My Leadership Journey

Hello!

This past year I served many officer positions: Mitchell Chapter Membership Officer, SD FCCLA Region III President, and SD FCCLA Vice President of Public Relations.

If you were to ask my younger self if I ever thought I would be where I am today my answer would be no. I never thought my leadership would go beyond a chapter office. Here is my story.

I joined FCCLA in 7th grade. This was during Covid times so I just wanted to be active in something after being in lockdown for 6 months. My sister was in FCCLA and she brought me to some of the events so she encouraged me to join. At the very first meeting they needed the Activities chapter officer position filled so after talking with my sister about it, I volunteered. This was my first experience as a leader. It was my job to create games and activites for the chapter at the begining of each meeting. I loved every second of it.

My second year comes around and I become the chapter Public Relations officer. We had an instagram account but it wasn't very active. Right off the bat, I create a Facebook account and posted many thing on both Facebook and Instagram. I absolutly LOVED creating social media content. The 2022 Region III meeting came around and I wanted to run for the Junior High Representative Office Position. I submited my application, prepared for the test, rehearsed my speech and felt prepared to run against 2 other 8th Graders. I unfortunately didn't become the Region III Junior High Representitive. Through this experience, I thought leadership was not for me. I could participate in STAR Events and Knowledge Bowl and be a chapter officer but nothing more.

At the 2022 SD State Leadership Conference, my STAR Event, Career Investigation got a top superior gold meaning I qualified for nationals. I was so excited to experience this because my sister told me so many great things from her experience. Sitting and waiting for the Opening General Session at the 2022 National Leadership Conference changed my prospective of leadership. Seeing all of the red blazers and all of the members in one room is truly mind blowing; then, seeing all of the national officers walk out on the stage in perfect unision changed me. I immediately thought, I want to be up there, on that stage, doing my thing, showing my leadership potential.

My 3rd year in FCCLA I was my chapters President. This was a huge accomplishment because I could really see how being a leader worked, grow my leadership potental and help my chapter grow as well. It was time to summit applications to run for the Region III President and my chapter had to have a local run off because two of us wanted to run and only one can run at each chapter. Later in the week, I found out that I was not picked to represent my chapter at the Region Level. I was devastated. I thought I will never be on the national stage. At the state conference, I ran for the National Outreach Team. This consists of a test, interview, and application. I found out that I was not going to be on the team the following year. This crushed me. After all of my losses this year, I thought, maybe leadership was not for me. I wanted to give up and kiss my dream of becoming a national officer good-bye. If I could not pass a local run off or get on the National Outreach Team, how was I supposed to become a national officer? I was no longer interested in running for an office because I could not risk to experience that emotion again. So I decided to only compete in STAR Events for the rest of my time in FCCLA.

My 4th year in FCCLA came and I was the High School Public Relations Officer. I again loved creating social media posts, bulletin boards, and promoting FCCLA anyway I could. My adviser came up to me and asked if I was interested in running for a Region Office Position again. I was hesitant but I agreed. I thought that even if I didn't get it, it would be a great experience for my future. We had two chapter members who wanted to run for an office but I was chosen this time. This was the first time in 3 years that I was chosen to continue after running for a leadership position. I was super excited. I updated my resume, application, prepared for my test, interview, and memorized my speech. The day came and I was super excited. I did my thing and became the 2024-2025 South Dakota FCCLA Region III President. In South Dakota, the six Region Presidents make up the State Executive Council so I was excited to serve as a state officer as well.

The state conference came around and I was excited to meet the other state officers. After an interview and a fishbowl, I was awarded the office of the 2024-2025 South Dakota FCCLA Vice President of Public Relations. This was perfect! I loved to be creative and promote FCCLA at the chapter level and now I get to do it at the STATE level; that was so thrilling and exciting.

My 5th year in FCCLA has been the best one by far. Of course serving as a state officer was one of the highlights but it was being able to promote FCCLA at a higher level. I was able to take what FCCLA helped me with, for example public speaking, and speak about FCCLA all over the place including my chapter, state capital, schools all over South Dakota and so many more places. I also found my best friends, the state officer team. You can catch me on the phone with them 24/7. We were such an amazing group of individuals. I loved every second of serving as a state officer and I am so happy I got to pass my position down to my little, Delilah.

Throughout each of my years in FCCLA, all of my ups and downs, wins and losses, FCCLA will always be a home, a family to me. My experiences have helped me become a strong and passionate leader, preparing me for the next step in my FCCLA journey; to become a National Officer Candidate. I am so excited and proud to represent the great state of South Dakota on the National Stage in Orlando, Florida as a National Officer Candidate.