Hooker High School junior Landen Jacobs has grown up around FFA, but he is making his own mark in the blue jacket. What started as following in his family’s footsteps has become a defining part of his high school experience and his future goals.
“FFA has been a huge part of my life,” Jacobs said. “My family has been in FFA and I just followed in their footsteps.” Now in 11th grade, he balances the demands of the program with a full class schedule, where his favorite subject is agriculture. He also credits his eighth grade English teacher, Jana Bledsoe, with helping him grow as a student.
Jacobs is involved in an array of contests that keep him busy nearly year-round. He competes in livestock showing and judging, land judging, crop identification, electricity, sporting clays, and farm business and management, among others. Livestock showing and sporting clays stand out as his favorite events. “I have been showing livestock for as long as I can remember, from pigs to sheep,” he said. “Sporting clays is something new I have picked up and I really enjoy it and plan on doing it after high school.”
Through FFA, Jacobs said he has become a stronger public speaker and more open-minded in challenging situations. Preparation usually comes down to putting in the hours. “Practice is something that is the best way I prepare for it,” he said, “but sometimes I have to wing it.”
Jacobs said his biggest accomplishment is seeing how many people benefit from the opportunities FFA provides. The program has opened doors to new places and new faces, experiences he plans to carry with him long after graduation. “FFA has showed me so many things that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, from going to new places and meeting new people,” he said. Knowing that younger students are watching motivates him to keep striving. “I’m inspired by knowing there are people looking up to me and knowing there’s always something new to achieve.”
