Oct. 8, 2004
State FFA President Continues Family Tradition of Involvement
By: Jenny Bjelland
UW-RF News Bureau
While growing up in the small rural town of Gresham, Wis, UW-River Falls student
Nicole Schmidt heard about FFA all her life. In fact, it was a bit of a family
affair.
While her grandfather and father had been active FFA members during their high
school years, Schmidt still wasn't sure if FFA was the right organization for
her.
When she entered the 8th grade, her uncle Jason was a vice president for the
Gresham Chapter FFA, and his encouragement lit a spark that has resulted in
her new role as the 2004-05 Wisconsin State FFA President.
In high school, she served as Gresham Chapter FFA vice president of student
development and as vice president of chapter development. She also served as
a Wisconsin State FFA vice president.
This past June, Nicole Schmidt was named the state FFA president at the 75th
Wisconsin FFA Convention. In addition, she has earned the FFA Greenhand Degree,
Chapter Degree, State Degree, and will soon receive the prestigious American
FFA Degree.
Serving as the Wisconsin FFA president is a dream job for Schmidt, and working
directly with FFA members at various leadership workshops is her favorite part
of the job. "The members are enthusiastic," says Schmidt. "They
want to be there and they want to participate."
Schmidt says that enthusiasm is just what the state officers are hoping for
as they try to accomplish their goal of raising the state FFA membership from
16,800 to 17,700 active members this year.
Agriculture is nothing new to Schmidt, as the dairy farm that she and her family
live on has been in the family since 1879. Yet it wasn't until her first foray
into FFA and then her junior year in high school when a few encouraging words
from a visiting farm representative changed her perspective.
At UW-River Falls, Schmidt is majoring in agricultural business with a minor
in animal science. She is balancing her busy life of college freshman and state
FFA president by taking credits this year through online courses, honors programs,
and internships. She hopes to one day hold a managerial position in an agribusiness
and to possibly own a small calf-raising operation.
Schmidt's pride and excitement in agriculture and the national FFA organization
is evident in her travels representing the organization. And true to her family's
FFA legacy, she has shared this excitement with many individuals while serving
in leadership positions in FFA, including her younger siblings. Her younger
sister serves as a Gresham Chapter FFA Chapter vice president and just recently
her younger brother, a 5th grader at Gresham Community School, told her that
he would like to someday become a state FFA officer, too.
Schmidt says early and ongoing involvement in FFA helps members develop leadership
skills, advance their education and enable them to become the agricultural industry
leaders of the future.
"There are different opportunities out there for everyone," says Schmidt,
"and FFA members should take advantage of the opportunities that FFA has
to offer."
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