Anna Triplett

As I drag myself out of bed every weekday morning to the sound of my alarm going off at 5 a.m., I always ask myself why. Why do I do this to myself willingly? Why do I get out of my nice warm bed way before I have to? But then I remember why. I drag myself out of bed every morning to see the sunrise. That sunrise every morning is what makes me excited for the day ahead. 

I didn’t always have this philosophy to get out of bed every morning to see the sun come up. This practice has only come about very recently for me. The sunrise represents the one part of every day that I can fall in love with. The song by Hozier, ‘Someone New’ talks about how the singer goes through life and finds parts of people every day that he falls in love with. When I first listened to the lyrics of this song, I had no idea how it could possibly apply to my life. But the more I listened to it, the more I saw what the singer actually meant. Hozier is encouraging his listeners to find some part of every day that makes you fall in love with life. 

Finding something in your everyday life that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside can be the simplest way to keep yourself motivated and happy as you go through life. That may not be waking up early to see the sunrise for you like it is for me. It may be listening to your favorite song in your morning shower, having a miniature dance party with your friends in your room, or simply taking 10 minutes to yourself every day to do one thing that makes you happy. I encourage you to find one thing every day to make you fall in love with life all over again.

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated” – Maya Angelou.

I stumbled across these words while searching for my senior quote this past year. At first I stared at it, wondering what on earth the woman was talking about. But as I continued to re-read the quote, the absolute brilliance of the statement hit me. These words acknowledge that life is going to throw you a few curveballs. There are things that are going to cross your path that simply knock you flat on your back, but no matter what, you cannot stay on the ground. 

In the moment that you stare defeat in the face, it might seem impossibly large. It might seem as though it is a mountain that you will never move. It might seem easier to simply give up. But if you keep working and keep pushing yourself past your defeat, the victory will be that much greater. 

Throughout our FFA careers and life, we will face many obstacles, many things that feel like a huge loss. But we cannot let one setback hold us down. A football team doesn’t let a loss early in a season affect the playoffs. An FFA member doesn’t let one bad day of a career or leadership development event affect him or her when the district contest comes around. I challenge all of us to move past our defeats with grace and keep pushing ourselves and the people around us toward our victories.