Brenden Kleiboeker – President

One Friday afternoon, I went to the Pinnacle Youth Park, north of Columbia. On the wall of a rocky canyon, many people venture to test their hiking and rock-climbing skills. I had descended from the parking lot down a rocky trail, had ventured across the creek, climbed up the canyon wall and ascended to the second highest point in the park. After taking in the beautiful view, my friends and I decided to climb back down, so that we could go to the highest point – the pinnacle. After watching my one friend easily climb down, I knew that I could safely do the same. However, when placing my second foot on the boulder —slip. I fell nearly 12 feet off the rock, hitting my feet onto the solid ground below. Needless to say, I was rather sore after falling, but we decided to trek ahead. Finally, we came to the branch of the trail which goes to the pinnacle. At this point, I was weary. I did not want to fall again, so I convinced my friends not to go. We went back to the car that day, without achieving our goal.

FFA Members, on the trek to our goals or pinnacles, we often face falls which will scare us. We will have lingering pain that will tempt us that our goal is not worth it. When we decide not to persevere to our goal, we only cheat ourselves out of our potential. We cheat ourselves out of helping others. Luckily, I can drive back to the Pinnacle Park any day and achieve what I gave up on. However, we are not often this lucky. We have one chance to achieve our goal, and if we give up after a fall, the chance is gone. Though we will face falls in our FFA journey and in life, continue to persevere, because we only have one life to leave our mark. FFA members, reach your pinnacle this year!