A Letter to Next Gen: Our Path to Purpose
FFA in the USA Reporters and best friends Viviana Velazquez and Arwen Adams traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., to attend the Next Gen Conference and learn more about careers in agricultural education. Below are their first-person accounts of their experience.
Arwen
Humidity, ratchet hotdog stands and long plane flights—what do they have in common?
They were all something I experienced on the way to my second Next Gen Conference in Philadelphia. Standing outside the airport with my friend from my chapter, I immediately started sweating. He and I waited for the shuttle, giddy with excitement and nervousness about what was to come, and delirious from the long flights from California.
Viviana
This story actually started months before the flights. Anxiety, pressure, and last-minute doubt crept in as I prepared for my first solo flight across the country. Red-eye layovers didn’t make it any better. My first minutes, well, hours, of actual arrival consisted of standing in what felt like the melt zone, waiting for the shuttle to arrive.
Viviana’s view of her plane after being stuck in the airport for 21 hours.
Arwen
The shuttle pulled up with a shriek from worn-out brakes, and we put our luggage into the van. A lady with a thick Philly accent helped us in as we crammed as many kids as we could into the shuttle. The woman started driving. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of my friends who had been at a few of my competitions. I pointed her out to the woman who was driving, and we pulled over.
Viviana
After four shrieking calls to my biggest supporter, my mom, and three disappointing calls to my hotel’s front desk, I finally see the shuttle slowly pull into the designated pick-up area. FINALLY! I smile at the driver, trying to hide my desperation as best as I can. “I brought you some friends,” she said as she loaded my bags. I hop into giggles and smiles, spotting some familiar faces from previous contests throughout my home state of California.
Arwen
We pulled into traffic, and the woman started telling us all her stories about Philadelphia, the local culture, and everything else that came to mind. She weaved in and out of traffic, gaining a few nervous glances from all the kids in the car, and 15 minutes later, we pulled into the hotel parking lot. Already a little overwhelmed, we grabbed our bags and headed into the lobby. Sitting at some of the lobby tables was a big group of kids from across the country. It was a whole new community. Over the next few hours, we attended our first session, had dinner, and were assigned to our community groups.
Arwen and her community group, the “Rusty Wranglers.”
Viviana
The next few days began just after sunrise and lasted well into sunset. We toured many agricultural facilities, immersed ourselves in the sessions, and, most importantly, spent time getting to know all 75 attendees, referring to each other by our state rather than our names. From our Louisiana girls who were straight to critique our meals in the most hilarious ways, to the Oklahoma boy who ended up with a mysterious case of poison ivy all across his arms and face. There was truly never a dull moment. Out of it all, nothing stood a chance to our community groups. Here we took the chance to debrief our experiences, talk about our participation and wind down to emotionally express how we felt throughout the day.
Arwen
There were so many long conversations spent with my roommate every night, and with the girls in my community group every day. Shout-out to Amelia, who, for some reason, thought I should be called Sparkles, and to Rachel for making every moment of the conference something to laugh about and remember forever. The various tours, sessions, and long hours spent sharing playlists and spamming the group chats with each other’s memes were so memorable. Next Gen has been a foundational experience in my high school career; I never expected to get the opportunity to travel nationally and represent not only my chapter, but my state as well.
Arwen and Viviana with a roommate.
Arwen
Throughout high school, I have developed a deep love for FFA and everything it stands for. I ran for office in my chapter twice, for regional office once, and for state office once, and every time I did not get a role. It reached a point where I began to question my self-worth overall. I continued competing on many teams in my chapter, but still always felt overlooked and like I wasn’t doing enough. When I applied for my first Next Gen conference, I had very low expectations; I did not think I would even get in. However, I did, and that experience completely altered my life. I started to rebuild my confidence piece by piece and learned to keep taking chances. That experience led me to apply for my second Next Gen Conference, which was the agricultural education conference in Philadelphia. I can hardly put into words how much Next Gen Conferences mean to me now. They brought me out of a very dark place in my life and gave me a new community that felt like family, even now when we are hundreds of miles apart.
Viviana
Likewise to Arwen, my FFA journey hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. Locally, I have never served as a section or regional officer, even though I never gave up and applied for every single opportunity I could. At the chapter level, even though I received the Star Greenhand award, I wasn’t able to stand out enough compared to other freshmen who made the officer team. Regardless of being one of the most involved every year, I never had the opportunity to finally hold a title that reflected the effort I invested. It was something as simple as never watching a high school football game because I was always working at our FFA cookhouse, or as complicated as giving up most of my Saturdays, either volunteering or finding new ways to contribute back to the community.
Viviana and her community group, “Grant’s Golden Crew.”
Viviana
My final community group session at the Next Gen Conference was one I will never forget. I have never fought myself so hard to hold in my tears. Tears of joy for the connections I had made with 75 incredible individuals from all across the United States. But also tears of distress, knowing it took three flights across the country to finally find the FFA members I could call home.
It was at that moment that I realized that the reason why I had such a hard time locally was that I was destined to do greater things. While I attended numerous career and leadership development events and took part in every chapter event I could, it never went any further than that. Yet, I am proud to share my experiences serving as a California FFA State Press Corps member and two-time FFA in the USA Reporter, and I am privileged to share my efforts in receiving a grant and scholarship from National FFA. A quote I now follow shares how “You can be the prettiest rose ever, but if they like lilies, it wouldn’t matter.” I ultimately realize that there truly is a place for everyone in FFA; you just have to search for it and fight not to lose yourself along the way. Someone will eventually see you and value you for exactly who you are, so “just keep swimming.”
All 75 of the National FFA NextGen: Ag Education conference attendees.
Arwen
While it may seem hard to believe at first, FFA is an organization that has a place for everyone. For some of us, it takes longer to find where we fit, but the journey there is worth it every time, and the memories we make shape us as individuals. It can be hard to feel seen sometimes, but that just means you need to find a better vantage point.
Viviana
And on that note, thank you, Next Gen, for helping us find our home, reminding us of our worth, and helping us stand out as members of the blue jackets. Without this FFA conference, our path to purpose would not have looked the same.
Lots of love,
Arwen Adams and Viviana Velazquez
