A better version of ME for YOU...

Up & Up - Relient K

Let’s think back 10 years ago… I’m not sure what your age was, but I was a 3rd grader at Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Marshall, Minnesota. In that one year, I learned a couple things. I learned that if you want to spend an entire week staying in for recess, you should play Mortal Combat with your friends. When working on a sewing project in class, make sure that you know where the needle is otherwise you begin to bleed profusely. I learned that if you would like your Pokémon cards taken away, you should play with them during class…I still don’t have my Bulbasaur. And, if you want to win the spelling bee, you better know that the word LIMB has a “B” at the end. One day, amidst my own adventures in learning my teacher, Miss Boe, sat our class down and told us this story:

A man was running on the beach, and noticed ahead of him a young boy throwing something into the ocean. As he got closer he noticed that the boy was throwing starfish into the ocean. The man asked,
“What are you doing that for?”
The youth replied,
“I’m throwing starfish back into the ocean. The tide is going out and if they don’t get back in, they will die!
“Child, can’t you see the hundreds of starfish along the beach? Don’t you know that there hundreds of miles of beach? You can’t possibly make a difference.”
Then the youth bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean.
“I made a difference to that one!”

This past summer, while sitting on the Metro transit train in Washington D.C., a number of Metro riders began throwing questions at me…
“Yo man, whats up with dat blue jacket!?”
“Excuse me officer, could you tell those children to pipe down?”
With a smile on my face, I answered their questions, but then had to quick jump off to transfer lines. One day, just as I was used to, a finger tapped me on the shoulder and a voice asked, “Excuse me sir, but could you tell me about your jacket?” I once again explained, but instead of leaving the Metro I stayed on because she asked me to talk with her. I sat and listened. Germaine is from Cameroon in Africa. She told me of how she lost her father at a young age, her family was poor and yet she still managed to come to the United States 5 years ago. She came for medical school and even though she knew zero English, she was still taking regular undergraduate courses in English. This past year, she received a full ride scholarship to John Hopkins. Its one of the top medical schools. But, she isn’t becoming a doctor for the title, money or prestige- she is taking it straight back to Cameroon to help her sick community. She doesn’t make inspirational speeches, she hasn’t made any scientific breakthroughs and she hasn’t won any athletic trophies. Instead of trying to do something she isn’t as capable of, she invests her time in what she can offer. Germaine makes a difference because she is who she is, for others.

Well, sounds like I will never make a difference, I can’t be a doctor- I barely passed Chem. 1015! But no, that’s not the point. What Germaine did, just as many other people before her have done, is focused on what she can do and used it for the betterment of others. Time spent thinking about what we can’t do, or who we aren’t is time taken away from being who we are, and giving what we can.

But a step beyond just being who you are, we need to be the best version of who we are.

I’m no Martin Luther, or Shawn Harper or Spiderman- but I am Kirby Schmidt. When I asked some of my friends to describe, who I was, they said I was: hardworking, motivated, energetic, caring and service oriented… Oh and they said that I was kind of a dork. When I think about it, I would say that those are some core beliefs that make up the best version of who I am- dork included. Do our daily actions reflect who we really are?

Each of us can identify at least one time on our own lives where our actions or decision didn’t reflect the best version of who we really are. Have you ever had someone say to you, “I can’t believe you said that, did that, acted like that?!”… When I think back to times like that; Yeah, I can’t believe it either. That’s not who I am, or anything that I believe in- it eats me up to think about it. The thing is friends, we have all made mistakes that don’t reflect who we are, but we still have today and the rest of our lives to be who we really are for others and the world.

In the summer of 2007, I went to my very first FFA camp. I had never been to any other type of camp, but this was the best! I had a blast, I made new friends and above all I wasn’t afraid to be my energetic, motivated, dorky self. Amidst all of the crazy fun that happens at camp, like the Rec. directors Brand Lanoue and Kayla Pearson chasing each other around banging pots, pans and bells- or my own secret scheme to cover the first person to fall asleep in our room with shaving cream, I noticed that one particular girl was not. She sat by herself at lunch, during flag raising ceremonies she walked alone and was MIA during Rec. time. Immediately, I got frustrated,

“How can someone not be having a good time at camp? Should I tell the state officers, an advisor?”

but I soon realized that instead of passing the problem onto someone else, I could just go and talk to her. So I did. During lunch, I plunked myself right across the table from her and starting talking. My friends were wondering what the heck I was doing over here, but I focused on something that I could do...

