This Is Not Goodbye

With it being the eve before District Banquet, I can't help but reminisce in the last year. Three hundred sixty-five days ago, our officer team was formed at the 2017 North Central District Banquet. There were many laughs and tears shared and shed as I left one team just to step onto another. Needless to say, the time I have been given to serve the district will always and forever be remembered not just in my mind, but in my heart. The members I have interacted with have taught me what the district needs and how I can be a pivotal point of change in any area. Just in the last year, our team has been able to organize a kickball event, Greenhand Conference, dodgeball, and now banquet. I will take the lessons I have learned from my time as an officer and they will be applied in all aspects of my life, that I have doubt about.

What I wish to say as an exit note is that everyone needs to understand that greatness is not measured in how many medals you have or plaques you have received. This may sound a tad hypocritical seeing as I have my fair share of awards, however, if given the choice between more recognition or learning along with my friends, I would take the journey over the reward any day. The hours spent in the Ag shop studying, filling out the record books, or practicing that speech just one more time would not be traded for the world. The lessons I have gained from practicing cannot be replaced by a piece of wood that reads "CONGRATS YOU WON THE THING." Sure, it's always good to know that your hard work has paid off, but it's even better doing it along with the people you love.

So my advice is this, study and study hard, but make sure you leave time for your friends, family, and yourself. It is so easy to lose your purpose and what you are striving to do through the glory of recognition.

Faithfully and Forever yours,

Scuyler Zenger
2018 North Central District President

Hope and Peace and Stress and More Hope

"Can you do this?" "Can you do THAT?" "THIS needs done FIRST' "WHY ISN'T THIS DONE YET?" DO, DO, DO, WHY, WHY WHY. 

If one ever has the pleasure of being in and around an FFA chapter during the spring, then the exchange of words, chaos, and disorganization of it all is fairly well represented with those few sentences written above. To put it politely, it is a ginormous mess. I often find myself thinking why? Why did I put myself in this position? Why is everyone so tense? Why is everyone driving me nuts? And why can't I just get a break? 

We find out a lot about ourselves and others when we are placed in high-pressure situations. The way we treat others amongst a conflict speaks a lot to our true character. One of the most wonderful things about the spring season in FFA is the fact that I have a team of officers, both district, and chapter, who will work just as hard alongside me (most of the time they keep going when I need a break) and make my life better. They give me hope that soon all of this struggle will soon be over. The banquets will be completed and the CDE's will be finished all in due time. 

For these reasons, I am able to draw a lot of parallels between this time of year and the celebration of Easter. For those of us who practice in the Christian faith, because of all of the miraculous events that took place on Calvary, and then later in the tomb, we have hope. We have hope that nothing is that bad or that a struggle will ever be too great. All of these feelings of which I am sure we are all very grateful for.

If the stress of life and the day to day grind ever feel like a giant burden on your shoulders,  keep somethings in mind. 

1. When you think it can't get worse it will, but HEY, that's okay right? Just keep rolling with the punches!

2. Never give up hope. In the grand scheme of things, our daily struggles are pretty minor.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter season, and also I hope that everyone REALLY enjoys getting back all of the things they gave up for lint ;). 

Garrett Craig

NCD Vice President

Snow Daze

For years, Washington County Schools has been notorious for waiting until 6:30 in the morning to officially call a snow day. I can remember as a kid always getting excited the night before hoping that mom or dad might get "the call" that signals a day out of a school... if you're catching my drift. There's no secret that ,as kids, we capitalized on every snow day and ensured that we had a ball. The day was always filled with doing morning chores while covered to our noses in layers of warmth followed by endless hours of snow-related activities before going back inside to warm up with hot chocolate and relaxing in the living room under piles of blankets. But, my question is if we get so excited for a day that is brought about by severe weather conditions, why can't we get just as excited about every other day on the calendar? What makes snow days so special? Besides the day off of school, there is always time to make those snow angels or build those snowmen, so why can't we take time after school, or work, or practice to enjoy the weather? Why does it take an entire day off from our regular lives to force us to realize the hidden potential the day might hold? I feel we get to distracted at times of what our days look like on a regular basis. We live every day like it's the same. I mean, every name of the days of the week end the same. It is up to us to figure out what it is that makes a "Tues"day or a"Wednes"day and so on.

