FFA Proceedings 2002 - National FFA Organization

Retiring Address
42
Aaahhh, look at my hair! I
can’t do anything with it. It’s
just so flat! It looks like someone
dumped a bowl of left-over
spaghetti on my head! Yuck!
Who’s ever been there? You
Stacia Berry
“You Matter”
National FFA Secretary
wake up in the morning with
that just woke up bed head. You
know it; we’ve all had it – a
cowlick here, some standing up
there and a tangled rat’s nest
over here. Every morning, I get
ready for the day, and the last
thing I do before I leave is look
in the mirror. Questions bombard
me. Do I look fat? Is my
hair okay? Does this outfit
match? What will my friends
think? Does it even matter?
These types of questions have
attacked mankind for centuries
whether you’re a jock, cowboy,
goth, skater; if you’re outgoing,
shy, popular or not. Questions
like, “am I good enough, smart
enough, will I ever be pretty
enough?” are caused by our own
insecurities. What would it be
like if none of that mattered?
There are a few things we can
do to be able to look in the mirror
and say, “You matter.” We
must identify how self-doubt
affects each of us. Then, be willing
to accept who we are and
maximize the qualities we
already have. Once we accept
ourselves, we can grow the
courage it takes to be a person of
confidence. Then we’ll be able
to become the people we are
meant to be!
So what does self-doubt look
like in our everyday lives? You
can see it on TV, hear it on the
radio or read it in magazines. We
need to look like Britney Spears,
smile like Jessica Simpson, have
muscles like Arnold, or drive
like Dale, Jr. Drink this drink
and it will make you a super athlete.
Eat this diet bar and you’ll
be beautiful, strong and smart!
They create this voice in our
head that starts screaming that
you have to be just like the people
in the advertisements and if
you’re not, you’re worthless. It
starts to close in all around you;
it makes you feel claustrophobic
like you’re stuck in an elevator
and you can’t get out! Wait!
Who are “they?” Why do they
get to decide how we define ourselves?
Why do we let them
make us feel insecure? It fuels
the voices that yell, “be like
everyone else!”
You don’t think self-doubt
affects us all? Look around. We
all can feel equal because of our
common bond of the FFA, but
pretend you’re back home after
convention. When you change
out of your official dress, what
do you wear? Is it your favorite
dirty old hat, broke-in jeans,
comfy sweats or your favorite tshirt?
What makes you most
comfortable once an outer covering
– this jacket – doesn’t
equalize you? This thought
might make you uneasy, taking
you back to those hissing voices
of insecurities that tell us if we
all looked the same, everything
would be better. Insecurities are
the mindset that says being a
carbon copy of someone else will
make us perfect.
Actress Judy Garland said it
best, “Always be a first rate version
of yourself instead of a second
rate version of somebody
else.” Don’t try to hide who you
really are. Embrace it!
Self-doubt takes on many
masks. We must uncover where
it lurks, waiting to attack us in
our everyday lives. Journey back
to elementary school with me –
a time of true discovery, growth
and cooties; back to the days of
tight pants, bowl cuts, lunch
pails, hopscotch and stacked
bangs. Life was good! Our
biggest worry was who to play
with at recess! Each of us was
cool until someone more popular
told us otherwise.
In second grade I was the
“smiley-est” kid you could have
met. I mean I was happy as a
clam and not afraid to show it.
The cool thing was that I used
to have a huge gap between my
front teeth. This came in very
handy when I wanted to store a
sucker stick in there; I mean this
gap was massive. I thought that
was the bomb dot com! But my
friends told me how uncool it
was, and so I stopped smiling in
school pictures. I didn’t want to
be embarrassed by my gappedtooth
smile. Self doubt had
ambushed me and taken on the
image in my reflection of a
pursed lipped little girl.
My so-called friends’ criticisms
made me doubt myself, but
did their words really matter? At
age eight, I didn’t know how to
just accept who I was, goofy
smile and all. In reality, it was
not the Dental Grand Canyon
that made me never smile again,
but rather the breakdown in my
self-acceptance that begin to
change the way I felt about
myself.
Constantly we try to cover up
our little imperfections. We talk
big, brag and boast. We put others
down. We wear too much
makeup, brand name jeans,
skimpy shirts, and expensive
tennis shoes or we’re ashamed
because we can’t afford those
things. These are masks that create
a barrier between us and the
rest of the world in hopes of protecting
our pride and sense of
self worth.
PHOTO BY KELLY ROGERS