Just talk...

The conversation started slow, but after a while of establishing some common ground and a couple jokes, we had a better conversation. Later on in the week she resumed to her shy-self. Finally, it was banquet time. I wasn’t sure what exactly this was either, but my friends told me to do it because it would be fun. It turns out; I had to leave camp early. Just before I left, I found the girl and encouraged her to give banquet committee a shot; it could be a lot of fun for her. I then packed up and went back to Marshall.
I think back and I can say that in those moments, I was one of the better versions of who I really am. Yeah, my friends thought I was weird, but I can’t deny what goes through my heart and mind when I see someone alone, or in a bad mood. I just need to give them what I can. I care, and I give them my time… But it wasn’t a while until I heard back from her.

Making a difference doesn’t happen because you can quote someone’s famous words, or imitate the actions you saw someone else do successfully. It comes straight from here. It comes from being not only who you are, but the best version of who you are. Being who you are for others. It wasn’t until last fall, about 2 years after camp that a good friend of mine came up to me and said, “Hey Kirby, you wouldn’t believe the great story I heard. I was at a chapter banquet and the chapter president talked about how some guy named Kirby came up to her at camp and encouraged her to get involved. Did you know that she was on the banquet committee?
I couldn’t believe it, all I did was talk to her for like 15 minutes total!

How could I have possibly made a difference?

How can we possibly make a difference?!!

Each day there is someone, some cause, something out there that is waiting for you. They aren’t waiting for you teachers, your parents, your other friends because who they really need is you. You are enough. Germaine, despite her setbacks, is where she is because that it what her life is about. Serving others, especially the people of her native country. Finally that starfish story is hitting me. When I think back to my time at FFA camp, even though there we many opportunities for me to hang out with my friends or make 20 new friends, instead I focused on the one thing I could do. Just give one person a chance. A chance can make a change. What is 10 minutes out of our day, after school, on the weekend? To you it may be nothing, but to the world out there, waiting for you to step up and be who you really are- it makes a difference. Whatever it is in your life, do it not only for yourself but for others.

My life, well…I’m just trying to be a better version of me for you.

So I met this guy...

Forewarning: this isn't an earth shattering or ground breaking blog post, and it should be quick!

Once upon a night class, our Agricultural Education class was handed out a test to take. It was a pilot test to test the difficulty of the test for future test takers- TEST.
Just as I finished answering questions about how to accurately saw a board, define why steel is galvanized and what may cause an infection 'blackleg' in cattle the test proctor pulled me aside. He said,
"Hey I need to tell you something. So, I'm no Ag Ed guy or FFA person but my dad was. In fact, he came up with the concept of the corduroy jackets."

If this is true- WOW!
If this is not true- carry on...

JEEPERS! It was exactly one year ago at this time that I woke up in the morning thinking to myself.
"Is this real?"
Now I still wake up and say,
"Is this real?"
Just as I began a new chapter, and conclude it I still find myself asking the same questions.

Slow down!

I feel like a guy driving a wagon of runaway horses, because I keep saying to myself: "Whoa!"
This past month has been a non-stop roller coaster, and I just want to say,

STOP!

Give me a minute to breathe!!

I cannot believe that in 2 weeks, this campus will be flooded with over 3,000 FFA jackets, and the in 3 weeks I will have retired as a state officer.
Before I begin to reminisce this past year, I need to fill you in on what has happened in the past month- BANQUETS!!!
Lyon County Corn and Soybean Growers-
... For one night I got to go home and spend time with my family. Lyon county is my home county, so it was nice to have the location near. Here, Tracy and Marshall FFA members as well as Greg Tusa from Jackson County Central FFA joined me at the banquet. The current chair, Jeff Buyck, 2004-2005 MN FFA State President and my mentor, invited me to the event. I had a conversation with two young agriculturalists, Jayden and Mason. They are 5 and 8, yet their age does not limit them from their interest and knowledge of working in the field. As many times as I hear about the "future of agriculture", it has encouraging to see it as well. To my surprise, by the end of the night, I was also elected to the Lyon County Board of Directors! Thank you to the Lyon County Corn and Soybean Growers for inviting me, and for the producers who continue to support it.

