Inspired by Mentors, Rooted in Ag
Every member has a story: why they got involved in agriculture, why they wanted to achieve a certain goal, and how they overcame what seemed impossible. For many, that reason is simply the impact a mentor had on their lives.
Madelyn Kennedy is a junior at Ramona High School, a California FFA Southern Region officer, and the current president of the Ramona FFA Chapter. Madelyn also competes in a variety of riding events, but most recently she has been focusing on Western dressage.
Madelyn began her journey in the equine industry when she was 8. Anna Filleti, a mentor in Madelyn’s life, has helped her grow in her passion for the equine industry and has taught her countless lessons that have helped her excel in her endeavors. She has been with Madelyn through her entire equine journey.
Through years of mentoring by Anna, Madelyn explains that she has been taught countless valuable life lessons and given many work and life experiences in the equine industry. The most valuable one that has stuck with Madelyn is: “If you want something to happen, you have to work for it.”
“My riding coach, Anna, has helped me reach incredible goals in the equine industry,” Madelyn explains. “Some of the greatest achievements in my life have probably been being able to compete in Western dressage at the World Championships level in September. Doing that wouldn’t have been possible without her.”
Madelyn ended up placing in all her classes and won a couple of them as well. This helped prove to Madelyn that all the work, life experiences and mentorship from Anna paid off.
In my life and in my journey in the industry of agriculture, a mentor who has inspired me is Victoria Miller, a Poway FFA alumna. She has truly been the inspiration for my passion in the market production industry.
When I met Victoria during my seventh-grade year, she was working to earn her American FFA Degree. Victoria was also breeding swine at the time to provide pigs for her chapter to take to the county fair.
I started in 4-H, and since we didn’t have a market project at the time, Victoria stepped up and became our leader. She gave two other members of the market group and me the opportunity to witness the birthing process of a pig and learn how to properly care for the piglets afterward. We learned how to give vaccines, notch ears, dock tails and castrate.
Through my last three years of being a part of FFA and 4-H, Victoria has been there to give me advice on showing and feeding techniques and help me overcome obstacles and hardships that I have faced while raising market hogs. Now, as I continue my journey in FFA and the market production industry, I thank Victoria Miller for inspiring me to pursue my own breeding project and work toward my American FFA Degree.
Members upon members are built from a foundation of aspiration that has been helped by a mentor that they look up to. Without mentors in the agriculture industry, young leaders would not have someone to look up to, someone they can build a foundation on, or someone to ask for guidance during rough times.
FFA is an organization that has allowed members to build a foundation of leadership skills that will help us make a difference in our lives. So, next time you’re in your very own blue corduroy jacket, think of the leader you have become and the mentor you aspire to be to other members in agriculture, because we don’t just live for the present; we live for the future.
