Entering high school is hard, it's even harder when you're entering a small rural school where everyone grew up together and nobody knows you're the new kid. Despite feeling alone, I quickly found my place in my agriculture classes. Mrs. Phillips, the head ag advisor, took me under her wing and taught me how to fly. Because I had grown up in the city, I didn't have much experience in agriculture but now after 4 years I am a two-time Future Farmers of America Chapter Officer, have competed in Cooperative Marketing for 3 years, have over 5 Supervised Agricultural experiences and show 3 species at the fair. The reason I have been able to accomplish all of this is because of the public speaking competitions that Mrs. Phillips guided me into doing. As a freshman, I competed in the FFA Creed Contest. While boosting my confidence it also grew my love for public speaking. The contest comprises of memorizing the 5 paragraph FFA creed and then being able to answer 5 minutes of questions about the creed. The first time hearing the FFA creed was when I knew I wanted to pursue agriculture for the rest of my life. I had never heard a speech so impactful that it had solidified my future as an individual. The first line states "I believe in the future of agriculture", and every time I said that in front of a group of judges, I knew I was taking a step toward my future. Now as a senior, I have been accepted into Texas A&M as an animal science major and I continue to embody the lesson the FFA creed taught me every day. Just as I didn't let myself disappear into the background when I entered a new environment, Mrs. Phillips did not let me simply compete in one speaking contest. She saw my potential as a public speaker and continues to push me to public speak. In my sophomore year, I competed in the impromptu speaking contest. With only two weeks to prepare, I was under a lot of pressure and I really had to work for it in order to be successful. Because of my determination and the support of Mrs. Phillips, I was able to place in the top 8 of my section. Public Speaking and speech competitions within the Future Farmers of America allowed me to discover what I want to do in life and the person I hope to be. I would have never discovered my passion for agriculture if it weren't for the guidance from Mrs. Phillips to pursue these extracurricular options and expand my skills.

“Jack Lenihan, the fair-headed boy, who’d die unless he’d win.” These are the words in a poem written about my grandfather. Until recently I hadn’t fully comprehended how much this defined me or how much it could impact my life Throughout my life, I have been called a try-hard, a sweat, and competitive. Though I've always seen this as a strength. My competitiveness is what has enabled me to accomplish many accolades and maintain my rigorous GPA. This competitiveness also led me head-on into a serious concussion. In February, I decided to play Red Light Green Light in P.E. As soon as I heard “green light,” I took off running as fast as I could. I was reaching out to touch the wall when I heard “Red Light!” Panic soared through me as I realized I wouldn’t be able to stop in time. The next thing I knew I was staring at the ceiling, and my whole body hurt. The lights seemed exceptionally bright. Somebody yelled “Get the teacher” as someone leaned over me and said, “You won, Delaney.” Those words still haunt me. I remember my P.E. teacher taking me to the nurse who sent me back to class. When people asked if I was okay, my pride didn't allow me to say anything but “Yes, I’m all good.” I don’t remember going to 3 more classes that day or completing my homework. I know I helped serve lunch to teachers because it was National FFA Week and as Sentinel of our FFA Chapter I had a full schedule. What I do know is that my mom brought me to Urgent Care after school, where I was diagnosed with a concussion, which began a 5-month recovery process to get me back to 100%. The main lessons my concussion forced me to learn were time management and prioritization. My migraines and vision impairment made sure I couldn’t work on projects for hours on end. I had to rethink my approach to work and I worked on planning out my day depending on which teachers were more flexible and which assignments required more brain power. Another struggle was working on the computer for an extended amount of time or focusing on studying, which made preparing for the ACT and AP tests extremely difficult. Even reading recreationally was limited, which as an extreme book lover was hard for me. Some days, I couldn’t get out of bed. My extracurriculars also suffered. I was the manager of the Bret Harte FFA Sheep Co-op, studying for the Cooperative Marketing test for the State Finals Career Development Event, and preparing my lamb and turkeys for the county fair. I realized I couldn’t do it all. I couldn’t say yes to everything and had to ask for help. It was a huge hit to my pride, but I realized that asking for help didn’t make me weaker, it actually made me a better leader. I was delegating my extracurricular work and staying on top of schoolwork. I didn’t let anything stop me. Despite my concussion, I maintained my GPA, passed my AP tests and won the Small Animal Round Robin at the county fair. I connected more with my family and accepted that I can’t always do everything. Although much of this time is a blur, I am thankful for the support I received and the lessons this concussion taught me. I learned to slow down, ask for help and how to meet a challenge head-on and find a way to succeed.