I remember on one specific snow day, I did what some kids do out of pure curiosity and idiocy. I licked a freezing cold pole just to prove that it wouldn't get stuck. Wouldn't ya know it, my tongue was just fine thank you very much! My mistake was that I tried it again and the results were horrifically different. Yup, you read that right, my tongue was frozen to a pole. Thankfully, it was just the tip of my tongue. Upon a momentary freak out between my sisters and myself, we knew just who to ask to figure out this entire mess: mom and dad. My little sister ran inside to get their attention. Unfortunately, they HAD warned us kids specifically to NOT do this, so their reply was expected but not wanted. They sent my little back outside with a lukewarm washcloth. The cloth did manage to warm the pole up slightly which made the act of ripping my tongue off the pole a little more bearable but still a very traumatizing event. After three hours of nursing a bleeding tongue with a different cold cloth, I had most definitely learned to NEVER try that again. Here's another question, why are the lessons we learn mostly from life-changing events? Why can't we learn to treat people right from watching cows share hay instead from years of experiencing anti-bullying? Why can't we learn how to appreciate life from a walk in a park instead of  from near-death experiences?

So the moral is this, there is definitely "snow" place like home when it comes to extreme weather, but learn to appreciate the things that every day brings us instead of the days we deem special enough to enjoy.


Stay Warm,

Scuyler Zenger
NCD President

Revising Resolutions

It is 11:59 on December 31st. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. In the moment that the clock strikes twelve and calendars turn over, people across the world magically become "new." NEW YEAR NEW ME is something I often find plastered around social media. This year, "2018 is gonna be my year" was extremely popular.  A new year means new beginnings. We often look with anticipation upon the blank slate that is the year ahead. It presents a fresh start much needed by struggling people or an opportunity to reach the horizons that could not be touched in years past. The new year is a time to dream about what we someday want to become, and what we are going to do about it. A time to make resolutions.

It is lunchtime on January 8th. All. You. Can. Eat. Buffet. Need I say more? The fascination with the new year has faded after eight short days and the urge to lose weight or maybe eat healthier is crushed when you walk in the door of your favorite restaurant. Where is the motivation that was strong in December? As we progress into the new year our dreams require an action, it is no longer acceptable in our minds to just think about what they will be. People either want to accomplish them or quit, putting them back into the dream file. When the results are not immediate and the reality of the resolution sets in, many a time they go out the window until December 31st. This doesn't always have to be the case though. With some revising and encouragement, you can achieve your goals or at least part of them.

If you fall a little bit on the weak side of your resolution, don't sweat it. Lack of instant achievement is not the equivalent to failure. Having realistic expectations and a doable plan of action can make following through on your new year's resolutions much easier. Most importantly, I believe that by not giving up personally and setting yourself up with a great support group, you can accomplish those things that you have been waiting to do for so long. And then. Then you can set your sights on some different horizons, knowing that you drew a great picture on the slate of 2018.

I wish good luck to those starting school again and hope that everyone can follow through on their new year's resolutions!

My best,

Garrett Craig
NCD Vice President

'Tis the Season

As the end of the semester winds down, I find myself frantically struggling to get projects in on time, finish homework assignments, and study for finals in both high school and college classes that I have been studying for the past few months. This amount of stress, as is typical, brings on certain mood swings and without doubt a touch of sass and short tempers. While I attempt to rein most of my emotions in, I find myself letting slip a snide comment here or a sarcastic reply there. This just makes me wonder, why is finals week RIGHT before Christmas season? Maybe it’s to test our true character and bring out our true selves in ways that otherwise would remain hidden.

Just recently, my family went and picked out the PERFECT Christmas tree. This tree was exactly six feet tall and was just destined to stand in our living room for the holiday season. Now, the art of Christmas tree shopping is something my family has kind of perfected over the years. We pull up at the Christmas Tree farm, hop out, divide and conquer. All five of us, my dad, my mom, Jacki, Shai, and I, spreading throughout the area, weaving between trees big and small, full and thin. It takes less than 10 minutes before all of us are shouting that we have found the perfect tree. Which then turns into a tree parade as we all exhibit our chosen tree to the others until we have a general consensus of who picked the perfect tree. Once the tree is bought, it is instantly installed in our house and Christmas proceeds to spread its cheer. All. Over. It.

