From small rural areas to the biggest stage at the National FFA Organization, these ladies experienced it all for the first time! Meet Lilliana Parks and Sarah Jones, two FFA members who were able to attend the 97th National FFA Convention last week with their respective chapters as first-time attendees.
All the way from Weaver, Alabama, Greenhand FFA Chapter Parks traveled over nine hours to Indianapolis for a week full of lifetime memories. And just over 2,000 miles west of Alabama is Jones, district Historian of the North Upper Snake River District FFA in Rigby, Idaho. She traveled nearly 1,600 miles to reach the Indiana Convention Center.
As a freshman in high school, Parks has already reached incredible heights. Not only did she get to attend the the convention for the first time, but she also got to compete at the national level in the Conduct of Chapter Meetings Leadership Development Event.
While the car ride there was full of fun and exciting stops like a tour of Chaney Dairy Barn in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and some time to shop at the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville, Tennessee, Parks said, “I began to feel nervous about three hours outside of Indianapolis.”
But she and her team were prepared. “We have been working hard to prepare ourselves for nationals!,” she exclaimed.
In the end, the team finished with a silver placing as top 25 in the nation. This moment and all the preparation for the competition had Parks proud of herself and her chapter. The competition itself is actually what originally interested her about the National FFA Organization.
What kept Parks’ excitement going was attending the rodeo on Friday night with her fellow chapter members.
“My favorite moment was the rodeo; I loved watching all the people cheering for their favorite rider.” But that wasn’t all! “I also enjoyed the new experiences, I got to enjoy spending time with my chapter and making friends with other chapters.”
Parks said she found the opportunity to meet others from all over exciting and took advantage to talk to them and hear their stories.
While these ladies are similar in this being their first national convention and being members of the FFA, their traveling experiences are much different. Sarah and the Sugar-Salem FFA from Idaho chapter first flew to Kentucky to then drive down to one of Tennessee’s most iconic attractions: Dollywood!
Jones said that these activities and touring areas of Indiana and the convention center were her favorite.
“My favorite tour was the newsroom, where we went up above everyone during opening session and got to see where FFA Live is filmed,” she said. “It also was really cool to sit in on marketing since that is a future career I am interested in.”
While many people were in attendance to receive their American Degrees, participate in a national competition, or simply shop and connect with others, Jones was there to be on the Student Showcase stage and present her SpeakAg video.
Sarah expressed that, “It was a good first experience because there wasn’t much stress on me, but I still got to have the experience of going with something I made. We also had a marketing team compete, which we watched and had a blast watching all of their hard work.”
Again, the sense of pride for oneself and chapter takes the spotlight in these situations. While the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo has come to an end, all in attendance are still reminiscing on the memories they made. For these ladies, as first-time attendees, they now know what to expect and do when they attend next year!
