I Bleed Blue...Always.

My FFA Jacket
Originally uploaded by HHS Class of "83"

The famous saying at Brigham Young University was: "I bleed blue" at Utah State University its "Go Blue or Go Home"

I always feel pride when I'm dressed in the deep navy blue color. However, this color comes from a deep love for an organization I gained many years ago--The National FFA Organization.

The organizational mission is "to make a positvie difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education."

During my years as a FFA member, I developed skills in public speaking and leadership. I learned proper etiquette and how to be a strong member of a team. FFA taught me that I could dream, work and accomplish.

Sadly, today there are many critics of FFA and other vocational programs. Some claim vocational education is outdated and should leave our school systems. I disagree. For I believe classes like sewing, cooking, welding, animal science and others are needed more in our school. For they teach the principles of self-reliance and practicality.

Maybe its time to return to the simple things in life. Why not include practicality into our lives while we are quoting Hamlet, or figuring out Einstein's law of relativity? Or might we consider it ironic that our CEOs can crunch numbers but when they lose a button they have to buy a new shirt. Mostly, let us remember that such skills as quoting poetry or crunching numbers shall be nothing if we cannot feed or clothe ourselves by using pratical skills.

Has America come so far in the line of progression, that we have forget the simplicity that helps us prosper?

I know I have not forgotten the power of practicality I learned through vocational education. I shall always bleed blue, although it may have some Cougar and Aggie blue mixed in, my true blue will always be national blue, the color that represents the National FFA Organization. An organization that helped me develop premier leadership, personal growth and career sucess.