From Washington D.C. to the Great Indiana State Fair

I am having an absolute blast! This past week I had the honor of attending the State Presidents' Conference, also known as SPC, in Washington D.C. along with state officers from every state(except for Hawaii) and even officers from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands attended! I began my SPC adventure with our State Secretary, Mr. Skylar Clingan. We flew out of Louisville, KY on July 21st. We came to the conference recognizing a few familiar faces but I am pretty sure I can speak for both of us when I say that we made a ton of new friends and we had some unforgettable experiences.

Backing things up to the flight to D.C.. While in the airport, Skylar and I were sitting across from this really nice lady while waiting to board our flight. After noticing the title on my jacket and asking a few questions about the FFA organization, Skylar and I knew that we had just made a new friend. The lady was seated beside us on the plane and even while flying above D.C. she was nice enough to point out monuments to us knowing that this was Skylar's first time flying and going to D.C. As the lady got up to get off once we landed, she looked at us, pulled out a business card and smiled. She handed us each a card and told us that if we ran into any trouble while we were visting to just let her know and she would try to help us out. As she walked away, Skylar and I both dropped our jaws when we looked down at the card only to realize that we had just made friends with the Director of the Secret Service, Ms. Julia A. Pierson. The first female director ever. We were so excited! Our trip had a great start to it!

After meeting up with the Illinois State Officers at the airport we all boarded the metro. That was an experience in itself. Those things are intense. Needless to say, I became real familiar with the metro throughout the week of the conference. We stayed at the Hilton in Alexandria. It was so nice! After long days of sessions and touring D.C., I'm pretty sure a cot would have been amazing.


 My roommates were all great! They were from Wisconsin(I formally met her at the National Leadership Conference for State Officers in Springfield, Illinois), Massachusetts, and New York. These girls made the week a blast!

One day during the conference we had congressional visits. Skylar and I met with an assistant of Joe Donnelly and we also met with my district representative, Mr. Luke Messer. Both visits were a joy and we had the honor of taking a tour of the capitol.

Touring our nation's capitol truly was inspiring and I really enjoyed the night tour! The scenery was absolutely stunning and somehow it made every monument mean just that much more. It really helped me realize how blessed we are to have our freedom. The monuments that were built in honor of those who did whatever they could to ensure our freedom made me realize that as state officers, we all have the ability to do some pretty cool things within our state associations this year, just like past American legends have done for the U.S. We have the ability to make a difference and to be a voice for our members and I am so blessed for that opportunity. 

So many amazing things happened throughout the week but on the last night of conference the National Officers had a "fun event" planned for us. We were surprised to find out  that we would be boarding a cruise ship on the Potomac River to enjoy a nice formal dinner followed by a dance also on the boat. It was amazing!!! I definitely will never forget it! It was a great ending to an amazing week!

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to all of our new friends but we know we will see them all again at National Convention in October. We left D.C. early on July 26th and we came home to a Past State Officer Family Fun Day at the Center! It was fun to get to hear about a few memories from past Indiana FFA State Officers! They were once in our shoes that we are in now.

Today was my first day in the Indiana State Fair FFA Pavilion! My all time favorite building at the state fair. This week we will be wrapping up set up days and districts will continue to help us make finishing touches on the pavilion. It is absolutely crazy to think, but then on Friday, August 1st, the Great Indiana State Fair will officially begin! So everyone come stop by! And take a stroll through Country Market and buy some cute things while you're at it! We even have ice cream!

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, besides a long day at the state fair and some eager to help FFA members, but I am going to continue taking in every moment! Until next time!

Serving with a grateful heart,

Brittany Young
Indiana FFA
State President

Hitting the Ground Running

I cannot believe that just four weeks ago on this exact night, I found out that I was slated as the 2014-2015 Indiana FFA State President. Four weeks have already passed. There is absolutely no time to be wasted. In the hours, minutes, and seconds up until the moment when I opened that envelope I had no idea what direction my life was headed. I was anxious, I was nervous and I was scared. Not knowing what the future could hold absolutely terrified me. But, boy am I beyond ecstatic about the direction in which my life took a turn! When reviewing what has happened thus far as a state officer, we really have hit the ground running. We were officially elected into office on Thursday, June 20th and on that Sunday we were moving to the Leadership Center.

At the beginning of that next week we began Blast Off training which was held in the Fellowship Center! During this training we had a series of sessions that focused on preparing and delivering a speech properly, facilitating, working together as a team and much much more.
The week after that we had the National Leadership Conference for State Officers which was in Springfield, Illinois. At this conference, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri state officers were also present. Our team had the opportunity to meet National Secretary, Mitch Baker. All of our facilitators were great and a lot of friendships and memories were made throughout the week! On the 4th of July we even went to Indianapolis as a team to watch the fireworks! It was a great team outing!

The week after that was time for Summer Challenge here at the Leadership Center in Trafalgar. It was also the week of my county fair! Around 50 members were in attendance at the camp including National Western Region Vice President, Jason Wetzler! Throughout that week, members really had the opportunity to explore all that the Leadership Center has to offer! This includes swimming in the five and a half acre lake, playing games such as basketball and volleyball, and even busting a move at the dance in the Conference Center.
Already, this week has been a busy one! Monday was our first official day in the office. Our office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, the Indiana FFA Executive Committee, which is made up of District Presidents, Section Directors, Band and Chorus Presidents and State Officers, traveled to Elanco to learn more about Elanco's facilities and what they believe in as a company and we also had Insights training. Yesterday evening we all watched a movie and we played some games together.
Today we finished Exec. training around noon and we have been in the office ever since! I am so excited for what this year has to bring! I am also excited to see what I will be able to share with the members of Indiana FFA. I am already sad that four weeks have passed! That seems absolutely impossible! I am hoping that time flying by will serve as a reminder to my team and I that we really do need to enjoy EVERY single moment. And I know we already have! Although we have hit the ground running I know that we will continue to enjoy this wonderful, beautiful, crazy ride as state officers!

Serving with a grateful heart,

Brittany Young
Indiana FFA
State President