One of my absolute favorite parts about FFA is being able to do what I love and what I am passionate about every single day. Whether I'm making plans for my SAE, attending CDEs, traveling for meetings, or attending other activities for the southwest district, you will catch me with a smile on my face and passion in my heart. This past year my life has been unfolding before me. I have learned so much, met many new friends, and all in all grew as an individual. Something that I believe has had one of the biggest impacts on my life is my SAE. My SAE is water advocacy for the state of Kansas. About three years ago my dad implemented soil moisture sensors in his farm which was one of his ways of conserving water for the next generation. My dad would come home everyday with a new water story and I became more and more interested. While attending the 2016 Governor's Water Conference and hearing Secretary of Ag , Jackie McClaskey, talk about the potential of a water conservation SAE my dad had just the person to launch this type of SAE. In order to learn more about what I would be doing for my SAE my dad and I traveled to Manhattan Kansas at the Kansas Department of Agriculture and we met with Susan Metzger and Russell Plaschka. Here we talked about different ideas to grow the idea and make it successful. After our meeting in Manhattan we traveled to Lawrence Kansas to the Kansas Geological Survey and we met with Jim Butler and Brownie Wilson. The two of them showed us the statistics behind the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer and information on water sources in the eastern portion of Kansas. After these two meeting we had a better understanding on where we wanted to take the project and how we really wanted to kick it off. Something that I really wanted to do to spread the word and get other FFA members involved is put together a series of workshops or a conference. A couple weeks later Susan and Russell had emailed my dad and I asking if I would be willing to speak at the Ag Ed Symposium about my SAE and recruiting other FFA members around the state. On January 27, 2017 I gave a presentations to the Ag educators of Kansas and after my presentation Dr. Gaea Hock from Kansas State University approached me saying she would love to help me with my water advocacy SAE. Leaving the Ag Ed Symposium I had realized that my passion was truly growing into something bigger than I could have ever imagined. For a few days after the conference, my dad and I were thinking specifically what we wanted to do to educate other FFA members. Eventually, we came up with a proposal for a water advocacy conference that would educate FFA members on water resources, advocacy, and leadership skills. With the help of Dr. Hock, K-State, and Kansas Department of Agriculture, the 2017 Youth Water Advocate Conference was held July 12-14 in Manhattan Kansas. After attending the conference I was way more open minded and inspired than I ever thought I would be. I learned so much and I truly do believe I grew as an individual. Knowing that there are so many FFA members that share the same passion as me makes what I do even more special. As FFA members, we have the potential to make a huge impact. I know for a fact that this group of FFA members will make an impact because they are some of the most passionate, driven, and hard working people I have been able to work with. This past year I have had the privilege of meeting and seeing so many passionate and driven FFA members. I am always so impressed seeing the amount of love and dedication high school students have for FFA. I am so excited for this coming year for southwest district and seeing the hard work the members will put in. The passion in these members will take them far and that is something to be extremely proud about. Living to Serve, Grace Roth 2017-2018 Southwest District Treasurer [email protected] Copyright 2017 Southwest Kansas FFA District and its affiliates.
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