While attending the 2024 FFA National Officer Training Session hosted by Oklahoma State University, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays talked to Kylee Falasco, a National FFA Officer candidate who will represent Oklahoma at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 23 – 26.
Falasco grew up near Weatherford, Oklahoma, and at the tender age of nine decided that she wanted to show sheep like her friend, Ashton. Her mom surprised her by readily agreeing, but the local ag teacher preferred pigs, so that is where she got started.
“I got rooted in agriculture through the livestock industry,” she said. “I eventually ended up in an eighth-grade ag class, then made the transition from the green jacket to the blue jacket. I ended up really loving it.”
She smiled as she admitted that she joined FFA because she showed pigs, but stayed in the club because of the opportunities and experiences it provided her.
“I did all of the things,” she said. “I did Opening Ceremonies, the Greenhand quizzes, and I was really passionate about the Agricultural Communications CDE. I loved it and also, showing livestock.”
Because of the COVID pandemic, she missed out on doing the FFA Creed for anyone except her classmates. She said, “COVID was such a crazy and unique thing that happened in our generation. I remember very vividly being at the OYE in March, and they were talking about this coronavirus, and everyone was kind of making a joke about it. Then, before you knew it, they told us that within the next 24 hours, we had to be packed up and out of there because this virus was so serious; it was taking the lives of so many people.”
Falasco said that she and many other livestock exhibitors took a lot of chances due to the uncertainty surrounding whether or not livestock shows would prevail that summer.
“COVID was difficult,” she said. “We were quarantined, and we didn’t have connection with anybody that whole summer from spring break until August. Then we were being quarantined every two weeks because someone within six feet of us had COVID. It was hard!”
Falasco began her first FFA Officer position, Chapter Historian, near the end of her freshman year. She enjoyed the position so much, she ran against her older brother for President and won. She served in that position for both her Junior and Senior years.
“Being FFA President the second time around was different from the first time,” she said. “I knew the ropes of being a leader within the chapter and the community better. Something that not a lot of people think about is how hard it is to be on a team. I learned how to be a team player and to respect other people’s opinions even if it wasn’t something I agreed with.”
The summer before her Senior year, Falasco attended a Washington Leadership Conference where the biggest takeaway was being changemakers in their chapters and communities. She also attended her last alumni leadership camp and got caught up in the “lasts” that go along with a student’s senior year of high school. She decided that her next goal would be to serve Oklahoma FFA on the state level. She was elected as the Southwest Area Vice President.
“I served that year with my teammates who are still my best friends, so that was a really cool experience,” she shared.
Now a National Officer candidate representing the state of Oklahoma, Falasco says that she found her reason to serve while she was a state officer. She said, “I want every student that I interact with to know that they are loved and seen and heard and that they all have a purpose.”
This mission stemmed from her own middle school insecurities about who she was and where she belonged. “FFA gave me the outlet to be a part of something bigger than myself and to get involved and find my purpose. My mission for running for National Office is to portray that. Whether I get elected to office or not, I still want to continue to make every person that I come in contact with feel so seen, and heard, and loved. I want to let everyone know that it’s okay to be so fiercely authentic, and it’s okay to be yourself. We were all created on purpose for a purpose.”
She said that she would represent Oklahoma FFA on the national level to agribusiness leaders by telling her story and how FFA changed her life by equipping her with skills for career success, premier leadership, and personal growth.
“The soft skills you gain through FFA and agricultural education are next to none,” she said. “Not a lot of people know how to shake somebody’s hand and look them in the eye, but I can guarantee you that FFA members do.”
Falasco and 36 other National officer Candidates will be interviewing on the weekend of October 19th, then after the committee votes, there will be the first “cut” made in the national officer process on Monday night the 21st- about 50 percent. The process will continue after the first cut, until six final national FFA offices have been selected. Those six will be announced on Saturday afternoon, October 26th, during the last session of the convention in Indianapolis.
Click here to see a comprehensive list of Oklahoma FFA members competing and/or being honored during the 2024 convention.
Our coverage of Oklahoma FFA engaged at the National FFA Convention is being powered again in 2024 by Oklahoma Farm Bureau. Watch for our stories and interviews from Indianapolis on our Website, Daily Email, our statewide Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and our Social Media Channels. Click here for the OKFB website to learn about how they are making a difference in lives of Oklahomans. Oklahoma Farm Bureau supports the youth of rural Oklahoma year round- and reminds you- Together- We Are Rural Oklahoma!
