a Saturday. All the students present truly wanted to be at the camp and already had passion for the FFA. The majority of the greenhand students were freshman and this was their beginning impression on what the FFA was. I was able to sit through the Area III officer’s workshops and interact one-on-one with numerous members. After the workshop period was concluded we grabbed a quick lunch and prepared for our presentation. Alli and I delivered a presentation revolving around the camp’s theme, Transformers. We discussed transformation in our lives that we experienced through the FFA, and to get involved because there is so much more than just “meets the eye.” After we wrapped up our segment, we were able to listen to remarks from newly elected National FFA Officer, Randa Braune. The camp was concluded and after taking a few pictures, we hopped in the truck and headed back home. Once again seeing hundreds of young students that look up to you and the leadership and standards that you hold yourself to reminded me of my purpose for being an officer. “It’s all about them” is what I continue to tell myself towards our year of service. It’s about the over 63,000 members in the Texas FFA, the 1,300+ agriculture teachers that dedicate their lives and professions to the Texas FFA, the 9 other state officers on my team that join me in a year of service to the Texas FFA, the staff that works for this great organization, and of course the hundreds of volunteers and supporters that are involved in this organization as well. A third of our year as a state officer is almost up and I can honestly say that it has been everything I could have asked for and wanted so far, and some more. As we wrap up the week, our thoughts and prayers continue to go out towards Kooter, the Booker FFA, and the friends and family of him as well. We’re all pulling for you bud!!

The 82^nd National FFA Convention kicked off during our eighth week of traveling. We had been preparing for convention for the past several weeks and it was finally here. We hopped on the plane and headed off to Indianapolis, Indiana. We knew the first few days of convention would be all business and we immediately met together as a state officer team to go over our team strategy for the week. As state officers we are able to serve as voting delegates for the state of Texas during the business sessions that take place throughout convention week. There were two amendments and a proposal that all the states would vote upon. One amendment involved changing the process of voting, the other amendment would change the wording towards the American degree and the final proposal would decide whether or not dues would increase from the current five dollars to seven dollars. After meeting with our team and with other states, we were set on how we would vote on each motion. The business sessions became very heated on each subject and it was exciting to see how passionate individuals felt about this organization and what was best for it. Being a part of a voting session allows you to see how student led this organization really is and that each member truly does have an important part in the FFA. Although much of our time was used dealing with the business portion of the convention, we also had an amazing time roaming the streets of Indianapolis during our free time as well as having the opportunity to participate in the FFA day of service. FFA members spread out all across the state and contributed to community service for the day. It was very humbling having a part in bettering the Indiana communities. As convention started up more and more FFA members started piling in. With almost sixty thousand FFA members present, everywhere you turn around, you are sure to see blue and gold jackets everywhere. FFA members from all over the nation took over downtown Indy for almost a whole week. The convention was a blast as we were able to watch National Officer from Texas, Riley Branch, give his retiring address, as well as welcome Randa Braune as a newly elected national officer! During the week of convention, Texas FFA was struck with a horrifying tragedy as an FFA member from Booker, Texas was injured greatly after falling down three stories in the mall. With thousands of people from all over the nation praying, the individual is on his way to making a recovery, and our thoughts, prayers, and support are all out to this individual as he makes progress towards recovering from this tragedy.

