Sitting in a classroom teaching the future generation about agriculture and how they can support their community is how I want to spend the rest of my days. Not only is agriculture essential in schools to teach the youth about the importance of our food, but farmers also contribute to food security, economic growth, and community engagement. When the average person goes to the grocery store and looks at vegetables, fruits, and meats, most do not consider where that food came from, and often it’s not locally produced. Farmers and ranchers bring almost every base ingredient needed to the local town. There are now children who do not know where their food comes from, but agriculture educators can teach them and spark their interest in agriculture. While there are many branches of agriculture, I believe that animal sciences and crop science relate to local communities the most. To produce food security, farmers work tirelessly every day throughout the year. Crop farmers tend to their crops daily and ensure their equipment is maintained and ready for harvest. Ranchers feed, water, and care for their animals daily to ensure they are healthy and gaining weight. At the end of the animals or crops life cycle, these men and women harvest and sell these products for the community. This brings me to my next point, economic growth. Farmers produce food grown locally, often using local labor. When I worked on a farm, the beef we sold also supported me, allowing me to contribute to the community as a laborer. This happens on larger farms as well, where summer help is hired to bale hay, or fall help is needed to run wagons and harvest. Many others also take care of animals year-round. When farmers hire local help, they support their community’s economy while producing goods the community will buy. Farmers also support local businesses, such as grain companies, trucking and equipment companies, and feed suppliers. Farmers contribute to community engagement and agricultural education hand in hand. Most communities have a local farmers market where farmers sell their goods for the community to buy. When the community purchases these products, they not only support the economy but also ensure food security, while engaging with others and making new friendships. Another form of community engagement in agriculture comes from 4-H, FFA, and the events they host. When FFA chapters and 4-H clubs organize events, the community is often invited to attend and support them. This allows the public to engage with future farmers and gain a better understanding of agriculture's impact on their lives. I plan on having a future impact on agriculture in my community through the ways agriculture influences the community. I am studying to become an agriculture educator, teaching the community and future generations about agriculture while involving them in the events I host. I also plan to promote food security and economic growth by raising market lambs and selling them locally through my business. Additionally, I aim to advocate for agriculture in both my classroom and daily life, ensuring that the importance of agriculture is recognized. Without agriculture and farmers, life as we know it would be vastly different, as agriculture has played a central role in the development of human life. Agriculture is one of the most important industries on Earth, and we must continue defending it and educating others about it.

My mother is Crystal Joyner and she is the reason I am the person I am today. My mother has always had a profound impact on my life in a positive way by always being there for me and pushing me forward to pursue and achieve my goals and build a better future. As a child, we were not well off, but the one thing my mom could afford for me to do was 4-H. I started off as a clover bud, and we had a variety of projects we completed throughout the year. While we couldn't always get the best materials to make them, my mom never let me go empty-handed. She would always help me make the best we could with what we had. This is part of the reason why I always strive to do my best with whatever resources I'm given. During my middle school years, like many preteens, I often resented my mom and dad's advice because I thought I knew better. Instead of my mom reacting negatively to this, she told me she would support what I chose to do as long as I wasn't harming myself or others. This approach is one of the reasons why I never got into any real trouble as a teenager. Since I always felt supported, there was never any reason to hide things or sneak around. She also instilled in me the confidence to pursue anything I chose with a sense of her security behind me. Going into my high school years, my mom became my safe place. Whether it was drama at school, boy problems, or 4-H challenges with my animals, I turned to her for her guidance. And while she couldn't always 'fix' them, she gave me the best solutions she could and empowered me to become a problem solver and always help others when they were in need. I vividly remember when one of my close friends passed away in September of 2020, the start of my freshman year in high school. I got the phone call from my friend's mom that she was missing, and I went to my mom crying and begging her to drive to their house so I could be there for them. On the way there, we got word from her mom that she had been found but wasn't in good condition and had to be life-flighted to the nearest hospital. Losing a best friend so unexpectedly and tragically was a major turning point in my life. My mom helped me through it, comforting not only me but also my friend’s entire family. In the months that followed, she made sure to check on me regularly to ensure I was mentally okay. I believe that experience is part of the reason why I’m such a good friend now, and why I'm always making sure my friends are in a good mental space. All in all, my mother is one of the best people to happen to me. She supports every endeavor I undertake and is always in my corner, protecting me and making sure that I'm growing up to be the best person I can be. She has single-handedly made sure that I have a solid future ahead of me and that she has prepared me for the world, and for her, I am forever grateful.

As a future Agricultural Educator, I plan to inspire the youth in my career by teaching them a deep understanding of the connection between us as people and agriculture, sciences, and sustainability, and why these key ideas must be promoted in the modern life. I plan to engage students through practical experiences, encourage innovation in my classroom, and instill in my students a sense of responsibility towards the environment and food production. Practical experiences are crucial to starting a passion, especially in agriculture. By establishing experiences such as a school garden, a FFA chapter and other agricultural projects, students can experience the life cycles of crops from planting to harvest, how to complete projects on time for CDE events in FFA and even animal science aspects. Engagement creates a connection between the knowledge a student believes they have and the practical application, makes the topic more exciting and compelling for young minds. Bringing technology into an agricultural education classroom is another source of inspiration for youth. Demonstrating how modern innovations have helped humanity come so far from what we had even 40 years ago is very amazing and is sure to help young students be inspired to continue the search for even better innovations and inventions, to help sustainability. Incorporating mentorship from the local community and exposure to the agricultural industry is another very effective strategy. By organizing interactions with industry professionals, students are able to learn about the multitude of career paths available to them. Seeing how these success stories come from leading professionals in the field, and their impact on their communities, can help inspire students to imagine what their own role in shaping the future of agriculture can be. In the ways mentioned above, I can help develop a generation in the youth that goes through my classroom. A generation that is passionate about agriculture, and has the knowledge and excitement to take on the challenges of the future and present.

