FAIRMONT — MCW FFA alum, Emily Matejka, recently became the State President of the Minnesota FFA Association. Matejka shares what some of her responsibilities will entail, as well as memories of her involvement with FFA.

“There’s going to be a lot of responsibilities that will be both in and outside of FFA,” she said. “As the state president, I’m basically the representative for all of the FFA members in Minnesota, the alumni, the association, as well as all the rest of my team. Through this representation, we have the ability to go out and visit chapters, where we engage with members and see what’s going around the state of Minnesota.

“Outside of those chapter visits, we also engage with stakeholders and industry partners that are sponsors or potential sponsors of the FFA. Aside from that, we’ll do some facilitation of camps. This will be the first summer since last year that we’re going to have those state conferences like State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders (SLCCL) and State Greenhand Leadership Conference (SGLC) in Hackensack, Minnesota.

“So we will do a lot of different planning opportunities for that, and we’ll facilitate those in July. Outside of that, we’re also going to be single-day conferences around the state, and that’s during the end of July through early August time frame.”

Matejka notes that while the current pandemic is an issue, it’s not going to be in the way.

“Looking forward to the year ahead, it’s not necessarily a roadblock, but something we can use to move forward into a new future. I think the organization has done a great job of maintaining a positive aspect around it all. I think we’re going to have a lot of different opportunities to engage and provide those single-day conferences, maybe talk to people on Zoom that we may not have been able to engage with before.”

Matejka also shares that she first got involved with FFA in the seventh grade, and had her interest peaked in the following year.

“During eighth grade, I attended my first FFA convention and I remember looking at the state officers on the stage, thinking they were so awesome, they are doing such great things. I told myself that day that I wanted to do that someday.

“I never imagined that I would be able to get there but throughout my high school experience, I was able to culminate different experiences that got me to that skillset. Throughout my time as a chapter officer, I got to know Nic Potthopp very well, and he was a big driving factor for me to step out of my shell.”

Matejka then realized that she greatly enjoyed meeting with people and her involvement with FFA grew. She is also grateful for the influence and support of her friends and family.

“I am thankful to everybody that has gotten me to this point in life. I thank my parents, Roger and Rita Matejka, for raising me to be the person that I am and instilling those morals and values, that love of agriculture, at such a young age.

“I also want to give a big thanks to all of my Ag instructors, Stephanie Wohlhuter and Jeremy and Jessica Daberkow. They were a big point in moving me forward in FFA and making me the leader I am today. Also thank you to Bob Roesler who was my mentor through the whole process, and thanks to all of my friends.”