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One Wild Week
As you can imagine I’ve been unbelievably busy. The last time I shared an update was near Thanksgiving when I posted my Life on the Farm Channel 5 interview with Jeremy Hansen. Since then, life hasn’t slowed for a minute. In fact, the second week of February was ONE WILD WEEK.
This WILD WEEK includes:
- Volunteering at Night to Shine
- Taking my CCA Exams
- Hosting the State PAS Conference
- Competing in the Midwest Dairy Challenge
Night to Shine is a special prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. This event allows Kings and Queens with special needs to have their own evening of dancing, karaoke, coloring, and more. My friend convinced me to serve as a buddy for a King or Queen. This position pushed me WAY out of my comfort zone; however, I would not have traded that evening for anything else. I was nervous as I went in, but by the end of the night, I didn’t want to leave. The joy and love shared between everyone attending this event cannot be depicted by words. I highly encourage you to volunteer at this event, even if it is just once.
Many know that my career goal is to pursue a full-time career in agronomy, where I will write and approve nutrient management plans. This being said, I need to work toward getting my Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) certification. As if college didn’t keep me busy enough, I was awarded a scholarship to take the Wisconsin (WCCA) and International CCA (ICCA) exams. From Christmas until February 8th I had to study for the 2.5-hour ICCA exam and the 2-hour WCCA exam. While my studies at Fox Valley Technical College have taught me more than I can already absorb, I completed the 50+ page ICCA study guide and watched 7.5 hours of videos for the WCCA with hopes to pass both exams. With the passing percentage of these exams being slim, I’m not confident in my work… Hopefully results come back soon.
From October until February 9th, the State Professional Agriculture Students (PAS) Officer team was busy planning the State PAS Conference. Hundreds of students gathered in Wisconsin Dells, WI on February 10th and 11th to compete for a qualifying spot at the National PAS Conference. The officers had to assist in coordinating students’ competition event schedules, leading general sessions, and even competing in their own personal events. As a student, I decided to compete in Ruminant Animal Career Progress and Prepared Speaking. Placing 1st and 3rd in these events, I was able to qualify for Nationals for both. As I move on to the National PAS Convention, I will be applying for the National PAS Officer position as well.
Ending the week with a bang, on February 12th - 14th, I traveled with five FVTC, dairy-focused students to UW-River Falls to compete in the Midwest Dairy Challenge. Each of us were placed on a team with people all throughout the Midwest. My team consisted of members from Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. As a team, we consulted for the farmer with the use of real farm data and a 2-hour farm walkthrough. Finalizing the competition, we put together all our assessments and recommendations to present in front of a panel of judges.
As if all of these things weren’t enough… I had a Dairy Genetics and Reproduction exam on my first day back to class.
While this has been a WILD WEEK, there is one final message I want to end with. Each one of these events has made the following list very apparent in my life:
Never forget to thank sponsors.
Each of the events I attended has a plethora of sponsors to make it possible, even my CCA exam scholarships were sponsored.
If you’re confident, nobody will know it’s improv.
As WI PAS President, it was my responsibility to lead the session… sometimes the script didn’t roll out as planned and the whole officer team had to be flexible to change.
Being able to watch others get excited about what they’re doing is even more thrilling and energizing.
Night to Shine (Sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation) allowed me to witness so much joy from within our community… I wish I had the time to describe it more. You can look forward to another blog specific to this.
I know A LOT of people!
There were a ton of people at all of these conferences/events, and I knew multiple people at every single one of them. We live in a small world and the agriculture industry is even smaller. Now I understand why they say love your enemies even more. It’s not just because you want to be the bigger person, it’s because they will always be there. Truthfully, I don’t have any known enemies, this was purely for the analogy.
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