Lessons Learned From Failed Dream #1: Eldon FFA President
The interview I had been preparing for several months(for what seemed like my ENTIRE life!) ended in a result less than what I had originally hoped for....1st Vice President.This post has two main purposes and I would like to take the time to explain them. Yes, I am completely happy that I was selected to serve my FFA chapter. Yes, I am grateful for this opportunity - I understand and am aware that there are people who would be ecstatic to get ANY office position in ANY organization. I'm not unappreciative and I want to make sure this post doesn't come across as such. However, the feelings I felt immediately following the "officer slate reveal" and the feelings that remained for the weeks and months later were real and at times, it was an incredibly painful experience. It was not until I was able to realize some very important lessons about being an officer, going through the experience, and high school in general that I was able to be okay with being First Vice President - a lesson and story that I feel is important to share with others who are in leadership positions of any kind. Thus, the purpose of this post is the highlight three of the lessons I learned (or that really became evident) as a result of receiving First Vice President and not the highly-coveted position of President.
- You're either who they want or you're not.
- It's JUST a title. Think. About. Your. Why. (Service as an Officer)
- **Everything happens for a reason.**
Lesson 1: You're Either Who They Want Or Not - It's Not Your Choice.You're either who they want or you're not and that was something that was really hard for me to grasp. You work so hard for that one chance, preparing months in advance - it is not easy to cope with not being the "one" selected for the job. As humans, it's our nature to be critical of ourselves and my natural reaction was to be disappointed with myself and to feel as though I was not good enough. Not only did I put so much pressure on myself to perform well, but I had pressure from outside sources, teachers, competing classmates, and my family to "get it". I am incredibly blessed with an incredible support system - I received text messages, balloons, cards, and notes of support and saying that they "had no doubt" I would get the position I had been dreaming of for the previous three years of my FFA involvement. And when I didn't, my thoughts were 1) I just let all of those people down and 2) they don't want me to lead the chapter next year; the second thought was perhaps the largest to overcome.Although it took me awhile to realize, it is not that they didn't want me to lead - it's that they wanted the other candidate as President of this specific year for this specific chapter in this specific organization. Regardless of what the specific reason may be, just because the interviewing committee doesn't select you doesn't mean you are any less qualified, any less prepared, or any better/worse than the candidate(s) selected. ON THAT SAME NOTE - Do not change who you are/what you stand for/etc. to try and be what you think that panel of individuals wants. I was able to come to terms with the outcome and accept it because I was 100% ME in that interview. One of my favorite quotes from former Miss America Teresa Scanlon is "different judge, different outcome" - the outcome may or may not have been different had I interviewed on a different day, had a different selection committee, or a different year. It is ultimately one position/one opportunity and at that moment, I was not who they wanted for that job.**For those competing in Miss America/Miss USA, all of these lessons are just as applicable! On your search to becoming a local titleholder: 1) you're either who they want or you're not (and I'm thankful for the many pageants I did not win because I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was..) 2) it's ultimately just a title that does not define you, and 3) everything happens for a reason.**Lesson 2: It's JUST a title/Think about your why.More than six months after the fact, it is clear that the order of officers, the titles that they are given, and leadership positions in general are JUST titles - they are not reflective of your potential, what you have given to the organization, or what you DO. My junior year, the first year I served as an officer, one of my best friends (an individual who had interviewed every single year and never received a position, who consistently ranked as #1 most active in a chapter of over 270 members) also received an office and I'll be the first to tell you - seeing her get an office reminded me on my WHY. The reason I wanted to be an officer was simple; making a difference for the chapter was and continues to be my ultimate goal through service in this leadership position. As a note to others facing officer teams where there are "ranked" officer titles, the titles does not prohibit you from doing more or less for your chapter. After all, if you only do your job then you're not doing enough. If you are in the organization for the right reasons, it does not matter about what position you are given - it matters only what you DO. (It also does not matter what people say about you or your intentions - if you know your WHY and it's genuine it is enough).Lesson #3: EVERYTHING happens for a reason.I repeat: EVERY SINGLE THING happens for a reason. A year later, I am still trying to fully comprehend this - but it's the truth. I was not selected as President, and was instead given the opportunity to be First Vice President of my FFA chapter, for a very particular reason that I have yet to uncover. God says no to one thing, to open the next and it is imperative to keep that in perspective. If I had received the President position, I would not have been selected as both my chapter and district's FBLA President and as DECA President - simply because the workload would've been too much. Other opportunities came up because of this "closed door". Looking back, I can see why I was not necessarily the best option for President and why this year has unfolded in the way that it has. I have had incredible speaking engagements, area officer opportunities, and have the unique ability to make a difference in the chapter without being "the one in charge" - things I would not have been given if I had ultimately been selected as President.I, like many others in similar situations/organizations, placed too much emphasis on the particular title that I had wanted to gain as opposed to emphasizing what I wanted to DO with any leadership position(s). It is important to keep the opportunity in perspective (in this case - it was for a high school extracurricular organization when I was going to be out of high school in less than a year and would have to remove it from my resume in less than 2 years..), to stay true to you, to always live by your WHY and service, and to remember that every thing happens for a particular reason.(I apologize for the long post but it took me such a long time to fully grasp the idea of being an officer and I want others to see it before they make the same mistakes.)May God bless you on your officer journey,Holly E.