Adam Torres and Jael Cruikshan discuss Texas FFA.
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Show Notes:
Listen to coverage from the 96th Texas FFA State Convention in Houston, Texas.In this episode, Adam Torres and Jael Cruikshank, FFA Member, explore her experience as a member and why going to convention is important.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres and today I am in Houston at the Texas FFA convention. This is my third year in running. And today I have JL Cruikshank on the show. She is walking by. She said, Hey, I was told I was supposed to be here for an interview.
What are we talking about? We’re talking about Texas FFA. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much Well, this is actually my first time in Texas I arrived here on last night around midnight in Austin and then got a ride over here to Houston So with my short time here, I’m loving Texas FFA so far it’s true.
You guys do everything just a little bit bigger over here. I’m from Oregon So it’s been a long change, but i’m super excited to be here. Thank you for having me on the tab How was the flight in all good? Oh, I mean the hurricane. We’re all like I was pretty worried That was gonna be canceled. I flew in last night from la so it wasn’t yeah houston.
Yeah impressive Okay, I heard no flights were getting into houston when I was trying to reschedule mine I actually had a wildfire from where i’m from my local airport So that was delayed on that end. So with the wildfire and the hurricane both sides You I was a bit worried about getting here, but we made it and so i’m super excited We had just like three rescheduled or canceled flights on the way here, but we’re here now so I couldn’t be more happy texas or ffa, excuse me, oregon ffa how’d you learn about it?
Firstly? How’d you get introduced to the organization? Where’d it come from? Yeah, so totally ffa kind of goes back to my roots Both my grandparents, grandpas, were ag teachers, so they both raised their children, and then both my parents actually met through FSA. My dad likes to brag he had the biggest pig at the Oregon FSA State Fair, so he thinks that’s why he got my mom, apparently.
He’s a foster boy, honey, it’s a thing. Yeah, so they saw each other a few times, and then my dad was actually a student officer at the time so they just kind of like, you Talked a little bit, but nothing much. And then one day, the next year, during March at the state convention, my mom was being elected to state office, and my dad was retiring.
Yeah, and so he was the state president at that time. The state president, like, congratulates everyone. So he has this, like, whisper in her ear, like, Congratulations on stage. Thankfully, the microphone was off, but instead of saying congratulations, he said, I love you. Oh, come on. Bad story ever. Right? And so, Through that, they started dating shortly after that, and so it was really cool.
That’s actually where, like, it kind of goes back to my roots. But then, I know of FFA through my family, and so then I joined as soon as I could. My 8th grade year, I was showing a pig at the Deschutes County Fair. Wasn’t the largest pig at the state fair, but It’s okay. I’ll leave that one to my dad, right?
So then I started my journey, I got as active and involved as I could at the Bend FFA chapter in Oregon. And then I’ve just loved it and hooked on ever since, and so now I’m here, and Fat. I’ve competed in lots of events and I served as the Oregon FFA state president last year. And so now I’m thankful to be here at Texas convention and all this led me here.
What’s your favorite part about being a part of FFA? Like why do you do it? A lot of different organizations, a lot of other than being legacy, like, like other than that, like, why do you do this? Yeah, well, that was actually something I had to figure out since at the beginning I kind of joined FFA since like, I heard my family talk about it, right?
I’d seen how it changed and impacted other people for the better. It just creates the next generation of leaders and that’s something that I wanted to be a part of But then as I got into it, I figured out the people that you meet is like nothing else that you’ll do. It’s true Yeah, so like here I would never be here at the texas convention making these connections without ffa And so just the opportunity that it gives you I just think the people that you meet is something that you can’t do with any other organization like this being the biggest student led organization in the U.
S. and so that’s just awesome to see and I just couldn’t be more thankful for it And it’s something that hooked me immediately when I joined so well, how do you participate in FFA? Like what are some of the activities that you do? Yeah, so especially in high school My biggest thing was parliamentary procedure contests.
It’s kind of like a debate contest I love the strategy behind it, and you get to do it with a team. Seem to be podcaster, yeah. Whatever, I’ll leave that to you. But yeah, you get to do it with five other people, so I loved like the team aspect, but also the, just how you get to like debate with other people, but the strategy behind it.
So that was my biggest, my favorite thing in FFA. I did some public speaking, just tried to be as active as I could, and just showed pigs at the fair. Just meeting people in the office or positions, that was my biggest thing in FFA. Yeah. Yeah, I think as I’ve been in the FFA around here more, I should say, I think that I’ve just seen so many different stories and so many different relationships that have been made and as I see them and even myself now, I mean, now, now I’m looking and I’m like, I’m interviewing somebody for the second time or even the third time and I’m like, wow, it’s just a, it’s a pleasure to do and it’s different.
And I’m like, wow, like it’s amazing. So looking at, Your future plans not just FFA, but otherwise like what’s next for you? Like what are you planning on doing? Yeah, so I’m super excited. I took a gap year last year for state office So I’ll be going to college for the first time this fall and I’m excited to be going to Oklahoma State.
Oh, congratulations Thank you. It’s close to Texas. I know it’s nothing like Texas I went to Michigan State. I’m from Michigan. I’m here like, I’m here as a visitor too. It’s okay. You might have been apologizing to everybody else, but not me today. Yeah, no, but I’m super excited to be studying ag business at Oklahoma State, getting involved with the community there this fall.
So yeah, I’m excited for that. Awesome. Fantastic. Last question, Jo. Why should, I know you’re walking around, you see a lot of different corporate sponsors, a lot of different individuals here. Why should people, businesses, come here, get involved, learn more about the members? Why should they do that? Yeah, for sure.
Well, I know something that I first consider when I’m thinking of like a business to like get involved with whether that’s an internship or something. The first people I would always look to is those FFA sponsors, those people who are in the career fair that you can talk with, have a connection with.
And so I just love talking to the different people here and just having the opportunity to be like, what are you guys about? What makes you unique? And then looking for maybe future career opportunities, future internships. Whatever that is, the people here who sponsor FSA are the first people I’m going to go to.
And just like learning so much about what they do, what made them successful, it helps these future generations. And so I know a big thing is we need to make sure that we’re making sure the future generations are set up for success. And that’s what we’re going to make to thrive. And so I think that these booths, what they’re doing here is exactly what we need to do to make sure agriculture and leadership in the future is where it’s.
Good needs to be and so I think that the first step is supporting f fame being here at these conventions And just connecting with those members at a real level and just having genuine conversations with them Amazing. Well, thank you so much for coming on this show and i’m gonna let you go back to your day So, thank you.
I appreciate you coming on Amazing here and being here at convention. It means a lot to these numbers. Thank you so much. Have a great day