3-day Indiana FFA convention held at Purdue

They, thousands of Future Farmers of America members, packed Elliott Hall Tuesday night in their blue corduroy jackets.

In a two-and-a-half-hour long session, which included remarks from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, they celebrated the year it had been in FFA, including fundraising efforts and passing of the guard from seven state officers who had travelled across the state to offer guidance to the organization’s numerous chapters.

It helped to officially kick off the biggest conference of the year for Indiana FFA, the state convention, and parents, advisors, donors and a host of others with ties to the organization showed up for it.

The officers led the session through its many components, including a “retirement address” by one from their ranks, Carson Rudd, as he gave the speech that signified the end of his 365-day commitment to the group he said got him through high school.

“I’m not one to shy away from new experiences,” he said. “I think that’s what got me through high school. I was a three-sport athlete at one time, I did theater, I did FFA, I did band and choir. It was all about trying to make myself the best person that I could be.”

Rudd’s address revealed he had gone through a difficult time in the middle of his high school years, one running, and ultimately being selected, for state office helped him overcome.

“I figured out why I wanted to run for state office,” he said. “And that was to make sure that no member had to feel like they didn’t belong, like I did throughout my FFA journey, and that they didn’t feel like they had to change or conform to fit in.”

Rudd and the six others he described as “his best friends” had lived for a calendar year in a house in Trafalgar, Indiana. They travelled together all across the state to speak to members and make connections with the FFA’s numerous chapters. The distance travelled amounted to about 15,000 miles, he remembered being told when he applied.

Rudd jumped into this role despite knowing little about agriculture. His mother, Michelle, said he’s more into shopping and “doesn’t know anything about animals.”

He just wanted to, as he put it, “serve others and help them see their potential in the blue jacket,” he said as he looked down and touched his navy corduroy.

“Even from being elected, I knew that my last speech my return address needs to be something about inclusivity, belonging and being authentic,” he said.

“We’re not from an agriculture family,” Michelle said. “So it’s not like we raised livestock. I think that’s kind of what FFA kind of is about, whether it’s more animal based or whether it’s speaking, you know, learning like leadership skills. There’s projects and things for all these kids to do.

“Maybe you don’t fit in anywhere else, but in FFA, you can.”