Hutchinson FFA-
...What do you get when you combine:
1. Rubik's cubes being solved just over a minute
2. A unicyclist that climbs stairs
3. Pork sandwiches
4. A Hannah Montana routine
5. and stories of an extreme snowball fight ?
- THE HUTCHINSON FFA BANQUET! Yep, everything listed happened at this banquet. I had a great time catching up with my old friends from Hutch, as well as making some new ones. Congrats to Katie, the Star Greenhand! She received a $75 scholarship to attend camp this summer. Thank you to Kelsey, Jaden, Katie, Chelsea, Briana, Zach and Miranda for putting on a great banquet! Congratulations to the new, 2010-2011 Chapter officer team!

Region IV FFA-
... Thank you to Erin, Doreen, Bailey, Andrew, Kelvin, Tanner and other members of the officer team for putting on a great banquet! I caught up with some Foley FFA members, including Ashley who was recently announced as a Star Farmer Finalist! Good luck to this year's team especially the 2010-2011 Region IV President- Sabrina Kieser from Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead FFA! I also thoroughly enjoyed driving around the gravel roads of Waverly in attempt to find the huge fire that was burning with Crystal and Doreen.

Owatonna FFA-
... I love Owatonna. A lot. Their banquet was jammed packed with delicious food, a live auction, talent and great stories from Mr.Spindler. Congratulations are due to Travis, who will represent Region VII at State Convention in the Talent competition. Also, to the Dekalb Award winner DJ.
If you have a sweet tooth for over 17 dozen, different flavored cookies- come next year and place you bid for them! They sold for over $200! Don't worry, the funds go straight back to the chapter in helping with state convention expenses. Thank you to DJ, Steph, Kelsey, Andrew, Lisa, Jen, Matt and Brooke for putting on a great banquet! Good luck to this year's newly elected officers, and serving as the Region VII President, Kelsey Mussman.

... Now I need to get back to working on MORE CONVENTION STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Forest Lake FFA Banquet

My very first FFA Banquet of the year I was invited to go to the Forest Lake FFA Chapter! One thing that I could tell that this chapter cherishes is their history. At the entrance, there were scrapbooks dating back almost 3o years! I enjoyed watching the transformation of the different members throughout the scrapbooks. For example, to watch how a the shy Greenhand with out her own jacket in the pictures transformed to a member at camp, to a member carrying plaques for public speaker to my current teammate: Katie Miron. Forest Lake is also home to the Daninger family, who all have a rich history with the National FFA Organization and the dairy industry. Luke, Erin, Nathan and Mariah are all current Forest Lake FFA members. Their father was a past state FFA officer! In case you didn't know, their family bottles their own milk at Autumnwood Farm. Quite simply, it is heaven in a glass. I think their milk should be coined as the official drink of the Minnesota FFA. http://autumnwoodfarmllc.com/index.html

Erin, Carter, Sarah, Kayla, Andrew, Matt, Nathan

Photo courtesy of Kristy Mussman

The night highlighted the accomplishments of the members of the chapter from their National Food Science team to their Million Hour Challenge Award.This chapter is most definitely a great example of what is means to be engaged with the members, school and community it serves. While I believe credit is due to the students, because this is a student led organization, I think that the advisors- Mr. Marzolf, Mr. Miron and Mrs. Ward deserve as much recognition. Just from the glimpses that I saw of them, I could tell that they have not only invested their time into their careers, but into the students. It is because of Agricultural Educators like them that agricultural education continues to change lives.

Thank you to the Forest Lake FFA Chapter for inviting me to your banquet, feeding me and allowing me to gain insight on the individual and team successes your chapter continues to support.

I can't wait until more!!!!

