I finally feel OFFICIAL!!!

I know I've paid my dues.  I know we've been in school about nine weeks, but until I got that Blue & Gold jacket in my hands, I didn't feel official.  I got to wear it to show in at Tulsa.  It came in after we got back from OK State Fair.  Actually, my parents bought me TWO jackets: one to show in and one for official dress only.  It's a good thing.  It had to go straight to the cleaners after Tulsa.  It was COVERED in snot and slobber from my girls.  I could have wiped my own nose on my sleeve and no one would have known.

FFA Banquet - May 2013

This year was my first year as an official ag student.  This was also my first year to be any sort of part of the FFA banquet.  I applied for the Outstanding 7th Grader award.  It's the only award my age can apply for.

I didn't get it.

I wasn't surprised.  The boy who won it is the person I believed earned it.  I believed that even before I filled out my application.

The boy that won is my friend, Jacob.  He wasn't even going to apply.  I hounded him for days about applying.  After my application was turned in, I got out my computer and told him I would help him.  We almost got in trouble from Ms. Jennings.  She thought I was doing it for him.  We promised her I wasn't.  We explained that I was asking him questions and he was telling me what to write.  She was good with that, but I think she might have still kept an eye on us.

That night at the banquet, I was so thrilled for him when they called his name!  He has put in so many hours helping with the elementary kids in the FFA Shadows program all year long.  He's a good worker, too.

Even though I really wanted this award, I am just as happy for Jacob as I would have been for myself.  If I hadn't pestered him into filling out the application, and if I had won, I would have never believed that I earned it.  This way it was fair and square.  The better man won, and I'm good with that.  Of course, I also feel proud for having a hand in him turning in an application.

My family is really proud of what I did.  They are so proud, in fact, that my parents volunteered to buy the Outstanding 7th Grader their first FFA official dress jacket...this year for Jacob...and for each year's winner from now on.  The only thing they ask for is a photo of the recipient in their complete official dress once the jacket arrives.  I think it's pretty cool.

I can hardly wait to get our jackets.  We are also definitely taking a group photo the day we get them out of the package in class!  Just two more months and we can get measured for them!  Yea!  

Hay ring

You might think I'm silly, but I don't care.  I'm excited that I'm going to get a new hay ring!  Two of the high school boys are in charge of welding me a new hay ring for Stopnstare's pen.  They were glad to hear that the order was for me because they want to paint it HOT PINK WITH SPARKLES!!!  I am all over that!  They know me so well!  You've gotta love being in a small school system.

"What are your future plans?"

I got my e-newsletter from Progressive Dairyman today.  They featured my latest post.

“WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? DO YOU PLAN TO REMAIN INVOLVED IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY? IF SO, WHY?”

• Posted by MaddieMoo on August 6, 2012 at 6:41am
• View Blog

When I first got this question, all I could think of was “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  That freaked me out because I don’t know.  I’m still a tween-ager.  I’m only twelve and a half years old.  My mom and I talked about this question for three days. Here is my list of things I have honestly considered for my future so far:  Pre-K teacher, actress, professional ballerina, and beautician.  No joke.  We laughed about it a lot, but we were afraid that list wasn’t a good enough answer.  Then we looked at the question again and decided that maybe it wasn’t asking what we thought.  We thought that maybe it was asking about my nearer future.  Since I’m only twelve and a half, I’ve got a lot of future ahead of me.  Even high school is still a ways off.  I have several things that I’m looking forward to in my middle school and high school future.    

I plan to continue showing dairy.  I still have six more school years I can show as a 4-H or FFA member.  I want to continue to expand my dairy herd through breeding what I have and by purchasing additional animals.  I have always thought I would eventually own at least one of each of the major dairy breeds.

I would also like to continue to be a dairy princess.  I have been chosen as the Oklahoma Ayrshire Jr.

Princess for three years in a row.  When I am no longer chosen as an Ayrshire princess, I will be able to compete for a crown in another breed association where I am a member and show animals of that breed.  

We did pre-enrollment in school in May.  School starts in two days, and as a seventh grader I am going to take AG class!  I can’t be in FFA until eighth grade, but I can at least be in Ag class.  I’m so excited!  For ONE thing, she's already told me that I'm going to learn a lot more about dairy and dairy judging.  Later there will be SAEs and CDEs and convention and banquet and all kinds of new stuff.  I also plan to always be in  4-H.  My 4-H leader, who is also the FFA advisor, will help me make the right choices in my project areas so I can get the most out of both organizations without overlapping.  It’s tricky.  You can be active in both, but you have to be careful that you don’t “double-dip” as she calls it.  This year I turned in a 4-H recordbook for Gold in Dairy Livestock, Silver in Dairy Foods, Silver in Nutrition, Bronze in Shooting Sports, The Nutrition Special Award, and The Outstanding Junior Special Award.  I do a lot of work in a lot of areas.  I have been a  4-H officer for the past three years.  I will run again this fall.

I will continue to compete for Local Overall Exhibitor.  This is a competition among exhibitors of all the species.  Points are earned by your placings, showmanship, sportsmanship, herdsmanship, and your scores by judges during an interview process.  I have been showing for three years.  The first year, I was Runner-Up Overall 4-H Exhibitor.  The second year AND the third year, I WON 4-H Overall Exhibitor!  

I can’t wait until I’m fourteen.  It seems like fourteen is the magic age for lots of cool stuff.  This last year my placing qualified me to go to nationals in shooting sports, but I wasn’t old enough to be invited.  Fourteen is also the age I can start running for Oklahoma Dairy Princess.  It’s the year that I can turn in my first 4-H state level recordbooks.  I can run for 4-H office on the county level.  I can be considered for 4-H County Hall of Fame.  

I will also keep on helping with Cloverbuds and working in dairy themes wherever we can. 

I will continue to promote the dairy industry and dairy foods as a part of a healthy diet.  I will work for Dairy MAX’s Susan Allen for as long as she will have me.

   

Who knows what else I’ll get to do with agriculture?  Just recently I’ve been invited to spend a day working at Cross Country Genetics, and just the other day I was invited to come work for a day at a family dairy.  Who knows what other agricultural opportunities I will get in the future?    

Repost:  From Progressive Dairyman E-Newsletter 08-10-12