June 16th 2008, two vans loaded with luggage and 13 state officers excited to hit the road, except that it was a 10 hour drive. So we headed south to Aurora Nebraska as a state officer to attend National Leadership Conference for State Officers (NLCSO). Jamming out to the radio, cracking jokes, and making our state officer bracelets is what most of the drive down consisted of. Rolling into town around 9:00 we were all quite tired from our long drive. While in Nebraska we stayed at the Nebraska State leadership center. Unloading out things we got our rooms and hit the hay.
June 17-19th 2008. Our first day was a day of getting to know everyone. The Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota teams arrived and we got acquainted with them. NLCSO is put on by the National FFA Organization. They have two national officers present the 5 day conference, we were so lucky to have Southern Region Vice President: Brady Revels and Western Region Vice President: Kari Boettcher to work with. The theme for NLCSO this year was “Discover the rhythm”, using tons of music, and video clips made this theme and conference a kick’ in one!!!!!
Over these 5 days were able to work on a lot of our planning for SGLC. Working with our partners to plan and lay out our sessions was great, I think planning this far ahead is why I think we had a stellar State Greenhand Leadership Conference! We also learned more about things we knew and things new to us such as; smart goals, being a stake holder, team development, teams vs. groups, barriers for teams, using one another’s strengths to help the better of the team, setting priorities, decision making strategies, and accountability both for my teammates and myself. One of the biggest things that opened my eyes was being told I am not a big deal, having the a office is important but me as an individual in the position does not make me any more special than before being elected. It is not about me, it’s about the 9,000 plus members of Minnesota FFA! We had several sponsors of this event stop in and visit with us. It is always nice to have the opportunity to ask questions about their companies, along with what they see happening in the future for this ever changing, exciting, roller coaster ride of an industry.
June 17-19th 2008. Our first day was a day of getting to know everyone. The Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota teams arrived and we got acquainted with them. NLCSO is put on by the National FFA Organization. They have two national officers present the 5 day conference, we were so lucky to have Southern Region Vice President: Brady Revels and Western Region Vice President: Kari Boettcher to work with. The theme for NLCSO this year was “Discover the rhythm”, using tons of music, and video clips made this theme and conference a kick’ in one!!!!!
Over these 5 days were able to work on a lot of our planning for SGLC. Working with our partners to plan and lay out our sessions was great, I think planning this far ahead is why I think we had a stellar State Greenhand Leadership Conference! We also learned more about things we knew and things new to us such as; smart goals, being a stake holder, team development, teams vs. groups, barriers for teams, using one another’s strengths to help the better of the team, setting priorities, decision making strategies, and accountability both for my teammates and myself. One of the biggest things that opened my eyes was being told I am not a big deal, having the a office is important but me as an individual in the position does not make me any more special than before being elected. It is not about me, it’s about the 9,000 plus members of Minnesota FFA! We had several sponsors of this event stop in and visit with us. It is always nice to have the opportunity to ask questions about their companies, along with what they see happening in the future for this ever changing, exciting, roller coaster ride of an industry.
I will say we as a state officer team we had our great times and not so great times. We had our times of forming, storming, norming, proforming, and adjourning. I can honestly say we formed closer as a team, we had our times of storming, which I leaned can be healthy for a team to do. We preformed as a team in several tasks, and we adjourned together as a team, we all made it through it together!
One of the most exciting things was getting to know the other state officer teams along with the two national officers, all of them were so fun!! I can’t wait to see all of them again at National Convention in Indianapolis. Being told we are the leaders of tomorrow was a real eye opener. This really made me think about my future and how I want to give back to this industry that has taught me so much. I remember hearing someone say “treat every student as your best student”. I think about this and as I meet FFA members from across the state I tell myself that these members are also the future of our industry and the ones who could be in my shoes someday leading Minnesota’s FFA Association.
June 20th 2008 review and close, wow what a week! Where did the week go? Recapping on the week we were able to refresh our memories on the material we covered and why we were there. Receiving some sweet gift from the national officers; thanks to the sponsors of this event, a lot of the stuff will be useful throughout the year. OK everyone in? load’um up, time to hit the road once again, and head north. Traveling through Iowa on the way back home made the trip even more boring, ha-ha just kidding. The trip home was fun, laughing about thing from the week and finishing making our trinkets for SGLC made the drive go by fast. But what a great experience, I am so glad I got to be part of it and be with my teammates on this road tip!
One of the most exciting things was getting to know the other state officer teams along with the two national officers, all of them were so fun!! I can’t wait to see all of them again at National Convention in Indianapolis. Being told we are the leaders of tomorrow was a real eye opener. This really made me think about my future and how I want to give back to this industry that has taught me so much. I remember hearing someone say “treat every student as your best student”. I think about this and as I meet FFA members from across the state I tell myself that these members are also the future of our industry and the ones who could be in my shoes someday leading Minnesota’s FFA Association.
June 20th 2008 review and close, wow what a week! Where did the week go? Recapping on the week we were able to refresh our memories on the material we covered and why we were there. Receiving some sweet gift from the national officers; thanks to the sponsors of this event, a lot of the stuff will be useful throughout the year. OK everyone in? load’um up, time to hit the road once again, and head north. Traveling through Iowa on the way back home made the trip even more boring, ha-ha just kidding. The trip home was fun, laughing about thing from the week and finishing making our trinkets for SGLC made the drive go by fast. But what a great experience, I am so glad I got to be part of it and be with my teammates on this road tip!
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