Cole Sundeen delivers his retiring address at the Minnesota FFA Convention.
Cole Sundeen from the Rockford FFA Chapter in Minnesota began his Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) in seventh grade when he started mowing his grandmother’s lawn.
Despite not having a major agriculture background, Sundeen joined FFA just as his older sisters had. As Sundeen got more involved in his SAE, he began working for a local landscaping company, where he learned to operate equipment and work with customers.
Sundeen eventually decided to apply for an Agricultural Proficiency Award. During his senior year, Sundeen heavily invested in his SAE and practiced that summer for his interviews. He eventually won the Landscape Management Agricultural Proficiency Award at the National FFA Convention & Expo.
“When I was in seventh grade, I never thought I would be the person to be a national winner,” says Sundeen. “I remember standing up on stage and hearing my name get called as a national winner. It was probably one of those top moments while being in the blue jacket.”
Cole Sundeen is recognized as the national winner in the landscape management proficiency area.
Throughout this time, Sundeen was also gaining valuable leadership experience that was preparing him for his future. He started as a chapter leader in his middle school, where helped plan various chapter events. As he moved into high school, he began to attend leadership events at the regional and state levels.
Sundeen soon decided he wanted to run for state office. He began practicing interview questions his senior year and interviewed that spring. He was later elected to serve as the 2024-25 Minnesota FFA State Treasurer. In this position, Sundeen was prepared to serve the members of his state.
“I remember being a 10th grader and going to the region leadership conference,” Sundeen says. “Before it even started, I sat at a table was a state officer. I don’t remember her name, but I remember the impact she had. She was so nice and so invested in learning about who I am. She wanted to learn more about me than just my FFA experiences. I took that impact she had and I applied it to my state office year.”
Sundeen dedicated his year of service to the members, taking the time to get to know individuals and always being willing to help them. He hopes members will stay involved, take opportunities and learn from their failures and successes.
Recently, Sundeen was selected to be Minnesota’s national officer candidate and will have the opportunity to interview for national FFA office in the fall. Sundeen also plans to continue to stay involved in FFA beyond college by becoming an agricultural education teacher.
“Overall, my absolute dream is to be an FFA advisor and agriculture teacher in a high school and middle school setting,” Sundeen says. “I told someone at state convention this year that it’s quite cool because I get to be up on stage and kind of be the star of convention, but my real dream is to one day bring my own kids there and sit in the seats and have them be up on stage.”
