Summer of Dreams

Well summer came and went like of whirlwind of such velocity that it seemed as if I hardly had time to stop and breath. Even my own high school graduation was cut short, as I had to jump in my truck as soon as my diploma was handed to me to drive to Anna, Texas for State Leadership Camp to start my new journey as a Texas FFA State Officer! The week of State Camp & State Degree Check seemed as if it was a month or so, with all the stress and early mornings we(the incoming State Officers)had. It wasn't til I slapped myself in the face and looked at my calendar did I realized we were only in the 2nd week of June! Before I knew it I was back in my Chevy truck driving to Cedar Park to pick up good ol' Daylon Koster for our Blast Off training in Weathorford, Texas. As we all started arriving we didn't know what exactly to expect from this training, as the all wise Blaze Currie kept our Blast Off trainer a mystery to us. We had about an hour before our trainer and Blaze arrived in the FFA truck to begin our training, so the team decided we'd do a little exploring ;). The Texas Star Ranch where we were staying was one amazing facility! It had a huge pool, basketball and tennis courts, its own baseball diamond with dugouts and all, and of course our favorite part was the couch room, which was a huge room with a bunch of couches and a huge projector to watch movies on! After our little "tour" we knew it was gonna be a great week! Blaze and our Blast Off trainer Kris Elliot arrived, and it was down to business from there. Throughout the week we went through many workshops and learned about various strengths each of us had, by the end of the week I felt as if I was a new person, Kris really helped our team get one step closer to becoming true leaders.

After a few days of being home in Eagle Pass, it was once again time to hop in the truck and travel to a new destination, this time though it was for possibly the biggest week of my life, Texas FFA State Convention! The week was filled with thrills and excitements, being able to be behind the scenes and actually see how state convention was run was an experience I will never forget. Before I knew it, it was thursday morning and time to give my election speech, I walked on stage as candidate number 5 and gave my speech to the best of my abilities. I suppose my pick up line jokes and rap swayed the delegation in my favor as I ended up making the State Presidents run off! There aren't many words I can say to explain the feeling I had standing up there on stage doing what I love in front of 12,000 FFA members and guests! Things didn't turn out exactly how I wanted as I didn't make the travel team, but now that I look at it I'm happy the way things ended up. As convention came to an end I couldn't do anything but smile. Smile at the fact that I'd accomplished something I'd only dreamed of, smile at the fact that I'd made my parents and friends proud, and smile at the fact that I was truely happy at where I was in life.

The rest of the summer included going to a few more FFA events inculding Ag Teachers conference and a few district camps. My summer of dreams concluded with me moving into my dorm with my best friend at the greatest college in the world; Texas Tech University! This summer was just one step in my new life journey, even though it was probably the best time period of my life, it's time to close that chapter and begin a new one, and I know for a fact that the next page of this book of my life will be just as exciting as the last. Patrick out ;)