The next week I flew out from Austin to Lubbock to travel Area II with the Travel Team. Saturday I was in College Station at the A&M game wearing shorts and short sleeve shirt only to be freezing cold when I flew into Lubbock on Sunday with the temperature in the mid thirties! The weather was cold and after we made a quick run to the South Plains Mall in Lubbock to buy a jacket, we were ready to hit the road. Kaleb, Alli, and I headed to Wellman to spend the night and prepared for a busy week ahead. Monday we hit up Pool and Dawson both small but energetic six man schools. Next we headed off to Wilson and Southland.  All of these schools were great, but several of the towns were so small that we were unable to find the towns on our gps or on the map. Luckily after driving in circles several times, Kaleb and I found our destinations. We then headed off to stay the night in Colorado City. We spent the night with the family of the ag teacher who lived in Colorado City. Kaleb, Alli, and I definitely found our dream house if we had ever seen it! The “palace” we stayed in was amazing. We went with the chapter president to eat at Pizza Hut, where Kaleb and I almost got kicked out of an all you can eat buffet. Apparently the manager does not like it when you take the whole tray of cinnamon rolls to your table. Who would have thought? Wednesday morning we hit up Colorado City, followed by Snyder where we ate some awesome Mexican food and then headed off to Hermeleigh where our day was concluded. They say there’s a first time for everything and there was a first time for us at Hermeleigh. It is very common for a teacher to inform you that you will be doing a school wide presentation, which is usually ninth grade through twelth grade and with junior high thrown in there every now in then. However, a school wide presentation at Hermeleigh, means a school wide presentation, pre K through twelth grade.  Although it was different we had an awesome time adjusting to our younger audience and giving our presentation in front of a group of young, care free,  fired up elementary kids. That night we stayed right down the rode in Rotan. Rotan had just had a member of their school pass away from the flu and emotions were very high. The students held themselves together and did everything possible to keep good spirits and honor their friend at the same time. After attending an emotional bonfire for the seniors and to honor their deceased class mate, we left for bed very humbled and remembering to never take any of life’s blessings for granite. The next morning we traveled to Rotan, Hamlin, and Anson where we had three awesome audiences much like all of Area II so far. We were able to wish the Anson national qualifiers good luck as they prepared to compete the following week at their national contest. Next we headed off to Panther Creek to bed down for the night. Although we have traveled to tons of awesome places so far, Panther Creek has no doubt been my favorite. Kaleb and I stayed with an amazing family that shared all the same interests that our own families did. We were able to watch hunting videos, share and exchange all kinds of stories, and cruise the streets in a classic Thunderbird. The next morning our officer team was able to put on an officer training with eight of the Panther Creek chapter officers. It was great doing something a little out of the ordinary and getting to work more one-on-one with their officer team. We drove down the rode to San Angelo Central and finished up our day and week at Veribest High School where we were able to speak to a very enthusiastic group of students. We had an awesome time in Area II and soon started preparing ourselves for the next week at National Convention!

Week six started off in South Texas as I teamed up with Kody Kale and headed off to the Area X Greenhand Camp. With about five hundred in attendance, Kody and I set up a workshop at camp. From nine in the morning until almost three we delivered about seven workshops to the Area X Greenhand students. As soon as we finished up at the camp Monday afternoon, we headed back up to the State Fair to attend Agricultural Awareness Day. Of course on the eight hour drive up to Dallas we had to stop at the famous Czech Stop and grab a few of their famous kolaches for the road.  After scarfing down about seven delicious kolaches, we continued to the State Fair. We arrived and stayed the night in Dallas and got up early the next morning to attend Agricultural Awareness Day. That morning we set up a canned food drive along with 4-H and FCCLA. FFA had the most cans brought in and the canned food drive was a huge success! Also I was interviewed by a man who was filming a segment for the Opera Winfrey show which will air this Tuesday and I will be on it. I was very excited and nervous during the interview so of course I messed up and stumbled over every word. We then assisted the high school students in a scavenger hunt across the State Fair as they were able to attend fair sites and learn more about the fair as well as our agriculture industry. After Ag Awareness Day was completed, Kody, Jeremiah, and I hopped back in the truck and headed back down to South Texas. The next few days we spent going to schools down south. The first school we hit up was Cuero High School where we spent the whole day talking to agriculture science classes. The following day we visited several other school, and Friday we wrapped up our Area X visit by attending Yoakim High School as well as Nordheim High School. Yoakim was a very fun school and their students seemed excited about learning what the FFA had to offer, we were able to do our presentation in front of about one hundred students who seemed to love every minute of it. We finished Area X with Nordheim as we delivered a school wide presentation in front of a shocking twenty-seven students. Although their high school was small the agriculture department was outstanding, and they definitely knew how to cook some food as we ate lunch and got completely stuffed.

                As I was checking my emails this week, I ran across a message from a student in Holliday whom we had visited last week. The student wanted to personally thank me for visiting their school and told me what an inspiration I was to them and to this organization. They stated numerous times “how cool” I was and “I did a great job promoting the FFA.” I found this young ladies words very humbling and extremely encouraging. Although as a state officer our goal is to inspire students, it is amazing how we, as state officers are the ones that are often inspired by the great students across the state. These encouraging words reminded me of how blessed and how honored I am to be serving sixty-three thousand members across Texas, and to be serving the greatest organization in the world.

