Step Up and Stand Out was the theme for the largest youth leadership gathering in the country. Having only gone to one National Convention before this year, I was incredibly excited to journey to Indianapolis to represent Minnesota, catch up with a lot of old friends, and complete one of my long time goals by competing in my first, last, and only national CDE. Here is a little rundown of the week:
Monday - We left the U of M campus bright and early at 5AM to fly first to St. Louis and then to Indy. We arrived safely and spent the rest of the day exploring downtown and took in a movie called "Forever Strong" as part of the Heartland Film Festival. It is a great story about leadership and teamwork and we very strongly recommend it!
Tuesday - We began the delegate process bright and early and had the chance to pass on your views and opinions to the other national delegates. Each committee heard testimonies and then wrote recommendations to be passed later on in the week.
Wednesday - After the public hearings, the committee work part of the delegate process was over. Finally, we got to see some MN members! AFSA was the first chapter I found :) While my team mates headed to the general delegate meetings to start priliminary discussions, I participated in the first rounds of the job interview contest. Wednesday was also the official start of convention in Conseco Fieldhouse complete with a laser show and some pretty cool National Officers. Many members, including the delegation from my home chapter of BOLD (shout out to Brad, Carla, Christine, and Brendon!), took in the Taylor Swift concert at the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium.
Thursday - Most members headed off to sessions and tours around Indy while I, along with quite a few other Minnesotans, competed in CDE events all day long.
Friday - I got up very early in the rain to attend my CDE awards breakfast for Job Interview and then got to attend the Dairy CDE lunch where Minnesota was very well represented! Congrats to the Gold Emblem Evaluation team from Sauk Center and to Elizabeth Olson, second place dairy handler! Friday also marked the first session I had the chance to attend where five outstanding members from our state were recognized as National Proficiency Finalists and two were named winners. Congratulations to Paige and Matt as well as all the finalists!
Saturday - It was another early morning to make the trek to Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the American Degree bestowed on seventy-five members from Minnesota. We also saw two Stars Over America finalists from our very own state recognized in front of the huge crowd. Finally, convention came to a close with the final session back at Conseco Fieldhouse. All of the CDE winners were recognized including the first place food science team from Dassel-Cokato! The new National Officers were announced and the old ones took off their jackets for a final time. After session we headed to supper and ice skating for our last night in Indy before heading home Sunday morning. Thanks for a great National Convention!
