I'm an extrovert,
everyone (well most people) knows that about me, so being the extrovert I am I
enjoy striking up conversations with random people. Every conversation starts
the same; Me: "hey my name is Jayden nice to meet you!" Person: "Hey
Jayden my name is... nice to meet you too!" further into the
conversation... Person: "So where do you go to school?" Me:
"Utah State University" Person: "What are you studying?"
Me: "Agricultural Education" Person: (not very enthusiastic) "Oh
cool..." and then the conversation continues from there.
To many of you that
would see like a pretty average conversation, but to me its anything but
average! You see I hate it when these conversations happen... Maybe I'm taking
things personal, maybe i'm reading to much into the less than thrilled oh cool
that the other person gives me, or maybe that other person just doesn't
understand what agricultural education is (this last one is usually the case)
but to me that "oh cool..." makes me angry. Why? because it is as if
that person doesn't care or thinks that being an ag teacher or even a
teacher in general is the bottom of the job pool for society. Its as if being a
teacher doesn't mean anything and that those who are teachers are just teachers
because they can't take it in the real world... however the actually story is
quite the opposite!!
Ever since I could
remember my family has been involved in some part of the agricultural industry.
From the time I could sit up on my own I was on the top of a horse following
behind my grandpa as we moved cows across Cedar Mountain in Emery County, Utah.
When I was eight I started showing livestock at the local livestock show.
Shortly after that my grandparents invested in a flock of breeding ewes and a
ram so that all of the grand-kids could have stock-show lambs for all of our
stock shows. Then there I was the first day of freshman year; nervous, scared,
but very excited. I was so pumped to start high school and to finally be a
full-fledged teenager. I had waited for this moment my whole life and couldn't believe
it was finally here. Little did I know that my high school experience
would be one big roller-coaster ride of failures, successes,
disappointments, and victories; a roller-coaster ride that would lead me to the
beginning of an incredible journey. The bell for first period rings, as I make
my way to the Ag Building eager to start my first high school class, Animal
Science. “Guys, Take a seat I’ll be with you all in just a second” a voice
calls from the office in the back. That moment is where my life would start, in
that smelly dusty Ag classroom with that booming voice yelling from the back
office. Shortly after that I zipped up that blue corduroy jacket for the
first time, and then I was completely hooked!
Up till that moment in
my life if someone were to have asked me what I wanted to be my answer would
have been a pediatrician. Being an Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor was
the furthest thing from my mind. I was dead set on making a ton of money
and helping a ton of little kids, and I think my mom was dead set on it too!
But something in me changed that year and I know it has everything to do with
that voice hollering from the back office on the first day of my freshman year
of high school. The voice belonged to my Ag teacher and FFA Advisor, Mr. Bob
Gowans.
Now I know that being
an Ag teacher and FFA advisor is something most people would never aspire to
be. It requires a ton of extra time, work, and energy. I know that in my high
school career there were tons of instances where my own Ag teachers spent
countless extra hours with me, for example the time Mrs. Shields drove 160
miles with me in order to pick up my show lambs. Or the countless hours both
Mr. Gowans and Mrs. Shields spent talking me through all of life’s problems
after school. Let’s not forget the four years worth of trips to National and
State conventions, where I truly learned just how amazing Ag teacher are around
the country, or the many summer Ag tours around Utah and the rest of the
nation. All of this in order to give experience to me and the rest of their
students.
I often use the quote
“Heroes are often the most ordinary of men” by Henry David Thoreau when
describing my advisors. They truly changed my life. They opened the door of
discovery to me, they gave me so many opportunities to succeed both then,
now, and in the future; they set the example for me, and ultimately they gave
me a goal to reach one day. Yes, I know that I won’t find a cure for
cancer, develop an alternative fuel source, or even develop a better strain of
round- up ready corn. But yeah I'm an Agricultural Education student and guess
what despite what society thinks i'm doing something worth more than all the
money on the planet and better than any job you could give me; by me being
an Ag teacher I am changing the world one student at a time and for that I’m
truly happy to put in as many extra hours as I need especially if it means
making each student a better person is some way! I'm doing what I love and loving what I do and to me, yeah, that is pretty freaking cool!!
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