The 94^th National FFA Convention and Expo took place this last week 27-30/10/21 at the Indiana convention center in downtown Indianapolis. The National convention was held for the first time in a year due to COVID-19 restrictions and allowed FFA chapters from all over the U.S. to come together and enjoy several days of blue and gold fun.

FFA is a national organization focused on youth in middle school and high school with classes that promote and support agricultural education. There are FFA chapters spread across the U.S. with some even in Puerto Rico. Here at HSE, our HSE FFA chapter encompasses both HSE high school and Fishers high school students. On the positive impact FFA convention had on her, Fisher’s sophomore Eliza Uliczny said, “[Convention] impacted me positively knowing that I can relate with people across the country through FFA. And my favorite part was seeing everyone’s jackets from all the states.”

The convention offers a variety of different activities for members to participate in, such as the National Expo which hosts colleges boasting with fantastic agricultural programs, as well as local and national businesses and organizations such as Becks, Ariat, the Army and even Culver’s. Junior and HSE FFA member, Mackenzie Dreher said, “This convention has many booths regarding careers in ag where you get to discover so many job [opportunities] you wouldn’t have discovered before.” The convention also hosts national FFA competitions for teams and individuals who have made it through district, regional, and state competitions to compete at nationals. HSE FFA’s Agricultural Communications team competed on Wednesday morning for a spot in the top four. They placed as a national silver team. Senior Gracie Fisher who participated in the contest said, “National FFA convention is one of the coolest opportunities an FFA member can take and competing there is on another level, and I’m so honored that I’ve been able to compete there over the years.”

The National FFA convention also hosts sessions where members and advisors can learn more about agriculture and see their peers perform contests and show off their talents with events like chorus and band performances, parliamentary procedure and extemporaneous speaking contests, as well as workshops with FFA alumni and virtual blue room conversations over topics such as advancing sustainable agriculture. Another HSE junior, Morgan Myers said, “The convention allowed me to see how much of an impact FFA has and it opened up my mind to the various careers I could have.”