By Jane Hakiyimana.
Carrie Schuman was born with a horse saddle in one hand and a shovel in the other.
Schuman grew up running cattle with her father and grandfather and has always been around horses and different aspects of agriculture. With her agricultural background, she always knew she would take part in the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Her love for ranching and farm life tied with the idea of learning foundational leadership skills, pushed her to join FFA.
“I’ve grown up just surrounded by agriculture so whenever we were in eighth grade filling out the schedule forms, of course, I put Ag as my first thing,” Schuman said. “I’ve always known that I wanted to be in agriculture, and FFA, it was just secondhand nature to me.”
FFA is a youth organization that prepares students for leadership and careers in science, business, and technology of agriculture. Schuman is currently the AHS chapter president and also holds the title of Area IV vice president.
“FFA, there’s kind of a misconception because we are the future farmers of America, but it’s not about farming at all. It is more of a leadership kind of program, to help kids cope into the world and have a good grip on things,” Schuman said.
On October 26, Schuman took part in the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis. The National FFA Convention is held each October with nearly 65,000 FFA members and guests from across the country in attendance. Even though the convention covers a broad range of things and events, she got to take part in being a voting delegate. Schuman and the other voting delegates focused on issues like adding a third addressing option for students who don’t identify with the typical sir or madam and holding an official dress drive for students who couldn’t afford the uniform costs.
“We got split up into six committees, and I was in the membership experience committee,” Schuman said. “We focused on different issues then we all got to vote on them as a delegation. There were 450 of us give or take.”
Schuman is clearly making waves in FFA and her love of agriculture will guide her beyond high school. Even though she doesn’t plan on continuing with collegiate FFA she does plan on getting a job in agriculture after high school.
“I am not sure what I want to do as of now, but I definitely want to go into the agriculture field, most likely something with horses,” Schuman said.