This new chapter in my life would be titled "From Graduation to Orientation". This period in my life encapsulates a very transformative period that is surrounded with the closure of high school, graduation, to the beginning of my college years, which is orientation. Graduating from high school serves and symbolizes the end of an academic journey but it also serves as the start of a new chapter and a new academic journey, college life. Graduation, with its caps and gowns, smiles and tassels, and plenty of parties and foods for a month or two, represents the years of dedication and hard work that all high school seniors put in to earn their diploma. Graduation is a celebration of achievements, the lessons learned, both hard and easy, and the friendships that were forged. You will bid farewell to familiar faces of your hometown and the comfort of the academic environment you have grown up in. So my chapter title tries to put the emphasis on the gravity of this very moment, the moment when you are handed that piece of paper. The pride and sentiment associated with crossing the threshold into adulthood and college life. On the other hand, Orientation has the ring of a new uncharted adventure. It signifies the initiation into the dynamic and vibrant world of college, with its new classmates, clubs, classes, dorms, and a new town. This phase of my life is surrounded by excitement, anticipation and a blend of enthusiasm and nerves of what is to come. This part of my chapter title is to encapsulate the start of a new journey. The journey from graduation and your highschool years to orientation and the future adulthood years and college years, is not merely a chronological event but is filled profoundly with personal growth. It is during this period, this summer, that I navigate the dual landscapes of reflecting on my past life and anticipation for what is to come. My past experiences will be what I build my foundation on for a collegiate environment. My title, simply put, encapsulates the bridge between the familiar and the unknown. It represents the crossroads where I bid farewell to the past while eagerly embracing the vast possibilities of the future. This chapter of my life serves as a transformative period in my life. One I wont forget.

My name is Olivia Joyner. A 11 year member of my 4-H club and a 2 year member of my career schools FFA chapter, where I study Veterinary Assisting. From a young age I had always wanted to be a veterinarian, specifically an equine vet, working with the animal that always drew me in with how majestic and beautiful they were. As I grew I soon realized that I couldn’t bear to see animals in pain, which I learned in the 6 years I raised my own herd of sheep for 4-H where I had my share of loss and heartache. It was hard to watch animals in pain and I decided that I couldn’t be a vet. I was inspired by my extension agent for 4-H and it dawned on me that I could teach what I love so much and that I can still do what I love and help future generations. That is how I decided to become an agricultural educator, with my specialty being in animal science. My favorite animal has got to be sheep. This is because I always raised them for 4-H, and they are so loving and docile. I have always been a fan of them and it’s my goal to have my own livestock operation and raise sheep. On the other hand, my interactions with animals have influenced my choice to work with them and have a career with them in the best way. Like I mentioned I wanted to be a vet, and this is due to my love of all animals, and wanting to help them when they were sick, and make them feel better. When I started raising my own animals I was soon to learn that procedures and hurt animals made me sick to my stomach. For example one time my ewe had prolapsed and we had to do a c-section to get the babies out. As soon as my vet cut the first layer of skin I couldn’t watch afraid that it was hurting her. But as soon as I was handed the babies, I got to work on making them live and raised them for the rest of their lives and I ended up taking one to fair even. When somebody has a question for me about animals, I waste no time and tell them all about it, and make sure that I educate them correctly. I love learning from my animals then teaching others. Every day I spend with my sheep, my horse, and my cattle just makes me want to do it every day for the rest of my life even more. Now I might not want to be a vet, but I do want to teach future veterinarians and save animals lives in the field, and that makes it all worth it.

Most people don’t think of being an American. They will think of being their last name, or being a teenager, or being a “football kid”. Most don’t think of what brings us all together until the nation is in danger. The pride for our country brings us together. What makes me proud to be an American is my love for the land. I am from a small rural town that has no FFA chapter or any Agriculture classes but we had a local 4H club. As soon as I was able to join I did. I learned all about the values of a 4H member, and to take care of the land, and our nation and to serve the people, not just yourself. 12 years later and I’m a senior in High School looking forward to going to college. I had to learn all about Agriculture myself. Nobody taught me. I researched on my animals, what they needed to eat, the requirements for keeping them. I learned what they should look like and act like. I didn’t have a teacher to teach me this. So now I want to be the teacher I didn’t have in school. I want to pursue Agricultural Education and help others learn about what makes me so happy, the land, the livestock, and the lifestyle. The change I want to see in our country is a change of academics. The modern education systems sets most kids up for failure. Most kids don’t need to know how to code for a computer when their true passion is welding. The change I want to see is a change for the better. One to where kids can get more into what they truly want to do. This would include more career school options, agriculture and shop classes, FFA in most if not all high schools, and more trade based learning for those who would like to pursue that career path. A kid should not be left in the dark in what they want to pursue. They should have a knowledgeable adult within arms reach to teach them and inspire them to make the best better. I will effect this change by becoming an educator myself, and making sure that I inspire my students to never give up and pursue their dreams, while also guiding them the whole way through. If they don’t know, we can learn together. I want to give kids the chance I never got as a kid. To have an adult there to guide you through the process and teach you. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day.