Welcome to my new series, Behind the Blue Jacket, where I take you behind the scenes about what it really looks like to take the infamous Blue Jacket seriously. 

Starting with a big one, my journey to the 98th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our group consisted of Meisja McCrary, Allysa Ely, Rieta Clark, Julie Marquez, Kate Mainwaring, Hadley Cooper, and myself, [Taylor Peters], representing the Powell-Shoshone FFA officer team—Josie Werner, attending as one of our most active seniors and our Chapter Sweetheart. To conclude our group, PHS class of ’24 graduate and State Officer Wyatt Blackmore joined us on our trip to receive his American Degree. Of course, what would this trip be without our Advisor, Benjamin Curdy? 

Starting with day one, filled with endless blacktop, questionable sleeping positions, and interesting gas station snacks. During planning, it was discovered that it’s cheaper to drive eleven hours to the Denver Airport and take a one-way flight to Nashville, TN, rather than taking a layover flight. We hit the road at 5:30 Sunday morning, and Club Dauntless was generous to let us borrow their 12-passenger van to take to Colorado. The road was long to say the least, but spirits were high and anticipation for the journey crackled through the air. The majority of us, including myself, slept most of the way to Cheyenne, where we ate lunch at Firehouse Subs. Shortly after lunch, we dropped into Colorado and stopped at Buc’ees, which was one of the most colorful, overstimulating, and overwhelming places I’ve ever been. I was convinced that one could get lost and never be seen again. But moving on past my admiration of Buc’ees, we entered the Denver Airport at around 4 p.m. From there, we checked our bags and proceeded through security to our gate. We boarded our flight at 5:30 p.m. and began our two-hour flight to Nashville, TN. During the flight, I took advantage of the free movies available on the flight and watched Marvel’s new Thunderbolts movie; most of my companions did the same. We landed in Nashville around 9 p.m. Central Daylight Time. From there, we rented a 15-passenger van and made our way to our hotel, but didn’t stay there long before eating at Waffle House, which was a first for the majority of us. We got back to the hotel well past midnight and then called it a day.

Day two, we slept in till nine before traveling into the heart of Nashville, TN, and explored the Country Music Hall of Fame. The museum had many interactive components that made it memorable. The favorite among our team was the recording booths, where you could record yourself singing a cover of a country song. Afterward, we checked out the souvenir shop and walked to Martin’s BBQ for lunch. Despite it being rainy in Nashville, it did not deter us from exploring the shops downtown. Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, and Jimmy Buffett’s neon signs lit up the street in an attempt to outshine Broadway. We began to explore, and my group, including Marquez, McCrary, and Ely, found a store that was selling hundreds of discounted cowboy boots. Marquez bought a pair of boots that retailed for five hundred dollars for only one hundred and fifty dollars. I myself was captivated by a pair of blue, knee-high, rhinestone-covered boots that originally retailed for one hundred and fifty dollars, which were marked down to fifty bucks. After our great find, we walked down to the Boot Barn store and went browsing. After our parties regrouped, we loaded up and started our drive to Lexington, KY. That night, we ate at Cracker Barrel, checked into our hotel, and called it a night.

On day three, we woke up a bit earlier and got ready to go visit Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. The museum had many interactive features and fun short videos to watch regarding the history of the Kentucky Derby. Whilst the exhibits about Secretariat and previous Kentucky Derby winners were fascinating, the fashion of the Derby captivated my attention. ith all of the colors, patterns, and accessories on display; it was hard to focus on anything else. The majority of our team enjoyed trying on some of the esteemed hats and taking pictures in them. After our museum visit, we ate at Raising Cane’s, and then made plans to race go-karts. The first place we went go-karting had 6 of our members go on the track first, and they enjoyed racing each other in the neon lights. Myself, McCrary, Marquez, and Curdy went to the second round, joined by another family. Unfortunately for that other family, their daughter had not gone go-karting before and accidentally triggered the race to stop four times, which definitely tested our patience — nothing kills your need for speed like stopping four times because someone forgot where the brake was… Afterward, we went to another arcade and played laser tag. If there is one thing I learned in that neon-lit room, it’s to never get on my ag advisor’s [Mr. Curdy’s] bad side. To say he was good at laser tag is a serious understatement. After our arcade expedition, we went to the nearest mall and spent a few hours browsing the local shops. As someone who thinks chasing discounts is a personality trait, I proudly bought a pink dress off the clearance rack at Cavander’s boot shop and some silver necklaces from Buckle. As a professional dress-to-impress player, I made a last-minute wardrobe change before heading to eat at Cheesecake Factory. For many of our companions, this was the first time they ate at Cheesecake Factory, and they weren’t disappointed. Afterwards, we returned to our hotel and turned in.

Day four, we woke up earlier, loaded up our luggage, and made our way to Claiborne Farms, home of Secretariat. Here, we toured around the different barns and got to pet and feed peppermints to a couple of different horses. The first was Silver State, the highest-paid breeding stud, at seventeen hands tall; he towered over us, and at first, he was scary to approach, but slowly our group warmed up to him and even got a team photo with him. The second horse we met was Blame. This horse is currently insured for 80 million dollars and won 4.3 million dollars on the track, and was the only horse to beat the undefeated Zenyatta. To say the least, my bank account was made to look pitiful. Our tour guide, after quite a few peppermints, was able to convince Blame to do a trick, sticking out his tongue. After touring the barns, our guide took us to the graveyard where Secretariat and many other famed racehorses are buried. After thanking our guide and buying souvenirs, we hit the road for Indianapolis. After our two-hour-long drive, we arrived at the Lucas Oil Stadium, where the FFA National Convention was being hosted. There, we shopped around dozens of shops, and then boarded a shuttle to the Three Hills Rodeo, where famous bull rider Tristin Parker made an appearance. After the rodeo, we took the shuttle back, checked into our third hotel, and called it a day.

