FFA Proceedings 2002

Retiring Address
38
“It’s MY turn!” “No, it’s my
turn!” “Oh no, it’s definitely MY
turn!” “I don’t think so…it’s my
turn!”
You’ve got to love it—two
brothers deciding who gets to ride
up front in the family vehicles.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t
know if you have ever done this,
but to my brother Derek and I,
deciding whose turn it is, is a pretty
big deal.
Dane White, President
Tenth Convention Session
It’s Your Turn
We both always want to ride up
front because, think about it—if
you’re riding shotgun and it’s your
turn, you have it made! You are
the one who can create change.
You can change the temperature
by simply reaching up and turning
a dial. Or you can push a button
and change the radio station. And
even better, you could use your
precious moments up front to
change your mom’s mind about
raising your allowance. See, when
it is your turn, you are golden.
See, in the old days, we would
argue about it and used to just try
and beat each other to the car.
We’d race outside and the first
person to climb inside without
being tripped, shoved or slammed
in the door would be declared the
winner.
Well, things changed for the
better when my dad sold his old
pickup truck and bought a new
one. I remember the day he pulled
in our driveway—Derek and I
went rushing out to see it, and as
we climbed inside it, our world
was thrown completely off its axis
because, yes, it had a bench seat!
That meant three people could
ride up front—Dad, Derek and
myself. (Mom could ride in back;
we could definitely take her.) So,
if I chose for it to be, every day it
would be my turn!!
Well, guess what—your lives
are exactly the
same way. If you
simply choose for
it to be, then it’s
your turn! It
doesn’t take a
magic age, title or
process—only a
conscious choice!
Every day of your
life, you have the
power to create
change.
So now that
you know, what
will you change
first? I say, aim to
change nothing less than the
world and start with yourself.
Strive for personal excellence and
be the best person you can be. As
others follow your example, the
world will change—even if it is
one person at a time!
Now, you may be asking yourself,
“How will I ever do that?” To
strive for personal excellence, you
must do two things: Challenge
yourself to continually grow, and
always choose to do what is right
rather than what is easy.
I’ll never forget the first time I
experienced the power of growth
and discovered how that creates
permanent change. It was
February during my freshman year
in high school when my family
headed up to Mt. Ashland,
Oregon, for our annual ski weekend.
Having skied since I was five, at
this point in my career, I tended
to ski alone. I spent the whole
morning in my familiar place, and
I had a pretty standard routine
that I would always follow: Get on
the chair lift, strike up a conversation
with the person sitting next
to me and then impress everyone
within view as I glided easily off
the chair and came to a halt at
the head of the run. Then I would
take just a few breaths—admiring
my kingdom and looking at my
quaint subjects meander down the
slope—before I would quite dramatically
push off and speed down
the hill. I’d fly by people and
laugh as I threw snow on the skis
of those who went too slow.
Eventually I would reach the bottom,
bask in my glory for a few
moments and then get back on
the chairlift and repeat the
process. I had it made!
After a morning of good skiing,
I met back up with my brother
Derek for lunch, and all he did
was talk, talk, talk. It was all
about his daring adventures, his
crazy jumps and the fact that he
was all over the mountain. After
he was finally done blabbing, I
think my competitive streak came
out and I asked him, “Yeah, well,
how many times have you fallen
today?” “Oh, about 20 times.
Maybe a little bit more.” Then,
with a smug grin on my face, I
said, “Well…I haven’t even
crashed once, and in fact, I was
passing people all day long!
Leaving them in my snow dust!”
Well, at that, my brother rolled
his eyes and said to me, “Oh, you
haven’t fallen, Dane? You’ve been
passing people left and right?
Well, that is sure amazing—since
you haven’t even left the BUNNY
SLOPE! The people you are passing
are either 7 or 70 years old!
Woo hoo! Gold star!! Why don’t
you try something new for once?”
Though I hated the fact that
my little brother had a point, I
simply sat and ate my sandwich in
a humbled silence.