This last story I want to share took place two years ago during National FFA Convention during my year serving as a state FFA officer. Looking back, it is weird how the situation all turned out, but I will never forget how special an agricultural education instructor from Illinois made me feel.
This story has a somewhat awkward beginning. I was really upset with one of my teammates, and I think anyone who walked by could have observed some sort of confrontation happening. After my teammate walked away I was approached by a man who said, "You are quite the leader, you were not at all afraid to say what was on your mind." Immediately I was embarrassed by the fact that someone was observing the situation and tried to save face by explaining the scenario to the man. He simply raised his hand as if to silence me and then said, "So what kind of horses do you ride?" I was shocked and confused; I immediately asked him how he knew that I rode horses. He smiled and told me how horse riders always have a certain walk and stance and he can pick them out of any crowd.
We began to talk about where we were from, what brought us to National FFA Convention, and of course horses. Anyone who is willing to talk horses with me can hold my attention for any period of time. He ended the conversation by giving me his business card and told me to look at the back first. On the back of the card, it read: "Ask me about 'ROI' ... and the three A's." Of course, I asked him.
'ROI' stands for "rate of interest" and the three A's stand for "attitude, attitude, attitude." He told me how he begins each of his classes at the beginning of the quarter, semester, or year with a discussion about how he expects his students to continue to have a rate of interest in his classroom and that they better not ever have anything but a positive attitude in his classroom. That's a powerful message to students and I can imagine the bar is immediately set high in his classroom. He also told me how he never had someone guess what the A's stood for on the first try. This teacher had an impact on me in the ten minutes we conversed and made me feel special about the things I was saying about horses. He told me how horse people have such a good head on their shoulders and that they are the most patient people you will ever meet. At the time, I had intended to go into teaching and he told me that as long as I take my patience I have with my horses to the classroom and always have a positive attitude, I'll be very successful educating young minds.
Afterwards, he bought me lunch. If you've ever been to National FFA Convention, you know the the food prices inside Conseco Field House are very high. This act made his impact on me even larger. Who can forget a complete stranger who buys you lunch? I'll never forget our conversation and the continual compliments he provided me with. Looking back, I often wonder if he was just saying things to make me feel good about myself or if I really was the first person to guess what the three A's on the back of his card stood for. Then I think about how it is a valuable lesson for anyone to boost a person's confidence at any given moment; moments like that are precious and priceless--we should all strive to do this for someone each and every day. And you know what? He did make me feel good about myself.
His generosity was small. His impact was big. I will never forget this agricultural education teacher from Illinois.
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