NEWS A Texas Team Ag Ed Publication
June 2015
The Way I See It Jack Winterrowd, Cedar Park
I believe that everyone has a slightly different concept of the meaning of the word “joy.” I think that if you were to ask 100 people what gives them joy; you would get 100 different answers. So what is joy and where do you find it? “True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery It always happens this time of year for me. School has just ended and there is an aura of joy in the air. Teachers are happy because the kids are gone and the kids are happy because they don’t have to come to school every day. I try to reflect back on the year during June to get a perspective of what I did right or wrong and what I need to do to improve for next year’s classes. It usually takes a couple of weeks to recharge myself. Then I am looking for something to do and I begin thinking about next year. Sometimes it takes a little longer because I go directly from the last day of school to State Leadership Camp and then directly to State Degree Check. My summer typically begins a week later than some ag teachers. Those of you who follow that path can relate. There have been a few times that I continued on to some training or conference or series of meetings and my summer got an even later start. Looking back, those years have left me looking harder to find the joy of summer.
“Look for joy in your life; it’s not always easy to find.” -Charles Kuralt In those years my need for downtime was even more pronounced. By the time Area Camp rolled around in June, and I had been around kids for much of the summer after having been around them for the entire school year. I was truly having to look for some joy that didn’t have anything to do with teenagers. But after a week or so, I found myself returning to a better frame of mind so that by the time State FFA Convention rolled around, I was good to go once again. In retrospect, I don’t think it was the fact that I had continued working for almost an extra month that had me bummed out. I was just tired. Luckily, that feeling was short lived. “The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.” -Pearl S. Buck So by now it is time for the State FFA Convention, and almost like a junkie, I will be once again looking for a “good kid” fix. It has been over a month and my mind has purged all that tiredness and negativity from the last few weeks of school when we all dislike our jobs and the heathen children that make us question why we ever took that job in the first place. And what better place to get my “good kid” fix than the State Convention where the best and brightest all converge to mingle and socialize and learn and have fun and find joy?
The Texas FFA Convention is the epitome of excellence and therefore to me, it is a time of great joy. I truly enjoy just sitting and watching the sessions and soaking up the feelings of joy in that happy place. “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt I find joy in watching my students succeed and be recognized for their success. The joy that I see on a sophomore’s face because he is at his first State Convention and he is wearing a new, stiff, dark FFA jacket with an office and year below his name. Or the joy on a young lady’s face while she is singing in the chorus and the camera puts her on the jumbo screen. Or the buzz of
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