2011 Proceedings - National FFA Organization

Etiring AddrEss: JAmEs flAtt
“goT TIgger?”
I can remember the days of my nose
being stuck to the TV watching my
favorite cartoon of all time … Winnie the
Pooh. I remember watching that bear eat
honey, get stuck in the door of his house
and say his famous phrase, “Oh Bother.”
I actually had a stuffed bear just like him
too, his name was Bo… though, I never
could understand why Bo wouldn’t eat
honey. I have to say however, my favorite
character was T-I –Double GUH- ER…
That spells Tigger. He is my favorite
because he is always bouncing around
looking for a good time. Hence, the reason
I am here today with my pogo stick,
bouncing off the walls at the most exciting
and upbeat place of all time, the 84th
National FFA Convention!
Bouncing off the walls was a good
way to describe me growing up. It always
seemed to earn me nicknames like “Little
Britches” from my favorite movie the Jungle
Book, thanks Mammy; “Spandy: from
some friends at FFA camp because of my
days cycling in spandex shorts; and “King
James” by one of my friends from high
school, though, I never could understand
why he called me that. But the nickname
that really defined my bounciness was
earned one day after school in my FFA
advisors classroom.
For some reason that afternoon I was
laughing at this, “Hahaha,” giggling at
that, “hehehe,” and just couldn’t sit still
to save my life. It could have been the
caffeinated beverage … or two..ok, ok,
ok … it was three that I had during the
course of the day. What made it worse I
had speech practice with both of my FFA
advisors that very afternoon. I started
speaking, and bouncing off the walls took
on a whole new meaning. I was moving
this way, bouncing that way and it
seemed as though I was about to jump
over the table in front of me. The whole
time I was just trying to hold back the
laughter. Ms. Pam looked up and said to
me, “James, stop for just a second. Dear
boy, what is the matter with you.” I just
looked at her and said through laughter,
“I really don’t know.” At this point she
started laughing, looked at me and said,
“You know who you remind me of right
now, Tigger.
Tigger that was my new nickname; I
got Tigger.
Got Tigger… But what did that mean
exactly? Did it mean I was joyful all the
time? A lot of people could tell you the
answer to that question … No. So why
was I like that that day? Well, it wasn’t
from the caffeine. It was because I had
been going through a rough time with
girls, school and life in general and was
just tired of being miserable and I had
a choice to make: To Be or Not To Be.
That day, I looked around me and noticed
many people who were being like Eeyore:
Miserable. I realized something more
important: It’s not enough to just find joy
it’s also about spreading it like the honey
of life. It’s about everybody in this arena,
this city, this state, this country, and this
world to say: We Got Tigger.
The difficult question though, is how?
How can we find joy in all situations?
Because let’s just face it, we get beat up
sometimes.
He was big, like really big, he was
mean, and he stunk worse than a skunk
that’s just been aggravated by a hound
dog. He was my archnemesis. He … was
a goat, named Jeth Row. One summer
when I was 12, two of my best friends
were coming over to play. One of them
was a girl who I had a huge … like really
huge crush on. Her name was Bethany.
We decided to go play outside. So,
of course I warned them about this goat
that seemed to be more evil than good.
48 Believe Proceedings 2011
“Umm guys I just want to warn you…
you see that goat right over there next to
the barn door? He’s really mean and may
start chasing you around the field trying
to ram you with his head … But if you
want to pet him then I can hold him down
for you.” I just said that, didn’t I? Yep, I
did. Open mouth insert foot because of
course my friends said yes.
I thought to myself at this point,
“James this is perfect. You can hold
this tough ole’ goat and win the girl of
your dreams.” I would like to add at this
moment that no animals were harmed
in the course of this story, only one very
unlucky 12 year old.
Be like tigger and bounce out
of bed ready to encounter the
day no matter what pains it
brings.
As soon as I approached this goat my
great day turned into a situation of misery
and despair. He spotted me, chased
me around the barn lot and pinned me
against the barn door. He seemed to
be having fun as he rammed and battered
me. My chances of looking tough
and getting the girl of my dreams soon
turned to girlish cry’s that sounded a little
like this, “HEEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!! THE
BEAST HAS GOT Me.!!!!”
I had two choices, “To Be or Not To
Be that was the question.” I could get
up and be miserable because of bruised
pride and body after being mauled by
a billy goat. Or, I could be like Tigger,
bounce up and run away from that goat
laughing at what had just happened like