As I walked outside, I heard the grass crunch under my shoes. The wind blew against my skin and I felt my hair lightly brush against my cheek that was warm from the now fading Texas sun. As I sat on the ground, to look out over the hill, I snapped a leaf of sage […]
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The red-orange sunrise illuminated the rolling hills of the McKnight ranch. As I squinted, I could distinguish herds of little black dots scattered about on the rolling hills of this west Texas rangeland. I could feel the humidity in the air, almost like a damp blanket covering my skin, as I slowly crept onto the […]
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In this line of work, it can be difficult to measure what your work is actually supposed to be. You get dropped off in a village and despite your preparation, you have no idea what you’re doing. In addition, you are expected to create some measurable outcome when realistically there are very few ways to […]
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Back in May, I held a leadership training for my 4-H club officers. It went well for the most part, but I was struck by how shy the officers were—especially the president. The last club president, Ruhiya, was an intense third-year student who had no trouble stirring up her classmates for meetings and the like. […]
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Usually the night before a big event with my students, like most teachers or FFA advisors, I am up worrying and worrying…hoping that the next day will go well. Hoping that I remembered to do everything, call this person, remind this person, print that, or purchase this, hoping that people actually show up. I can […]
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Standing there in a group of Booker Washington Institute (BWI) FFA leaders and alumni, I looked off in the distance in the direction of our FFA students who were laughing, yelling, and running around while playing ultimate frisbee on the football field. It was after our FFA End of the Year Program and the sun […]
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