Day five, we got up early, got into our official dress, and headed to the opening session, where over 65,000 members crowded into the Lucas Oil Stadium. Our team ended up at the top of the stadium (you know, the nosebleeds where binoculars should be included in the purchase), where we watched the National Officers address what EMPOWER means, listened to the Mayor of Indianapolis, and enjoyed the National FFA Bands’ performance. Although everything was well put together and so fun to watch, the keynote speaker captivated my attention the most. He was electric on the stage, engaging us in snaps and the infamous ‘clock it’ motion. His message was about how to destroy your personal box and be unapologetically you. If I could pick one thing, I would want everyone to take away from his message, it’s his definition of haters. He described haters as Having Attitude Towards Everyone Reaching Success, do with that as you will. After the opening ceremony, we made our way back to the shopping floor and the expo. Myself, McCrary, Marquez, and Ely decided to take on the strenuous task of taking a picture with someone from all fifty states and two territories, and in an hour and a half, we had all but a few, including Rhode Island and Vermont. After our shopping extravaganza, we made our way back to the hotel, where most of us took a nap before getting ready to attend the Hypnotist Show. Now, I’ve never been one to believe in superstitions; however, I was blown away by this show. The hypnotist was able to convince members of the crowd that their name was Cha Cha, make people fall in love with brooms, and make them forget they were even on the stage. Super good acting, or true hypnosis, I’m not sure, but it was comedic to say the least. Afterwards, we walked to the Yard House restaurant in downtown Indianapolis. To end the night, we ate gelato at a fancy ice cream restaurant and turned in.

Day six, the day of Halloween, we woke up before dawn and got ready to drive to Lafayette, IN, to tour Purdue University. Along with multiple other FFA chapters, we got a full tour of the Purdue campus. We got to go see the greenhouses where lab experiments are performed, and got to explore just about every inch of the campus. Afterwards, we asked our tour guide to recommend a restaurant for lunch, and she recommended Triple XXX. This restaurant was my favorite, second only to Cheesecake Factory; their homemade root beer was amazing, and their buffalo chicken strips were to die for. Afterwards, we drove back to the Lucas Oil Stadium to go shopping as the crowd was way less. My proudest moment was getting to meet the one and only Dale Brisby and get a picture with him. After our little shopping adventure, we went to an arcade where half of us went bowling and arcading, and the other half went mini golfing and played laser tag. Afterwards, we ordered pizza to our hotel and to honor Halloween, McCrary and Marquez dressed up as country Disney princesses. Marquez, as Tiana, McCrary, as Belle, and I as Jasmine. After our little Halloween celebration, we went swimming, and this is where my favorite part of the story comes in. At the pool, we met three other FFA members from Wisconsin, and we had a nice, long conversation with them. The pool has a glass door that connects to a patio. Outside the gates of the patio, we saw twenty or so FFA members roping in the parking lot. One of the girls from Wisconsin had the greatest idea ever; she suggested that we go outside and chat with them to network. So we get out of the pool, dry off, and throw on t-shirts and go out into the cold to meet them. Now, one thing you must understand about FFA is that line dancing is a rite of passage, and at every convention, there will be multiple line dances. This meeting turned out to be no exception; someone’s speaker suddenly started playing Church Clap, and the line dancing began. After Church Clap, Boot Scootin Boogie, then Cupid Shuffle, Fishing in the Dark. So to conclude, my roommates and I went line dancing in the cold rain with people we had just met. How romantic. After saying goodbye and having snapchats exchanged, we headed up to our room, packed, and called it a day.

Day seven, our last morning in Indianapolis, was spent at the American Degree ceremony. We saw PHS graduates Wyatt Blackmore, Shelby Carter, Brooke Bessler, and Emma Brence receive the highest FFA honor, which less than one percent of members receive. After many pictures and saying goodbye to the recipients, we made our way back to Kentucky. We stopped in Columbus, KY, to eat at Culver’s, and then to tour the headquarters of Cummins Motors. At Cummins, we got to see upcoming motor models, their labs, testing rooms, and learned about their operations and how they comply with EPA regulations. After our final tour on our journey, we drove three hours back to Nashville, TN, where we ate at a fancy Mexican restaurant and called it a night.

On day eight, our last day of our journey, we left the hotel before dawn and headed to the airport. After getting through the oh so fun TSA, we hung out at our gate for an hour. McCrary and I tried the TikTok-famous Voodoo Doughnuts, and I was not disappointed with their raspberry-glazed doughnut. We then boarded the plane, and I watched Marvel’s Civil War movie on the way back. After landing in Denver, it took us a minute to find our van and to get out of the airport parking lot. After getting out of the heavy Denver traffic, we ate at Chipotle and made our long drive back. I napped the majority of the time, and we got back to PHS at about ten p.m., concluding our eight-day trip to the 98th FFA National Convention.