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If anyone knows a lick about who "Bre Holbert" is, they would know immediately that I am a strong advocate of the intentionality and strength of words. Domestic or international, words are more than just "words". Words have weight, words are heavy, and wielded correctly- they are intended to have immense influence on others.
Think about how they may affect your daily life? Those times we listen to "words" through the confines of our ear phones as we boogie through some house chores, maybe even using the broom handle as a microphone for your one guest, Roscoe the loyal family dog, concert. Those "words" may give us good vibes while sweeping away or trigger the "feels" as we dramatically ascend to the floor to shake off the dust and continue on mopping.
We see "words" in literature being intricately sewn into the pages to convict empathy, suspense, joy. These words may leave us so engaged that we hang on every word read or even journal them down somewhere so we don't forget how cool Margaret Atwood is in her book Handmaid's Tale.
We also see that "words" , when spoken by another to one another, can be extremely convicting as well.
A specific instance provoked such thought from me:
"Agriculture is just a word in the dictionary."
Bryce Cluff, 2017-2018 National FFA Western Region Vice President, shared during a meeting with DowDuPont and continued his thoughts with: "What provides this "word" power?"
Words are easy said. However, they have more power when action follows closely behind what we say.
During our teams year of service as the 2017-2018 National FFA officer team, our hope is to strengthen the publics perception on Agriculture through advocacy and connecting students to the industry, but to also ensure we are meeting students and teachers where they are and helping them to understand their responsibility to the Agricultural Industry. This, regardless of where and what they come from.
Dow excels at this mission as well. In fact, they breathe relevance into the word "Agriculture" by joining consumers conversations and ensuring their company, along with individual employees, understand the diverse group of people that "eat the food" they work to help steward. Throughout our meeting, Dow staff urged the significance of enriching consumers lives, standing tall, being curious and upstanding, and building our future together as a company, but also as an Agricultural Division of over 22,000 people in the global workforce in more than 130 countries. Through 10+ crops and 65+ active ingredients, Dow aids farmers and consumers to receive the most out of our crops while pushing toward sustainable practices for a growing world.
With DowDuPont's recent consolidation, there has and will be many other changes to the company down the road. However, National FFA looks forward to a fruitful and progressive partnership with Dow.
For many years, this company has aided in advocacy education of State Presidents and Officers at State President's Conference in Washington, D.C. Here, students were engaged in agricultural advocacy training as well as integral policy ratification and development for the 475 delegates at the delegate business sessions during the National FFA Convention and Expo.
DowDuPont also had an active hand in other programs at the National FFA Convention and Expo, including the National FFA Band and Chorus. Students across the country apply, submit videos, and are selected to perform in front of over 67,000 FFA members and guests during the general sessions at the National FFA Convention and Expo, a tradition that has occurred for more than 60 years.
And we hope that the near future strengthens are partnership and support. Just as words need action to back them, our organizations needs one another to empower eachother and the industry we serve.
"Growing Leaders, Building Communities, and Strengthening Agriculture." Both DowDuPont and the National FFA Organization can resonate with this vision, these words. Together, we can ensure the successful delivery of "Agriculture" to all consumers, create relevance amongst those we serve, and develop our future employees of our industry's potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.