Siblings… Little munchkins… Kids… Children… What would we do without these little angels? One of my favorite stages of my siblings I have witnessed growing up is the “why?” stage. “Hey Amariah, we are going to clean up!” I would say and she would reply, “why?” In response, I would add, “Because it needs to be clean.” Amariah would quickly respond with the famous “why?” to every reason I gave her for the next five minutes. Finally I would give up and actually get to work. Lately I have been asking a lot of those “why?” questions to myself and realized I needed to take a deeper look into “why?” I have three things in my life, family and friends, agriculture, and FFA.
Do we have family to play pranks on? Do we have friends just to take us to sonic? Even though I do enjoy picking on my little brother and going out to sonic with my friends, these are not the true reasons of why we have family and friends. My little brother (well not so little anymore) has been my best friend since he was born. Indie has always been there to “protect me” from guys, stay up late and watch a movie, and even to talk about issues in life that you go through while growing up. In our lives we all have special people who are near and dear to our hearts. We have family and friends to help us through the hard times and to guide us in the right direction. Who is that family member or friend that means the world to you?
Do we have agriculture so we can “play in the dirt”? Now as children we might think that “playing in the dirt” was the best way to make our mom mad, but as we grow into young adults we start to realize what that dirt has provided for us. My family has owned the land we live and ranch on since the 1870s and I know that the dirt my great great grandpa lived and ranched on is the same dirt my family continues to work on today. Agriculture to me shows true beauty of work ethic in life. Cattle are near and dear to my heart. Getting up at 3a.m. to check on a heifer that’s having difficulties calving is one thing I love (might I add that I am NOT a morning person). Once I get to see that baby calf walking on the ground it is definitely worth the early morning wake-up call. The growth and development of agriculture has changed in many ways such as developing and using hybrids and artificially inseminating livestock. Why is agriculture important to you?
Do we have FFA so we can get out of school? Even though getting out of school may be nice, FFA provides opportunities to have good fellowship with others. My junior year of high school my family hosted our chapter’s “Fishin’ n Fun Night”. Around 30 members made their way out to our residence to go and fish while also roasting some hot dogs and eating smores. Little did we know that this fun evening was going to turn into an evening with some teamwork involved. While one of the members was casting he accidentally snagged the lanyard in his pocket and casted his keys right into the pond. Lucky enough the place where the keys had landed was only about 4 ½ feet deep. Two of the guys got in the pond and worked together as a team to find the keys. His keys were successfully found after a whopping fifteen minutes of searching. Little did we know how a fun fishing night could turn into a teamwork event trying to find keys. Whether it’s serious workouts for the upcoming CDE, late nights put into your SAE, or even a night full of fishing and fun, FFA provided those memories made with friends that I will continue to cherish. Why are you involved in FFA?
Why family and friends?
Why agriculture?
Why FFA?
