By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

ANSONIA — The Ansonia FFA hosted its 85th Annual Banquet Thursday.

Approximately 160 members and guests attended the banquet where the 2022-2023 officer team was installed, a Year-in-Review slideshow was presented, and they recognized those who helped make the chapter a success.

The night’s theme, “FFA Opens Doors of Opportunity,” was created by the officer team during their summer officer training camp. The 2021-2022 officer team was made up of seven seniors who had thought about where they are now and where they had been.

While thinking about everything they have gotten to do in FFA, they believed it came down to the opportunities that had been presented.

“That really is our seniors. They just thought about everything they got to do through their whole FFA career,” FFA Teacher Emily Williams said, “All the opportunities that we offered them they took advantage of.”

The guest speaker, State FFA Treasurer Mackenzie Ott, spoke about how the seed growth process is like the opportunities and paths we take in life. When she was little, she used to believe there were two steps to planting a seed. However, as she got older she realized the process is a little more complicated and takes a lot more than two basic necessities to get to the end result.

“Sometimes when we are setting goals, trying to invest ourselves in others, or maybe trying to become more involved with FFA, we are sticking to these basics instead of honing in on the details that will allow the best results of growth,” Ott said.

She stated growth happens from where you were to where you are now, so starting at the beginning is important. FFA is able to teach this growth process unnoticed to the individual as it is a gradual process, much like the growth of a seed. She asked the FFA members what opportunities did they grab hold of in order to allow themselves to grow.

“In our lives, the environment we are in and the people around us pollinate the challenges we are presented with to help us become better,” Ott said. “You can either let yourselves be pollinated, grow, and prosper, or you can deny it and walk away.”

In her comparison, she says the most important part of growth is the seed, you, because without the seed there can be no beginning. No growth, no crop. No crop, no food. No food, no people. Each of us are like the seed as the most important part of one’s growth is the individual themselves.

“It happens when you believe in yourself to take on the environment that you are in from the very beginning in order to grow because without you believing in yourself first, you will never get to your full potential,” Ott said.

She encouraged all FFA members regardless of status to take on every opportunity they are presented with in order to find themselves growing into the person they never knew they could be, but always wanted to.

The new 2022-2023 officer team was initiated at the banquet, and Williams continued with the theme in her words of advice to the new officers.

“Try everything even if it scares you. Try it. This is the safest place to fail,” Williams said. “If you want to fail, you want to fail here because we are here to pick you up and help you move forward.”

She said if you do not try then growth and improvement will not happen. Her biggest advice is just to try. Moving forward with a bittersweet moment, Williams touched on her seniors, many of whom she had the pleasure of being involved with since their eighth-grade year.

“My seniors have come so far. I get them as eighth graders, and they stick with it and persevere through their whole high school career being in ag. By the time they get to being a senior, they can do anything,” Williams said.

She said she knows they are going to jump in wherever they go next because it is what they have done for the last five years. Seizing the opportunities within the FFA has taught the seniors how to pursue life with an open mind and willingness to learn.

“Just keep doing what you’ve done. Why change something that works? Wherever you go next, just jump in, get involved, and do exactly the same thing you’ve done here. You will have success just like you’ve had,” Williams said.

The FFA is designed to practice brotherhood, honor agricultural opportunities and responsibilities, and develop those qualities of leadership which FFA members should possess. The awards presented Thursday evening showed how each member and group strived to achieve those means. Congratulations to all the award recipients, teams, and individuals who have excelled this year, and congratulations to the new 2022-2023 Ansonia FFA Officer Team.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].