Experiencing FFA National Convention with a New Perspective!

        During FFA National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky two weeks ago, I had an assignment as part of my AEE 295 course. This third “Multicultural Moment” involved observing the behavior of individuals at convention and writing a description of these observations every day for a week. I began observing on Monday October 27th and completed my observations on Friday October 31st. As directed, we were supposed to observe interesting, positive, and negative behavior and actions of others. Overall, convention was a great experience and I learned so much from observing others. I also learned a lot about the person I am and the person I want to become!

           On Monday, the night before leaving for convention, I was shopping at Giant in State College. I blatantly watched a man cut off a woman as they both entered the store. The man wasn’t paying attention and I personally do not think he saw the woman. The woman gasped after the incident and seemed angry. From this small interaction, I realized that people need to be more considerate and pay attention to their surroundings.

           On Tuesday, I had an early start to my morning. I departed for Louisville from campus at 5:15am. We drove for five and a half hours before stopping for a late breakfast/early lunch in Ohio at Cracker Barrel. After we finished eating, everyone walked to the front of the restaurant to pay. As I got up, I noticed a woman walking back to her table. An older waitress was cleaning up the table. The customer thanked the waitress, handed her a tip, and explained that she was such a pleasant waitress and made her dining experience enjoyable. The waitress smiled very big, blushed, and thanked the customer. This made me very happy and was one of the most uplifting experiences I witnessed all week. It was reassuring to see that some individuals are still polite and courteous in today’s society.

           Wednesday evening of that week consisted of the Alpha Tau Alpha banquet and presentations. Representatives from agricultural colleges across the country were presenting Program of Excellence presentations. I noticed that students from opposing or rival schools were not paying attention to other presentations. Students were talking or were on their phones. I thought this was rude and disrespectful. I am guilty of this as well and felt very awful afterwards. This was the most depressing experience I observed all week. I made sure to keep my phone away during banquets and meetings the rest of the week.

               The most interesting event I experienced all week took place on Thursday afternoon. I waited in line for 45 minutes at the food court in the convention center during lunch. Behind me in line were a girl from Montana and several students from Michigan. The FFA member from Montana was from an Indian reservation in Montana. She was telling the Michigan FFA members about life on the “res.” The conversation lasted the entire 45 minutes with many questions from the Michigan FFA members. I found it encouraging that the students were interested in another culture. I was happy to hear their general interest in each other and how positive their interaction was!

Friday afternoon proved to be another fairly positive experience as well. I walked around the career fair and gathered resource materials to use in my future classroom. I observed how welcoming and talkative certain exhibitors were to students. Some of the individuals manning booths such as Stihl, Purina, and Tractor Supply were very friendly. They walked in front of their booths and made an effort to talk to students. On the other hand, some individuals, especially those manning college booths, were not inviting. They played on their phones and didn’t greet students as they walked past. It made me reflect on my presence, whether in the Penn State booth or in the front of the classroom. It also encouraged me to let my warm, friendly personality shine through!