In short, “FFA is a dynamic youth organization within agricultural education that changes the lives and prepares students for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.” Anyone can go onto the FFA website to read the description of what this organization is, but in all reality, it’s hard to understand what it’s like to be an FFA member, unless you are an FFA member.

We’re the go-getters, the trendsetters, the risk-takers and the dream-chasers. We’ve traveled across the country, made friends from every single state, missed more school than anyone you know, and we’ve spent countless hours practicing for competitions you could never even imagine. We get excited to wake up at three in the morning and judge soil, and we’re the best group of adolescent public speakers you’ll ever come across. But above all else, we’re passionate and dedicated.

Beneath that blue corduroy jacket is someone who decided to join FFA. Perhaps an eighth grader who joined the club to become more involved in school, or a sophomore who wanted to advocate agriculture, but never knew how. Regardless, beneath that blue jacket is someone who decided to be brave, and try something new. Beneath that blue jacket is someone who dedicated countless hours of their life practicing their speeches in front of a mirror, judging livestock until they swore they could do it blindfolded, and studying farm business management material, so they could make themselves and others proud when the time finally came to present and compete. Beneath that blue jacket is someone who has had the opportunity to travel across the country to multiple conferences and conventions. But, also beneath that blue jacket is someone who had to miss multiple days of school, and days of lessons. From the outside, missing school sounds like a lot of fun, but in reality, it takes extreme dedication and time management. Beneath that blue jacket is someone who, at one point, hit rock bottom with what they were doing, and felt the easiest way out was to just give up. Beneath that blue jacket is someone who didn’t, and now knows the value of true success through hardships. Beneath that blue jacket is someone who has been asked millions of times if they’d like to be a farmer when they get older, because for some, being involved in agriculture means nothing more than farming. But, beneath that blue jacket is someone who set out to inform the people of the importance and the diversity of agriculture, and all the opportunities within.

From someone who’s not in FFA, it looks like it’s all about the fun, traveling, and glory through agriculture. Of course, that’s exactly what FFA is, but it’s also about the life lessons learned through the organization, the challenges, the times of weakness, and the struggles that push us FFA members to be the best we can be. We’re passionate and dedicated, and we all agree that this organization has completely changed our lives for the better, so beneath that blue jacket is someone who is proud to be an FFA member.

That’s what it’s like to be a part of the largest youth organization in the country. That’s what it’s like to be an FFA member.