Balance

In life for me, and probably for most of you reading this, there are so many things we want to do. I want to be able to have a job I enjoy, but I also want to serve the Lord in all I do. To enjoy life as much as I can, to spend quality family time, and to always progress. During my time, so far, in State Office, I’ve found that the key ingredient for success when dealing with all of these things is something so easily forgotten: balance. 

Trying to find the happy medium is the hardest part. “Life is a balance between holding on and letting go.” This quote from Rumi is especially true. When deciding to run for State Office I had to push myself to find balance. The choices were to continue as planned, which is to attend Purdue for Agricultural Engineering, or run for State Office. I didn’t come to the decision to fully commit and run until March. In the end after weighing everything out I realized that I will still be able to go to Purdue, but I will only have one opportunity at a year of wonderful experiences dedicating myself to FFA, the organization that really helped me grow into the person I am today, and then continue my education afterwards. 

When I was in high school, I was really involved with band, maybe the most out of anything I did. I played Euphonium for concert band, Tuba for pep band, marching band, and concert bands, trombone for jazz band, and finally percussion ensemble. I would participate in all these bands as well as honor bands and solo & ensemble. I started band in 6th grade as early as I could, because my older sister played Flute and Piccolo, so of course I had to join as soon as possible. I later joined the marching band as quickly as I could in 7th grade. I’m so thankful for all of the experiences I had in the band and would never trade it for the world, but I did not balance the rest of my life well. In addition to being involved in Band and FFA, I also participated in Choir and the musicals. Again, there were so many things I wanted to do, but such a limited amount of time. The one thing that made balance such a hard thing to achieve was how much time I initially committed to the musical arts.

 During my freshman year in FFA, I barely participated, only going to a few meetings the whole year and tractor day. I never went to kick-offs, conferences, contests, or really anything outside of the chapter. Taking it all into account, I just wasn’t an active FFA member, and I began to feel the need to change that. My time in FFA and the opportunity to enjoy all that FFA has to offer was shrinking. When I realized that my time was out of balance, I decided to dedicate more time to FFA and joined Soil Judging, Parliamentary Procedure, and ran for chapter office. After having success with these things, I was given my first opportunity to go to a conference, Winter LDW 2020. This was my first taste of conferences and since then I could never get enough. 

After getting more involved with FFA, I had to make decisions between band and FFA. When I talked it through with my band director and ag teacher, I was able to share my time more evenly between two things that I really loved and was passionate about. I want to encourage all of you busy bees that communication, compromise, and commitment are the factors we must consider if we are to truly uncover that key ingredient to life: balance. It wasn't about choosing one or the other, but how can I use all of these experiences and opportunities to make myself the best person I can be and then grow from all of them

Wishing you the best,

Tobias Sturgell

Indiana FFA State Secretary