Living to Serve: #SuperbowlCDE Volunteer

With a blue corduroy jacket zipped to the top and a copy of Robert's Rules of Order in hand, an eager and excited, young FFA member walks into the National Parliamentary Procedure Career Development Event contest ready to prove their knowledge of Parli Pro. This nervous, anxious, young FFA member is someone that I know very well; I was this FFA member.

In the fall of 2010, I was able to travel to the National FFA Convention and compete with my team in the National Parliamentary Procedure Contest.  My team did not advance past the preliminary round however that did not hinder my experience in the contest; win or lose I loved every second of it!  This was an opportunity that helped to shape me into the person that I am today and was one of the first stepping stone of my journey to become an Agriculture Educator.

Flash forward to this fall, I was able to make my way back to National FFA Convention and the

National Parliamentary Procedure Contest.  Instead of competing myself this time, I was there to help with the contest and all of the FFA members there to compete.  Through my Parli Pro class at Penn State, I was able to take the opportunity to be a part of a team of Collegiate Volunteers to help with the contest in any way needed.

I was so excited to be back and be a part of the contest.  Being surround by fellow Parli Pro enthusiasts and talking about in depth concepts of Parli Pro (which sounds like a foreign language to anyone else), it felt like a big family reunion.  I was able to learn so much during my time helping with the contest.  I was able to learn more to add to my Parli Pro Knowledge Library but also learned how to successfully facilitate and plan a contest, something I can add to my teacher toolbox.

I had a blast being able to be a part of a judge's team and help with comment cards just as much as being a holding room monitor.  I loved being able to talk to the students as the awaiting going into the semi-final rounds.  I remembered being in their shoes and how I felt sitting there waiting and I loved that I could just talk with them, calm their nerves, joke, laugh and learn more about each of their teams and their stories.

I cannot wait to be able to finally make it back to the National FFA Convention again for the National Parli Pro Contest however I hope that the next time with be with my own students and a team of my own to compete!  My Parli Pro journey has almost made it full circle and I am hopeful and excited to see if I ever will get to take my own team back to where it all began for me!

Macy Fisher
#psuaged18