“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.