Napkin Doodles

This was our last SOPD of the year! It was bitter-sweet as we spent the day with the leaders of Alliance Pipeline and learned more about the over 1.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas that is delivered through the pipeline EVERY DAY.
Have you ever found yourself doodling on a napkin at a restaurant? I have. In fact sometimes I leave pictures for the waitress... OK SO BEYOND THAT FACT!- The idea of bringing natural gas from north eastern British Columbia, Canada all the way down to Chicago, Illinois, USA started with doodling on a napkin!

The system itself it quite complex, and the science and engineering is incredible. You might need a helmet because this stuff will blow your mind. However, I can't even tell you about it because it was really over my head. What I can tell you is that Alliance Pipeline ensures that their service will continue to support the health, environment and communities impacted by the pipeline.

Alliance Pipeline is a great friend of Minnesota FFA as the help with the sponsorship of hundreds of scholarships for FFA members to attend our state camps in the summer. Tony Straquadine and Ken Goulart - employees at Alliance - have also served on the Minnesota FFA Foundation Boards. I am personally thankful for their support because if it weren't for their scholarship I would have never gone to the camp that has helped shape me into the leader and person I am today.

Not only does Alliance Pipeline support scholarships for FFA members, they support the future of us, members.

THANK YOU, cannot even begin to describe my gratitude.

FFAvorite Week continued...

Just after sneaking back to finish my Animal Science test, I packed up for the long haul home for the weekend with some stops along the way.

First stop: Springfield FFA!
My good friend from camp, and cabin roomate, Kelly invited me to some to their chapter meeting and 2nd annual Wii Tournament. Yes. Wii Tournament. Traffic kept me away from making the short meeting, but it didn't keep me away from total domination in the tournament! Once making myself at home in the Ag Room in Springfield, I got the chance to catch up with some friends: Jordan,Kelly, Jeremy, Cheyenne, Andy, Tyler, David and Mr. Brown.
Jordan... is college bound for St.Cloud. Due to his hard work in basketball, he has been offered a nice scholarship to play there. Jordan will retire this year as a Region VI FFA officer.
Andy...is younger than I thought he was. All year, I kept thinking he's graduating, but he still has another year. I had a great conversation with him and talked through the National Chapter Award. It's encouraging to know that he still has another year to serve as a positive role model in his school. He is currently serving as chapter president.
THE set up for the tournament was awesome, with 2 Wiis going simultaneously, each projected on the wall of the Ag Room/Library. Kelly and I were partners, and remember how I mentioned my 'total domination'? That's is more of a preview more next year, because we got dominated 0-2 eliminated right away. DONT LAUGH. It's not funny. I also spent the night browsing the school with FFA members looking for the hidden FFA emblem. Needless to say, we failed.

Next stop: G-ma's!
Yeah, that's the best part about having a Grandma who lives in the area-> A place to sleep and good food. Never fails!

Good Morning: Southwest Star Concept FFA!
Another friend of mine and former Region VI teammate, Maddie informed me of the events in Heron Lake, Minnesota to end their FFA Week. They had baby animal day.I had my mind set on filling the minds of kindergartners about the wonders of sheep, but instead Loretta did the talking. Instead, I was just another kid asking questions about the ferret, chicks, ducks, goats, calf, horses, lambs, dog and guinea pig. I'm so glad I went because I got to see Mrs.Schoenfeld. Long story short, she is the bomb and was one of the driving forces that helped me get where I am today. She currently works with Jackson County 4-H, after previously teaching Agriculture are SSC and advising Region VI FFA. Oh, and Megan, if you read this, I didn't forget you, I hope you are feeling better. I also got the chance to meet some of the guys in Mr.Place's Livestock class:
Jon... is going to be a Golden Gopher next year!He is a big fan of NCIS, CSI and anything that has to do with mysteries. Next fall, he intends to study Psychology and Sociology in hopes to prevent future crimes.
After cleaning up the gym in Heron Lake, we hustled over to Okabena (the High School) for Ag Olympics where students were challenged with wheel-barrel racing, milk chugging, dressing as a farmer and making butter. Students were all successful in the tasks except for the butter part. Lucky for me, I just learned the proper technique of butter making from the one and only Tony Seykora. Of course, butter formed! I wish the best to my friends, Megan and Maddie who will represent their chapters as State Officer candidates this year! Also, that they (finally) will win the state Meats CDE... but you are going to have to get past Marshall first!

