AgriPOWER Class VI has come to a close. Friendships have been forged. And emerging leaders have been made. Was it really just a year ago that I was filling out the application to join the class?
Twenty individuals came to Columbus in mid-July of 2014. Expectations ran high. We came to see what our potential was, who we were, and what are capabilities were as leaders. Our first session introduced us to the staff and workings of the Ohio Farm Bureau. We were also introduced to our personality traits and styles. We spent time in self reflection, learning of our strengths, and identifying our weaknesses.
Fast forward to our graduation and you can find the same twenty people, who are somehow different. Sure, we may look the same. But, we are different. We were definitely good leaders before our AgriPOWER experience, but now we are more polished. We have learned more about agriculture than we knew before. We have learned to properly share our message, and we are ready to take on the world!
Sessions of the AgriPOWER Institute have taken us to some amazing places. We have spent three sessions in Columbus, first learning about ourselves and then learning about agriculture’s place in the state government of Ohio. We have been to Toledo, where we learned how local governments operate. We also learned about very real local problems that have affected all of Ohio’s agriculture industry. We traveled to Washington, DC, where we walked in the halls that great leaders have trod before us. Being in our nation’s capitol on the anniversary of 9-11 held a significance for our entire class. We all paused as a moment of silence was observed in remembrance of lives lost thirteen years ago. And, while in Washington we also learned about American agriculture in the global marketplace through a visit to the European Union embassy.
So, where are we going today? We are back in our respective homes, back at our jobs, in the cabs of tractors, in lambing pens, in classrooms, and at conference tables. Wherever our careers are, there we are too. The world might not see a change, but we know we are different. We have more of an understanding of how our small part of agriculture fits into our community, our state, our country, and our world. We know where agriculture has been, and we hope to influence where it is going. In the week before our graduation, I was at a breakfast hosted by my local Rotary to honor farmers. The keynote speaker was Dale Minyo, and he shared a very poignant thought. “The world is run by those who show up.” Our class has done far more than show up. We have become engaged in our world. I, for one, will remain forever grateful that this opportunity was given to me. Thank you Madison County Farm Bureau for the encouragement to apply for this program! And, thank you, Ohio Farm Bureau for selecting me to participate in this amazing class!
I arrived home after 12 AM Sunday morning. And, I slid right back into a very hectic schedule. Church at 9, Sunday School at 10, a vacation Bible School meeting at 11, and a Church Voters' meeting at 1. I nervously watched my watch the entire Voters' meeting, hoping I would have time to make it to a 4-H meeting. I was so ready to fall into bed by 9 pm that I did not even need to have the buzz of a fan to lull me to sleep. 
I asked, well I told my husband that Monday was going to be a day off. He agreed, I needed a day off. After I took the girls to school, I headed home. Home to bed, home to relaxation, home! Then my phone rang. My husband asked if I could come help him on a job site. Like I have said before, there is no rest for the weary. 
