Some days I think Facebook’s “memories” feature was designed to show me exactly how dumb I was in high school. Like who cares that the weather dropped 40 degrees overnight!? Was that really worthy of a Facebook post? Not to mention the countless grammar errors I never seemed to catch, or was it just cool to abbreviate everything to the point that nobody could understand it.
However, we all have those memories that pop-up and make us smile as we scroll through our notifications at 6:13 in the morning. For me, it’s photos of my family, home and time spent in the showring, which makes me scroll through despite the cringe worthy posts. These times in the showring bring back memories, many times sporting the blue and gold.
That jacket was useless at stopping the brutal cold wind in the winter and was stifling in the summer heat. Shout-out to dry-cleaners!
However, every time I threw on that FFA jacket, it meant being a part of a team. Whether it was a judging contest, speech contest or stepping into the showring, your FFA family was with you no matter what.
The blue and gold taught us all life lessons. It taught us the value of competition and that even in a society where everyone seems to be a winner, we learned early on that in life, we can’t all be winners. We learned how to win gracefully and lose with class. We learned responsibility in the barn and with our livestock projects. We learned how to weld, woodworking and mechanics. We learned that a good leader, leads by example. And we learned the value of family.
The blue and gold taught us all life lessons. It taught us the value of competition and that even in a society where everyone seems to be a winner, we learned early on that in life, we can’t all be winners. We learned how to win gracefully and lose with class. We learned responsibility in the barn and with our livestock projects. We learned how to weld, woodworking and mechanics. We learned that a good leader, leads by example. And we learned the value of family.
To all who currently wear the jacket, cherish your time wearing the blue and gold and enjoy the time with your FFA family. Build connections with your advisors and seek out opportunities to grow as a leader. Take pictures, post them and share with the world your time in the blue and gold. That way, when you become a has-been like me, you’ll stop and smile as you scroll through your Facebook memories.
Here’s to the blue and gold and all the memories made.