Final Stop: Marshall FFA!
I made my journey home, and in Marshall I had the chance to catch up with a growing leader in our chapter:
Eric... is currently serving as chapter treasurer. As a member of the Farm Business Management team that placed 3rd last year at State, I can't wait until they make Nationals this year. (Fingers crossed) Eric has high goals and aspirations in this organization. His passion and interest for agriculture and FFA would not even indicate that he grew up in town. This year he is running for Region VI office and would like to attend the Washington Leadership Conference.

With my experience in Job Interview, I helped new member Adri with her competition. She is applying for a position with photography with an agricultural company. I also got some much needed signatures for scholarships from my faithful advisers! But, the lambs back home were calling my name, so I took off shortly.
What a great week. At one point I thought, "...Wow, that was my last FFA Week.." WHAT?! How stupid of me. Just because you don't wear the blue jacket or it "shrunk", doesn't mean that you still cannot celebrate the FFA Week with your community. I encourage you, for next year to make yourself present at one of your home chapter or local chapter's events.
TOTAL Mileage for FFA Week 2010 = 1,238 miles!!!
Each gallon of gas was worth it.

My FFAvorite Week...

To continue my adventures during National FFA Week, I set my alarm for an early drive down to one my favorite chapters: Owatonna FFA. Although I'm not sure how our relationship developed, I'm sure glad it did. In order to show their appreciation for their faculty, students and community, the Owatonna FFA members had an appreciation breakfast. Again I got to see my good friends, Kelsey, Matt, Travis and Steph. It was great to catch up with them and see them in action as leaders for their chapter.

But hey, I didn't come to sit around and chat- I came for work! So, I found my way back in the shop flipping pancakes with Brooke and Caleb. It was a lot of fun to just shoot the breeze with them while making breakfast. Once it was time to clean up, Steph, Kyle and I did some dishes and rocked out to some Queen, "Bohemian Rhapsody". (Or at least I did...) Again, I'm glad that I came to Owatonna because I got to meet another young leader in agriculture:

Kyle...grew up on a dairy farm and they milk about 140 cows, twice a day.In addition to his involvement with General Livestock judging, Kyle is active on the State bound Owatonna Wrestling team.Although he isn't quite sure where he wants to go or do, he knows that agriculture will be apart of his life. (I think the U of M is a good choice...)Yet again, I have met another outstanding role model for the younger guys in production agriculture.

Brooke...is staying quite busy with college classes right now as a PSEO student at Riverland. Once she graduates this spring she would like to finish up her generals at Riverland and hopefully find a college for Radiology.

Caleb...has a growing interest in the dairy industry even though he has grown up in town. He started working at a friend's dairy farm when he was younger, and since then he has been hooked. In fact, he is planning on going to SDSU next fall for Dairy Science.

... Mr.Spindler has some pictures from the event, but I'm just waiting on them! Here is part of the chapter at Teach AgDay!

P.S...Congrats to Kelsey as she was recently elected to serve as the Region VII FFA President. Also, to Matt for his decision to serve our country in the military. I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!!! (can I come back???)
Mr.Spindler and Ms. Tinaglia- Thank you for being such great mentors and advisers to the members of this chapter!

On Thursday...over 200 blue jackets invaded Saint Paul at the State Capitol for National Teach Ag Day!It was great to not only share our experiences about Ag Ed with legislators at the capitol, but to hear their own blue jacket stories. Also, I chatted it up with some FFA members from West Central, Verndale, Foley, Perham and Randolf FFA.

This was my first time meeting these members/chapters and I'm glad that I took the time to stop and talk with them. After having some conversations with them, it was unanimous-they love being at the capitol, feeling apart of something bigger and they LOVE THEIR AG TEACHERS! Our team pictured with Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba and Commissioner Gene Hugoson.

Then, I quick ran back to campus for an Animal Science test. I hope I passed!

Instead of lumping everything together in this single post, I am going to make another post probably tomorrow or so about the final 3 visits in FFA Week! Thanks for tuning in.