Area IV was next on the list. Sunday we left the State Fair and headed to Perrin to stay the night. After arriving around six at the Hall’s house and enjoying a great home cooked meal, Kaleb, Alli, and myself were able to visit with the Perrin chapter officers. Monday we started out in Perrin and I began my first presentation with the travel team. Of course I was panicking trying to figure out all of my parts in the presentation and as soon as I slightly had it down, we were informed that we only had half the time to do our presentation and that it was going to be in front of the whole school. Kaleb and Alli came up to me and told me to forget everything we had just gone over and to just “go with the flow.” Luckily it all worked out and the first school was down and a success. Next we headed to Henrietta followed by Petrolia. We then traveled to Iowa Park where the chapter officers took us out to dinner and surprised Alli with a lady bug birthday cake. Our first school Tuesday was Holiday, followed by Seymour and then we headed off to Knox City. Although Knox City was a six man high school, their students seemed very excited about the FFA. A few students asked us to come watch their football practice and of course we couldn’t turn it down. Abilene was next on the list. We were hosted by a great family in Wylie where we once again were able to hang out with their officer team a great deal. After the presentation the next day, Wylie hooked us all up with some great snacks and we headed off the Abilene Cooper. Cooper was very, very excited to have the State Officers come visit their school and we were able to present our workshop and hang out with the kids for a good bit. Clyde wrapped up Wednesday as we headed to Cross Plains. The majority of my family lives in Cross Plains so it was great getting to see my family as well as the Cross Plains FFA Chapter. Coleman was the second school scheduled for Thursday so we headed that direction. We arrived at Coleman High School and set up for our presentation. The majority of their main auditorium was filled as the Coleman students were fired up to be involved and had an awesome time. Coleman definitely won the award for the most exciting school. We were able to eat some great food with the officer’s right down the road in Santa Anna where we headed to our last school for the day. Thursday night we drove to Winters were we would be presenting the following day. We were able to watch some high school football and of course we learned the cool hangouts in Winters, Texas. Our presentation went well at the school and we made sure to get our pictures taking by the historical land mark outside their door by the first FFA chapter in the state of Texas. Alli, Kaleb, and I said our goodbyes and split up as they headed up north to Texline and I headed down south to the Area X Greenhand Camp.

I started off the week by attending the largest Greenhand camp in the entire nation! This year there was a record setting one thousand five hundred kids present at Area IV’s Greenhand camp held in Graham, Texas. As a State Officer I was the first guest speaker that got to speak. Speaking to a ton of freshman students was a little bit harder than I expected. I found during my presentation that it could be very frustrating trying to deliver in front of fifteen hundred young kids if you were not prepared. Luckily I had put time into my presentation before hand and was able to keep the greenhand’s attention better as the presentation went on. I hit on three main points during my presentation. They included the following: you are only given a certain amount of time in high school so make the most of it, be ready to try something a little different, and keep pushing yourself every day. If you do these three things having a successful year will not be hard to accomplish. During my day at Greenhand camp I was also able to set up two different chapter officer trainings with individual schools. The agriculture teacher from Deleon asked me if I would be interested in setting up a one day chapter officer training with her kids as well as the chapter officers from Cisco. Of course I agreed and with the help of another state officer we will be facilitating their training session shortly.  On Friday we headed off to the State Fair of Texas located in Dallas. We were able to meet with a few of the most successful and richest businessmen and women in the area who are all a part of putting the State Fair together. Everywhere we go, the State Officer team is able to increase our network of people and organizations. On Friday we were able to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony where former First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush spoke and cut the ribbon to kick off the parade. It was an honor getting to meet her and shake her hand. Just to be in the presence of many famous people that surrounded us was very humbling. Also local music and American Idol star Jason Castro played and sang to kick the fair off. These events were followed by a parade as well as hundreds of crazy people whooping and hollering to kick the fair off. Saturday and Sunday we will be working at the fair grounds and helping out however we can. This State Fair is a huge time where our team is able to give back and serve the organization and the people that are a part of it by doing whatever we can. Whether its scooping pig mess, opening gates, or picking up trash our team will be doing some type of service to the State Fair of Texas throughout these next few days.  I am excited to get out to the fair grounds, do some community service, meet some people and of course, to eat nothing but fried foods the next few days!!

