Tyler Schuster – VP

What’s your biggest fear?

That question was posed way more often than I expected to hear it while I was at FFA Camp this summer. Y’know, it might have been because we kept talking about Paxton’s fear of snakes, which rivals that of Indiana Jones’ snake phobia, but that’s beside the point. The question really hit me, and I was drawn back to the times in my life when my answer was shaped.

As I became involved in high school with sports and clubs and leadership opportunities within FFA, my answer began to form. It really presented itself to me Monday morning before FFA Camp, when I could feel my stomach tighten and the creeping dread over what was to come. Today, my biggest fear is meeting new people and starting conversations.

That might come as a surprise to some people, because 95% of the work I do as a state officer is meeting new members and building connections, but it’s true. Every time I look to a person I haven’t met before, I can feel my chest tighten because I know that the first interaction is going to be uncomfortable and difficult for me. Then, I go up and say hello. And, that makes all the difference.

Everyone has his or her own biggest fear in life, but that fear is not nearly as important as the work you are doing to get past it. I see my fear in the face of every new person I meet. Where do you see yours? And, more importantly, what are you doing to become fearless?