It’s commonplace to hear Farm Bureau veterans liken State Annual Meeting to a family reunion, where the lifelong relationships they’ve forged with peers from across the state blossom annually in a happy riot of hugging and catching up. It’s something else to get a sneak peek into how those relationships first form, fusing together in the primordial ooze of common interests and like-minded ambitions.
So meet Frankie and Rylee: Frankie Eddy, a member of the Lowell FFA chapter in eastern Kent County; and Rylee Miller, a Portland High School student who participates in FFA at nearby Ionia. Their paths first crossed more than a year ago, as contestants in district-level high-school meets.
“Rylee and I met last year in the regional Discussion Meets and now we’re basically best friends,” Eddy summarized Dec. 3, between semifinal rounds in Grand Rapids.
“We were talking between meets and found we had a mutual friend, then we realized we had more mutual friends and then started hanging out,” Miller interjected, finishing her buddy’s thought. “Now we’ll hang out at FFA meets and our friend groups are kind of combined now too.”
Turned out their mutual knack for persuasive dialog was just the beginning.
“We realized we both show pigs, so we showed pigs together at the Ionia Free Fair this year, and hung out all during fair,” Miller picked up. “We just realized we have all these similar interests.
“We’re both very outgoing and extroverted, and we like contests like this — both of us are super passionate in FFA.”
How passionate? For starters they’re both considering runs for state FFA office, and beyond that look forward to pursuing college degrees in agricultural communications and marketing.
And both are acutely aware of how fundamentally important Discussion Meet skills are, regardless what directions their futures take.
“Networking is super important, and already accessible to us through FFA,” Miller said. “Obviously, we just started talking, and that’s kind of what networking is: You just start talking with people, and now she’s one of my best friends.”
“I also think that there’s a different aspect of it where it can connect us to industry professionals,” Eddy added. “It gives you lots of different perspectives, and since our state’s so diverse, you gain a lot more knowledge.”
And while Michigan’s agricultural diversity is a double-edged sword, the general closeness of its community is a blessing for those looking to solidify their place and explore new connections within it.
“In other extracurriculars, networking can be hard — like between different sports, because you don’t always have that common ground,” Miller said. “But FFA kids are very outgoing, so I think networking is much easier within the 4-H and FFA world. There’s a lot of common ground.”
Outside the Discussion Meet setting, both girls are already experiencing the practical application — and the vital necessity — of the skills Discussion Meets are designed to strengthen.
“I’m doing an ag-sales internship at Caledonia Farmer’s Elevator in Charlotte,” Miller said, “so I’m getting thrown into communications firsthand — how they do it in the real world, for feed sales, nutritional sales and things like that.
“I sit in on a lot of meetings,” she added, where the cooperative exchange of information, and the communication skill that requires, are a daily necessity.
The real-world parallels with Discussion Meets are obvious to these two.
“You have to come in with an open mind and a broad spectrum of knowledge because everyone else also has a broad spectrum of knowledge,” Eddy said. “It can be pretty scary. You have to do a lot of research so you’re not always referring to sheets of notes. That’s a big challenge and kind of what scares people away.”
But doing the homework isn’t the only social dragon that needs slaying.
Show of hands: Who loves public speaking??
“I think a less scary part of it is the public speaking,” Eddy confessed. “You’re talking with the five or six other people at the table, which definitely makes it less scary.”
Indeed, it’s the intermediate and advanced tactics that provide more of a challenge.
“You have to keep a manner of professionalism in a Discussion Meet, and that can be hard for kids,” Miller said. “You have to not cut each other off, but you do have to advocate for what you want to talk about.
“It can be aggressive at times, when one person has a really good idea they want to share, but so does this person, but someone’s still talking, so you have to catch them when they’re on their last word.”
At the rate Frankie and Rylee are progressing, the rest of us might do well to practice getting a word in.
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