If you weren’t in Indianapolis Indiana on November 1-4, you were definitely missing out! Indianapolis was the home for the 96th annual National FFA Convention.

First I should start off with, what is FFA? FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. Currently, there are over 850,000 FFA members across nearly 9,000 chapters. These chapters exist in every state in the US and Puerto Rico.

More than 69,000 people attend the annual National FFA Convention & Expo, including students, teachers, school administrators, former FFA members and guests from throughout the country. The event is the nation’s largest annual gathering of students. Students have the opportunity to explore career and educational opportunities from more than 450 industry-leading exhibitors at the Expo and participate in hundreds of education workshops and tours.

While in Indianapolis, FFA members and other supporters from around the country learned about careers in agriculture, competed for scholarships and awards, met with industry leaders, volunteered in the community and learned skills they can take back to their home FFA chapter.

As the president of the Hutsonville FFA chapter, I was one of those 69,000 members in attendance. We took off for Indy on Wednesday November 1, and this was one of the best experiences I have ever been a part of! I not only got to bond with my fellow chapter members, but it was also a great opportunity to share my love for agriculture with fellow FFA members. Our chapter attended the first session of the convention with members from all over the nation, and Puerto Rico. We then went to the convention expo where there were booths ranging from colleges, to shopping, and from welding to ice cream. We finished our night at Longhorn steakhouse. Thursday November 2 consisted of more time at the expo (you could walk around for days). While there I visited with college booths and watched some karaoke at the Tractor Supply Booth (it was a big hit). We ended our night by going to the second performance of the Cinch Worlds Toughest Rodeo. Not only was it a great rodeo performance, but we ran into a Palestine Legend, the one and only John Harrison. John was the barrel man and specialty act for this rodeo, just like he is at the Pioneer City Rodeo. The last and final day, Friday November 3, we toured Jays Christmas Tree Farm and the Hulabosch Dairy. The dairy was my favorite part of the whole trip. We learned so much about the daily operations and got to visit with a barn full of baby calves. We even got to witness one make its appearance into the world.

All in all, this was a great experience and one I think any kid interested in ag should experience. Even though it was my first and last National FFA convention, I left with memories to last a lifetime.