July 12, 2008

 Time has flown since being elected to state office.  It feels like yesterday that we were all on stage at state conference together, and now we have accomplished so much. As a team we have come up with a theme, gone through Blast off training, and Regional Officer Leadership Conference. Although there is much more ahead for us this year I can not help but think that our time together so far has been anything but productive. We have slowly moved from half way clean working individuals, to a better organized fully functional team. When thinking of a theme this year one of the first things that came to mind was agriculture, and while that sounds obvious, its often one of those things forgotten as we get busier with in the association. I often hear the phrase “use it, or lose it”, and I think the same applies to the agriculture opportunities in our organization. While the people who update and inform themselves of what goes on in the industry can benefit greatly from it, it is those who do the exact opposite who find it hard to keep up

to date with the new trends, and obstacles that agriculture faces. After creating a theme that not only challenges, but encourages the growth of the members we became excited to release and act through, our theme “Cultivate Change, Harvest Success”. Now that we had found a direction for the up coming year our next big task was Blast Off Training. After the arrival of our instructor from National FFA, we were eager to begin. Through out the week we not only became closer as a team but were better suited to function as a unit rather than individuals. As we stated to increasingly put more and more of our newly acquired tools to use our excitement for our first member involved activity became unbearable. We prepared and reviewed anything and everything we could, to make sure this time would be productive and before we knew it ROLC had arrived. The interactment with the regional officers was satisfying and reassuring our hard work produced a time that the new regional leaders had taken to grow and become closer as a team, it was a success. Now as we move closer to more activities it was the time with friends at bass lake that encourages future growth and progress for myself. I am increasingly becoming better suited and more excited for the task ahead.

Ryan McCoon

Name: Ryan McCoon
Date of Birth: September 27, 1989
Parents: Johanna and Don McCoon
Brothers and/or Sisters: Matt (18) and Hannah (8)
Favorite Movie: Tombstone
Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese
Favorite Book: Purple Circle
Favorite School Subject (other than ag): History
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Saying: "The difference between the possible and impossible lies in a man's determination" - Unknown
Favorite Song: “Fishin in the Dark”- Garth Brooks
Favorite Cartoon Character: Captain Planet
Favorite Sport: Baseball
Hobbies: My Club lamb SAE