 By “cheer” I mean an assortment of ornaments. Ranging from hand-made ornaments from kindergarten, to hallowed ornaments from my parents past, to the epic moving ornaments that are plugged into the lights. Oh, and you can’t forget the lights of varying colors and brightness. And to top it all off, a star at the very top. Decorating the tree has always been a family affair (although getting it to stand by itself always has dad in a particular “festive” mood…). Even with everyone’s busy schedules, varying amounts of homework and responsibilities, never-ending house chores, and livestock that need to be cared for, the Zenger household always has a block of time for the annual Family Tree Decorating.

With the festive cheer increasing by the second, and Christmas creeping closer every day, Let us not forget who we are and where we come from. Schedule a family get-together

instead of business trips. Schedule a vacation instead of a meeting. Make cookies instead of plans. Buy gifts for others instead of nonsense items for yourself.

Above all, care for others as much as you care for yourself.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Scuyler Zenger

NCD President 

Hard Work Can Go A Long Way

Often times we are told that hard work can get us anything we desire. We are told that with "elbow grease" and some persistent attitude the world is putty in our hands. We hear it over and over and over again, until it slips in the back of our minds, only to be thought of when the going gets tougher than we expected. It is cliché to think that our hard work is what makes us successful. There is merit in the value that is hard work, and I am honored to be a part of an organization such as the FFA that exemplifies what can happen when we work hard.

The FFA is made up of so much more than just "farm kids." While attending the state FFA convention, I like to watch the CDE and SAE Pageants that recognize individuals who displayed hard work and skill in their field. The winners are not just those of us who live on farms; they are everyday people who learned to work hard and because of their efforts, they excel.  We should all strive to be more like those members. They have all taken the value of hard work very seriously.

Hard work is taken further yet even outside of FFA. We should all strive to apply it to our everyday lives. Whether it be schoolwork or sports, our jobs or our relationships, we can see all of those things flourish with some hard work. One of my favorite sayings heard often in the FFA is "the world needs what the FFA has." By working hard, even when our job may be less than desirable, or our homework is making us pull our hair out, we reveal a lot about our character. The world needs citizens with character and moral fiber, and hard work can help shape us all into those people.

As all of our semesters come to a close, I hope this motivates some of you who are struggling to get across the finish line. I know I am feeling the lag after coming off of Thanksgiving Break. I wish you all best of luck on finals. A reminder that NCD Dodgeball is coming up quickly on Dec. 2!!! Be sure to attend with your chapters! With a little hard work, your chapter could become the NCD Dodgeball Champions.

 -Garrett Craig
NCD Vice President

Give Thanks

I hope everyone had a wonderful Veteran's Day weekend. It is truly amazing the country we live in. The people that gave their lives for us, so we can wake up every morning and live our lives to the fullest. In case you have not already, take a moment to thank the people who have served for our country. I stopped by to see my 91 year old grandpa and spent some time with him on Saturday to show my thanks. My school held a ceremony last Friday for the veterans around our county to honor everything they have done for us. Our FFA chapter was asked to wear official dress and be escorts for the veterans. It was such an honor to have a part in the ceremony and be able to show our thanks for our local veterans.

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and I can't wait! This is always one of my favorite times of the year because I get to see family on both sides of my family. I want to wish everyone safe travels to wherever they are going, and enjoy a week with family. Remember to be thankful for the life you get to live. Be thankful for your family and friends. Lastly, be thankful for the wonderful organization we get to be a part of.

Also a couple reminders for all FFA members: NCD dodgeball will be held on December 2nd in Beloit, so start organizing your teams! There are flyers that will soon be sent out to all of the advisors. Also, be sure to represent your district, by ordering a t-shirt. These order forms are being sent out.      

      NCD Treasurer

                -Lauren Simmons