Tatiana Prestininzi

State FFA Sentinel

September 10, 2009

            From the moment I heard my name called in the very last session in Selland Arena to every moment that I spend with you the 67,000 members of the California FFA Association a lasting impact has been made upon my life, an impact I will never forget.  I look forward to sharing my adventure with you over the next year.

 Blast Off training was our first official event as a new team. It started off with the boys picking up our trainer Seth who taught us about our team strengths, proper etiquette, and how to best serve you, the members. We participated in team bonding and team building activities. My favorite activity was going to a Sacramento River Cat’s game with the team   where we sat behind the outfield in the grass picnic style. Blast Off was a lot of fun and definitely prepared us for our future year.

                        From Blast Off we loaded up the van again to head all the way to Bryce Canyon, Utah for NLCSO. At NLCSO we met up with the Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, and Utah State Officers and National Officers, Nessie Early and Hannah Crossen led the conference. At NLCSO we learned about all of our duties as state officers. Also at NLCSO, the state officer team participated in other activities, which included a hike down to bottom of Bryce Canyon and (the hard part) back up to the rim of the canyon. On the way home from NLCSO we drove down to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon. There we saw all the sights and sounds of the biggest canyon in the world.

            After the Grand Canyon we headed to Bass Lake for ROLC. Getting to know the six regional officer teams was such a great experience. Also, seeing their patriotic presentations, theme updates, and recruitment videos was really cool and they were all really good! At ROLC there was also a volleyball tournament where for the first time in a very long time the state officers were the champions, although the regional officers and advisors played hard. The last night of ROLC was held on the beach of Bass Lake and was celebrated with a luau full of fun.

            Our next stop on the road was the Superior Region SOLS. At SOLS the Superior Regional Officers put on a great educational and fun conference for the sectional officers of the Superior Region. I enjoyed watching the Sectional and Regional officers work together to build amazing workshops for the Chapter Officer Leadership Conference. After a long day of work, we let our hair down and played a little game of pigskin and capped off the day sleeping under the stars. I loved meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones.

            We then traveled to Cal Poly Pomona for Southern Region’s SOLS.  The Southern SOLS was full of fun and surprises as the sectional, regional, and state officers went through workshops, team building, and perhaps my favorite, time to meet with all five sectional officer teams. Southern Region did a great job on SOLS and it was a lot of fun to come home to Southern Region.

 Our next stop was in the San Joaquin Region for the San Joaquin Region SOLC held at Exeter High School. This was a great conference put on by the San Joaquin Regional Officer Crew! At Exeter we experienced officer-specific workshops (way to go Tino and all of the San Joaquin Sectional Sentinels), took part in an intense volleyball tournament, met some amazing members, and enjoyed some great meals from Exeter High School. Thanks for having us San Joaquin Region.

            During these next five months we will be on the road for chapter visits. Our team has created three different lesson plans: FFA Opportunities, Careers in Agriculture, and Agriculture Literacy. I look forward to going to the different chapters and creating life lasting friendships and memories. A Big Thank you to the host families that have welcomed me into your homes.

Until next time, take care.

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” - George Eliot