Stop and Smell the Flowers

As the final chapter visits are coming closer and the National FFA Convention has ended, there's time to breathe. Earlier this year, I found myself wondering if I would survive the coming school year working 2 jobs, going to school, playing in the youth symphony, and doing FFA and student council.  I'll be the first to admit it was too much. All of these activities and I even gave up varsity volleyball.....it was tough. Doing all these activities is all I've known. I've always been involved. I've always wanted to do more....but there's just not enough hours in a day or days in a week. To put it simply, I was pushing my own limits too far.

You see, it's my theory that in today's society, teens are pushed and pushed to get involved because it looks good on applications, because it gives us more experiences, or because it will keep us out of trouble. When we get too involved though...it's only asking for trouble. I think our society needs to start letting kids breathe a little; let's teach our generation the importance of stopping to smell the flowers.

As a senior in high school i'm beginning to see why so many who have graduated before me were so stressed out. The final grades. The college applications. The costs. The graduation requirements. And the question most of us fear...what am I going to do with my life?

Although a few people have told me I don't need to know yet, it feels as if it's not being enforced enough to all the seniors. Having found myself in a panic because I found I don't want to be a nurse anymore after looking at colleges all over the US based on their nursing programs, the phrase, "Stop and smell the flowers," has become my best friend.

So, now you see, stopping to smell the flowers isn't  always a bad thing. We need to slow down. we may just find ourselves to far ahead of what we planned for. For me, I'm taking a year off of school to focus souly on FFA. Maybe a class for fun, but defnitely not full time. That's my way of taking a step back to enjoy the coming adventures. What will you do?

Sincerely,
Rayna Nelson
Alaska FFA Vice President

FFA = Awesome

My name is Darien Cooke, I am from Palmer Alaska and I am the State President for Alaska FFA. You know, I have always hated speaking in front of groups. Small or large it always made me so nervous that my chest would constrict and my face would get beet red. The problem is, I LOVE to talk in front of people. I find that most problems that we have can be fixed if we talk about it. I find the best way to make people happy, relaxed, excited, is to talk. Now, I don't know why I have a fear of public speaking even though I love to speak in front of people. I love the feeling that you get when you know people are actually listening to what you have to say and not shrugging it off. Ok, this far into this paragraph you are probably thinking, " OK Darien, WE GET IT, cut to the chase" Well. The chase is. FFA has helped me tackle my fear of public speaking,  it hasn't completely gotten rid of it, but FFA has helped a ton to make me feel a little more relaxed doing it. The beauty of why I am sharing this is, this can happen to you with FFA. If you have a fear, I can guarantee that the FFA members will help you through it, just like me and my speaking. I love FFA for this, they have given me a gift I didn't know I had.So please, if you read this you are probably laughing a little, but you are also probably a little curious. Am I right? Or am I right? The world is ready for our generation to help it rise up and regain stability. It is waiting for us.This. Is. Gonna be fun. You ready? Lets rock.

P.S
By the way, or I guess BTW, You, yes, you who is reading this, you are awesome. Remember that. On a different note, how would you say BTW, Be Te Dubb? Oh, I guess like that.

Alright Data, beam me up

Darien

Your 2011-2012 Alaska FFA State Vice President is....

Rayna Nelson! I still remember that moment our state advisor said my name at the awards banquet at the 35th annual Alaska FFA State Convention in Kodiak, Alaska. It was the moment I had been waiting for since my freshamn year in FFA. It was like a dream come true.

So, who am I? I am a senior at a small career technical school in Fairbanks, Alaska where I am the Student Body President. I have been in FFA for almost 5 yearsand it has shaped me to be the person I am, but I'm sure the rest of our team could say that too. I play viola for the Fairbanks Youth Symphony, this will be my sixth year. I switched from the violin to viola Christmas of my freshman year and taught myself the new music notes. In all, I have played violin/viola for about 10 years. I love sports like volleyball and soccer and I love to run. As a student said today, "Some call it stretching myself thin, I call it being involved."

So far this year as a state officer I have traveled to places as far as Washington D.C. to represent Alaska with our President Darien Cooke along with 98 other state officers from across the US. We talked with  Senator Lisa Murkowski as well as Senator Mark Begich and Congressman Don Young. we gaave input to the United States Farm Bill and had the opportunity to talk with the Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The metro system in D.C. was another story in itself! We figured the metro out by the time we got to the airport to leave for home, but it was an exciting experience.

As a team, we have had BLAST Off and a new training we called State Officer Training Camp 2011. Both leadership development trainings have taught us many valuable skills and I am super excited for the coming year. Before I became a state officer this year, I had dreams of doing these great chapter visits and making kids feel like FFA was the thing to do. And of course it is!

So far this year, I've learned that a person can only do so much before it's too much. I've learned to meet deadlines even better than before. I've learned that working in a team isn't always perfect, but we just have to get through the struggles and celebrate the accomplishments. People come from all different life styles and it takes patience, understanding, and thoughfulness to work with all different types of people.

I'm excited to see what the year has in store and to meet some amazing people!