Coming Back Home

This past week I got the privilege of heading back home for my county fair with my team. As a team, we were asked to work the Johnson County Indiana Farm Bureau's milkshake booth. This was a far different experience than what I had ever had at this fair, however. 

Growing up I was never in 4-H so the fair to me was all about the rides. I loved riding these rides with my family growing up and I have fond memories of the midway with them. As I got into high school and joined FFA my freshman year, something that I got the honor of doing the summer of that freshman year was work at Indian Creek FFA’s Ice Cream booth where we served, what we had called “the kool thing”, homemade ice cream to the fair goers. I continued to work this booth throughout my FFA career and grew memories right there making ice cream alongside my teammates and friends. 

As I went back to my county fair this time in a different role as a state officer I got to do many different things and experience things I never thought I would. I watched my first queen contest ever, listened to my teammates' experiences with their animals at their fairs, and also experienced a fair for the first time as an adult. While I was working at the Farm Bureau’s booth I couldn't help but look over to Indian Creek FFA’s tent, watching the kids who are in the same shoes I once was in. I found myself thinking, “What does their fair experience look like compared to the experiences I have had? Where will their journey lead them in life?” I look back on my time inside that same exact tent and reflect on what my experience was like and how it helped me get to where I am today. Some of the best experiences I have had with supporters and members have come from inside that tent. Where you come from doesn't define you but what it does do is help you find your home. 

What the Johnson County Fair taught me was that my home wasn't my physical house or anything like that. It was the people around me, it was the FFA members that I had such a strong bond with, it was the mentors that helped me get to where I am today. I challenge you to think to yourself, who is my home?

Find your home,

Garrett Bolin

Indiana FFA Sentinel