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Three Pleasant Home students attended the 94th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis last week.

Annaclaire Harper, Brianna Knoll, and Emily Chen were chosen to attend the four-day event at the Indiana Convention Center.

Harper, Knoll, and Chen were selected to attend the national convention because the three are on Pleasant Home’s Envirothon team.

Harper, who is a junior at PHS, first joined the Future Farmers of America organization in the ninth grade. “FFA grabbed my interest because I made friends with a senior who was heavily involved. I realized the opportunities that FFA can bring and decided to become a member,” she said.

While attending the convention, Harper said she learned about many different college and career opportunities that agricultural have to offer. “This opportunity meant so much to me. I will be forever grateful of the experience that going on the trip has brought me. There were over 60,000 kids in one place, and I enjoyed seeing them celebrate the love they have for FFA and agriculture. I really enjoyed making new friends and memories.”

After high school, Harper has plans to attend Auburn University and pursue a degree in Environmental Science. She said the experience would be greatly beneficial to her moving forward. “This trip will benefit me by knowing the things I learned will help me get into college and even get a job.”

She is very appreciative of Pleasant Home FFA Sponsor Karen Castleberry. “If it was not for her, I would have never joined FFA. She has pushed so many other kids and me to try new things and become a better person. She is the reason I want to get into the environmental science field,” Harper said. “She has given many students including myself countless memories and experiences that we will always be grateful for.”

Future Farmers of America (FFA) is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. The organization develops members’ potential and helps them discover their talent through hands-on experiences, which give members the tools to achieve real-world success. There are over 735,000 FFA members aged 12-21 today with 8,817 chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

For more information visit https://ffa.org or call the National FFA Headquarters at 888-332-2668.

“I could talk about FFA and this experience at nationals for days and still not cover it all. Words cannot describe the experience it brings, and it was a truly amazing time,” Harper said.