National FFA Week: A shared mission with CFANS

T.J. Brown, BS '04, MEd '11, EdD, Executive Director, Minnesota FFA Association

Twenty-five years ago, in the fall of 2000, I stepped on the St. Paul campus as a freshman undergraduate hoping to be a high school agriculture teacher in just four short years. As a first-generation college student who had not been on an official campus visit in high school, nor knew a single other student at the U, on paper I was a bit disadvantaged for successfully navigating my freshman year. However, those tried-and-true metrics which normally determine one’s success do not typically include the factor that I think helped me overcome those disadvantages. I was a member of the Minnesota FFA.

That affiliation was probably the largest contributor to helping me complete that freshman year and eventually my undergraduate, masters, and land a high school teaching job. You see, even though I had never participated in an admissions visit in high school, I was very familiar with the St. Paul campus; I had been there numerous times for FFA contests and conventions. Though I did not previously know a soul in any of my classes, I quickly met numerous other FFA members who were freshmen in Bailey Hall as well as FFA alumni who were upperclassmen in some of my courses. Within just a couple of short weeks I had a strong network of friends and mentors to guide me through my college journey. Our experience in the blue corduroy jacket was what drew us together, but the lessons we learned as members of the FFA were a significant factor in what helped us succeed.

Our experience in the blue corduroy jacket was what drew us together, but the lessons we learned as members of the FFA were a significant factor in what helped us succeed.

Then as it always does, life did not go exactly as planned. I ended up marrying the best wife in the world after my junior year and thus needed a reason to stay at the U for two more years after my undergraduate so she could finish her program. That caused me to begin my MEd right after graduation. I did not finish that master’s until I had finally had a few years of actual teaching experience, but that graduate college experience opened the door for me to transition from teaching high school to being a faculty member at South Central College in North Mankato.

Unfortunately, that meant I had to leave my title of being an FFA Advisor behind, something I greatly missed. However, in one more recent and unexpected career change, everything has come full circle for me this last fall as I returned to one of the same buildings I attended a freshman class in twenty-five years ago. I am donning both Maroon and Gold as well as Blue and Gold once again. As the Executive Director of Minnesota FFA, my position is housed within the Agricultural Education, Communication and Marketing Department in Ruttan Hall (I still call it COB).

As we celebrate National FFA Week from Feb. 15-22, please remember that the nation’s largest youth leadership organization has strong ties in CFANS, and we each share the mission of developing the next generation of agriculture, food, and natural resources professionals to serve our state, nation, and the world. Happy FFA Week!