Our week started off by traveling back from Linn, Texas where our Phase III training took place. Mr. Carlos Guerra hosted the team and we were able to spend three days at his amazing ranch. Our team was able to get a lot accomplished as well as being able to hang out with some South Texas FFA members. We were finally issued our State Officer rings and officer shirts which we were all plenty pumped about. Also the team discussed many issues that we will be facing at the National Convention in October. These issues will affect the FFA nationwide so our team wanted to make sure that we all agreed on how every issue should be handled. Jeremiah Miller serves as our National Convention WHIP and was able to provide the team with good information on these issues.  All of our meals were provided at this training and Mr. Guerra truly put in an extraordinary amount of hard work making sure we had an enjoyable experience. His ranch provided a much different setting than we had been exposed to at any of our previous training sessions, and it was nice getting to experience a different setting and culture in the south tip of Texas. This week the team also experienced our first board meeting as newly installed state officers. All the officers are able to serve on the Texas FFA Board of Directors. The board meeting took place at the Texas FFA building in Austin, Texas. We had been to a meeting once before in June as Incoming State Officers but it was a much different feeling this time. During our meetings we are able to work with some of the most intelligent and supportive women and men. These individuals sacrifice a lot of their personal time to make sure that the Texas FFA is the very best that it can be. Every decision they make, they know will have a huge impact on the FFA, so they handle every situation very professionally and carefully. Witnessing their passion for this organization truly inspires the other officers on the team to work with the very same attitude. Without the great adults helping lead our organization, the Texas FFA would not be near as successful as it is today. Next I headed back to around my home area as I was able to visit and hang out with the Hico FFA chapter. I always love working with the Hico kids because you NEVER know exactly what you are going to get yourself into. You might be pulled into a mud pit playing tug-a-war, or have to eat some disgusting sardines playing some Hico FFA Fear Factor. On a good note I competed well in the Fear Factor contest, however my stomach has been twisting and turning ever since. I was able to speak in front of their chapter at the beginning of the meeting and talk to the individuals about being bold and trying something new this year. I challenged them to use their time wisely and keep pushing themselves each and every day. By doing this you will have a successful year and an unforgettable one as well. The chapter was very friendly and welcoming and it was an awesome chapter to visit.

Our week of traveling has kicked off as me and two other officers went up to north Texas. After spending a few days up there we headed to east Texas to speak to a school called Whitehouse. We were able to speak to almost four hundred agriculture science students that day. Our two main points that we tried to get across in our presentation were involvement and how they could personally benefit from that involvement. We were able to hit on different ways the students could get involved in the FFA and how there was a place for everyone to fit in through this organization. Next we discussed all of the leadership skills obtained through FFA. We discussed our mission of helping students develop their potential for “premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.” The majority of the students that we talked to were in agriculture classes but were not in the FFA. We challenged many students to push themselves a little harder and take the next step to get involved. As well as getting involved, set specific goals for themselves that they can accomplish throughout this next year or their high school career.  We did one such activity that required students to write down how they would spend $86,460 in just twenty four hours. For most students spending that money was not a problem at all. We then told them that there are 86,460 seconds in every single day. If you can spend that same amount of money in that time, than why not try to make the most of your time each day?   We were able to deliver a message to several more schools this week and concentrate on becoming more involved than just the bare minimum in any organization that you are in. We also focused on applying themselves a little bit more and pushing themselves a little bit harder. By forcing yourself to put forth a little extra effort, you can accomplish more than you thought possible. There is always room for improvement and growth if you are willing to give yourself that push needed.  All in all, I felt confident in our first presentations of the year and look forward to many more successful ones to come. Tomorrow morning our team is meeting in Austin where we will head down to south Texas where our Phase III Training will occur. At this training session we will be issued our team shirts, state officer rings, and our business cards. We will be discussing our National Convention plans, past workshops, choose chair positions and much more. After our training we will take part in our first Texas FFA Board of Directors meeting as we will attend our first meeting as State Officers. We are all packed up and ready to rock and roll and continue our amazing FFA journey.