Update • Regional Update • Regional Update • Regional Update • Regional U
San Joaquin
Region
Update
In mid-August, chapter leaders all over
the San Joaquin Region came to Camp
San Luis Obispo to participate in our
annual SJR Boot Camp! The leaders from
each respective chapter were challenged
mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Here, they had to overcome obstacles
that helped each chapter realize their
team’s potential! Boot Camp was also
an environment where chapter leaders
were able to open up with one another
and bond as a team. This year’s Sectional
Officer Leadership Conference was very
successful. The Sectional Officers had the
opportunity to be a part of the Regional
and State Officer workshops. At SOLC,
we challenged the Sectional Officers to
gain skills and apply them within their
team to further their impact in their section.
The meaning of our theme, “It Starts With
YOU,” is individualization; in the aspect
that one must have the desire within them
to pave their path in agricultural education.
There are endless opportunities for us to
take advantage of. It is our choice to take
those opportunities and shape ourselves so
that WE can impact others.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kelsey Swall,
San Joaquin Region Secretary •
Michael Jordan’s protégé,
David Beckham’s second coming,
ophthalmologist, environmental lawyer
or fisheries biologist. As a 14-year old
I weighed the plentiful options for my
future career, I realized the possibilities
for a fulfilling life were nearly endless.
Like anyone reading this magazine,
I spent many years being told that I
could be anything I wanted to be;
no matter the scope of my talents
or interests. However, the path to
identifying what
that would be
was much more
difficult than I
imagined.
I interned at a
doctor’s office,
fished on the weekends and played
basketball with my friends, but I didn’t
like any of those things enough to
consider living them day-in and day-out
as a job. I had become enthralled
with vocational possibilities based on
their prestigious-sounding titles, not
realizing that the title of a career tells
us little about the actual qualities of that
occupation.
“Agricultural educator” may not turn
heads for its prestige or international
fame, but the qualities of this career do
in fact make for a pretty outstanding
life.
I had the chance to serve as a
keynote speaker at the State FFA
Conference this year, and I shared a
similar message regarding the beauty
of choosing
a career in
agricultural
education.
Foremost, you
laugh a lot. I
know that sounds
shallow, but who doesn’t want a job
where you get paid to crack up all the
time? Sure, the hours can sometimes be
long and the challenges can wear on
you, but being surrounded by 150 or
so awkward teens bent on hijinks and
...the qualities of this career
do in fact make for a pretty
outstanding life.
California FFANEWS • Page 8 • Winter 2015
{ Continued on page 9 }