Name: Nikolas Birchfield
Parents: Mike and Tina Birchfield
FFA Chapter: Prairie Grove, Ark.; advisor, David Hays
How has your involvement in FFA and at your family’s farm shaped you into the person you’ve become?
“I plan to be a veterinarian. Living on a farm has helped me to get more comfortable with the farm life and it’s helped me to become more comfortable with animals and the various people involved in the agricultural life. It’s definitely helped me meet quite a few very inspirational and influential people that have helped me to decide where I want to go with my life.
“My parents have always raised me up to be open to everybody and I believe that my parents, and my grandparents as well, have played a big role in my decision to become a veterinarian.”
What’s your FFA Involvement?
“Along with judging, my duty as the chapter president and team member was to make sure that the rest of the team was having a good time, and they knew that this was business and we were there to compete.”
Future Plans: “This fall, I am enrolled at the University of Arkansas and I will be majoring in poultry science with possibly a double minor in animal science and agricultural business. With all that, I’m going to concentrate on getting my pre-veterinary stuff done.”
He said he plans to one day return to this area, run a practice and take on the family farm when it passes to his generation.
Story and Photos by Trish Hollenbeck
