Taylor Lee
Age: 16
Family: parents, Melissa Jones and James Lee and sister, Cassi, age 13
School: Junior at Ozark High School, secretary for Ozark FFA
FFA Advisor: Travis Phipps
What is your interest in agriculture?
“In my SAE (Supervised Agriculture Experience),” Taylor Lee, a petite blond with a shy smile, explained, “I have a mule, a miniature horse, chickens and a garden. I sell eggs to my friends and family and along with my family, we sell vegetables in a little fruit stand. My grandfather had a farm with cattle until he was diagnosed with cancer at age 40 and was told he only had a few months to live. He shut down the operation but it was part of my childhood and I loved it. The great part is that he survived it and is well into his 60s. His doctors said it was amazing. He inspires my farm dreams.”
What kind of FFA activities have you enjoyed?
“I’ve been to National Convention in Indiana and now making plans to go to Kentucky this year for Nationals,” Taylor continued. “I’ve been involved in Friends Against Hunger each year where we all take various jobs, like packaging and sealing food. We package up meals for people in third world countries and for people in the U.S. who are in situations where they are short of food. Last year our groups packaged two million meals in a day. Our goal for all the groups each year is five million meals.
“What I like best is that when we stand together as a family, when we are together, we can do a lot. We are only as strong as our weakest link, but I love how strong we are when we are together. Our horse team took first place at Nationals.”
What are your plans for the future?
“I want to work in pediatric oncology, oncology in children. I’m hoping to go to the University of Missouri at Kansas City through Mercy. I’m working on the scholarship right now. There is a medical program that goes for two weeks each year to Jamaica and I’m hoping to be able to work in that. There’s also an opportunity coming up in Kenya as well. My grandfather still has his farm and he’s told us, my sister and I, that it is to go to us someday and I love that. My dream is to work in oncology and have a farm at home.” Taylor concluded, “I’m also in Medical Explorers and I’m scheduled to do a rotation in oncology next week so that’s exciting, too.”
