Amelia Hawkins, Vice President

VP 2024-2025

My Supervised Agricultural Experience consists of working at a restaurant called Claysville Store, preparing and serving food to patrons. Another Placement SAE I have is pet-sitting for my neighbor’s dogs and chickens, caring for them whenever they are out of town or need a helping hand. Two Entrepreneurship SAEs I have are raising broiler chickens in the summer to show at local fairs and laying hens whose eggs I sell to local community members.

My greatest reason for wanting to run for a Missouri FFA state office was to show members that anyone, regardless of background in agriculture, can succeed in FFA. It took me a while to feel like I had a place in FFA because I didn’t have the same background that others in my chapter and area did. It was the encouragement of officers at the chapter and state level that helped make me feel at home in this organization. Being a state officer was one way I could interact with members on a large scale and give those just as hesitant as I was about FFA a chance to see all it has to offer and find their home within our great organization.

The biggest legacy I want to leave with Missouri FFA members over my year of service is that you are in control of your future. If you want to succeed, in FFA or in life, the only person who can make it happen is you. Your passion is your own and your drive is what will cause it to flourish or whither. If I can encourage even one member to have faith in their own ability to pursue their dreams, I will consider my year as a state officer successfully impactful.

My plan after my year of service is to continue my major of agriculture education, earn my degree and teacher’s certification, and find employment as a high school agriculture teacher and FFA advisor. My advisors have been huge influences on who I am today, and I want to give others the same opportunities for growth and success that my advisors gave me.

I have a deep love of animated cartoons and movies. Yes, they are mainly aimed at an elementary-aged audience. No, I don’t care and will absolutely love them anyway. A good story is a good story. I am constantly rewatching the ones I love and looking for new ones to enjoy, and I will absolutely talk the ear off of anyone who will listen to me ramble about them!

My biggest piece of advice for any and all members is: if you want to try something new, do it. Even if you have no background in it or no clue whether you’ll like it or not, do it. That initial leap will always be terrifying, and there’s no promise that you will succeed. There will be times you won’t. But living with the knowledge that you gave it your best and took the jump will be better than living with the regret of never having tried at all. So take that leap from your comfort zone into the growth zone, and you will be satisfied.