Thursday, July 13, 2017

30 Days, A world of Difference


This past Sunday, July 8th, 2017, was my first Sunday home as an Indiana FFA State Officer. Not only did I try to cram every single thing I wanted to do with friends into these two short days, but I realized just how different my life is now compared to how it used to be. Looking back to just 30 days ago, it’s difficult to fathom every change that has occurred. June 8th, 2017 marked yet another 20 hour day spent planting the last of the soybean crop on my grandpa’s farm. Our day started around 4:00 AM with the long trip in the tractor to some of our furthest fields and little did I expect the slow day filled with equipment failures that lurked ahead. However, as always, I anticipated the work to come and appreciated the sense of satisfaction that farm labor instilled in me. As my day went on, problems continued. The soil was too dry, the planter was malfunctioning, a tire was going flat, and I was leaving for vacation the next day. It was safe to say that I was a little stressed out. Yet, to top it all off, I had just one week to prepare for State Officer interview rounds at the Indiana FFA State Convention where my fate for the next year would finally be revealed.


This was a fate that I had been wrestling with for weeks. I was constantly asking myself if I was qualified enough to be a state officer or if I would be better off going to college. Either way the uncertainty of what my future held was tearing me apart. Every time someone asked about my plans after high school I was faced with the reality that I still wasn't sure.


But finally, on the 8th day of the month of July, as I sailed across on Lake Monroe, I realized just how much had changed. I was no longer worried about early mornings in the tractor, breakdowns or flat tires. I had achieved my goal of state office, and knew the path that I would follow for the next year. Finally, I had gained the certainty of what was to come that I had desired for so long. Although my life as a state officer may be more focused and routine, I don't think that I would have given up a single minute of my busy life before. There are things that I miss such as the sunrise over Indiana farmland, and the smell of freshly turned dirt on a warm breeze. Just as one of my favorite lines of the FFA creed says, “for I know the joys and discomforts of an agricultural life…,” I too have many positive and negative memories from my life on the farm. Without all of these memories, good or bad, I can undoubtedly say that I would not be where, or who, I am today.

-Wyatt Law



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