State Officer Quetta Woodall said she jumped head first into her FFA Chapter
AFTON, OKLA. – Quetta Woodall doesn’t come from an agricultural background, but agriculture has become an important part of her life because of the FFA.
Quetta is the 2021-2022 Oklahoma FFA Northeast Area Vice President and a recent graduate of Afton High School.
She’s an agricultural education major at Oklahoma State. Her goal is to become an agricultural educator to high school students in hopes of giving them opportunities in the agricultural industry along with FFA.
Although Quetta grew up in a rural community, she didn’t have an agricultural background. However, she had many friends who raised livestock and lived on farms, so she was constantly around agriculture. Her school required agricultural education for eighth graders, but she said she’s been passionate about livestock and agriculture since elementary school and got involved in FFA because her older siblings were involved.
“My older sister was essentially the kickstart for getting involved,” Quetta said. “I remember listening to her give the speech she was using at the state prepared public speaking contest. Watching her be so diligent yet confident was something I strived for. So, as soon as I stepped into the agricultural education classroom, I jumped in headfirst.”
The first activity Quetta did above the local level was competing on the Agronomy CDE team. She said she did horrible in her first contest, but she was hooked. One of her favorite FFA projects was showing livestock. She exhibited a Shorthorn heifer her freshman year, then switched to showing goats through the rest of high school.
“It required me to spend hours with an animal, whether they wanted to hang out with me for that long or not,” joked Quetta. “Not only did it help me become more knowledgeable about livestock care, but it also built an extreme amount of responsibility and a bond with livestock that was one of the most impactful experiences.”
Quetta decided early on she wanted to serve in a higher capacity in the FFA. Besides her passion for agriculture, she also has a great passion for serving others.
“Once I joined FFA, I remember hearing about the roles of the State FFA Officer Team and knew I wanted to serve Oklahoma FFA and the amazing members within this organization,” she said. “My freshman year, I approached my FFA advisor and told him my desire to serve and the goal of potentially serving as an Oklahoma FFA State Officer.”
The Oklahoma FFA State Officer Team consists of a vice president from each of the five areas of the state, a reporter, a secretary and the president. Becoming a State FFA Officer first requires an individual to be selected by a 10-person nominating committee. The nominating committee chooses three candidates for each office, except the president. The president is elected from the previous year’s state officers. Candidates are put on the ballot to be voted on during the Oklahoma FFA State Convention. Each candidate presents a speech at the convention and officers are elected by the end of the event, which lasts two days.
Quetta explained serving as a State FFA Officer requires dedication, the desire to serve and a passion for others to reach out to members and put on camps and leadership events. The officers must do a lot of the behind-the-scenes planning, writing, memorizing and workshop preparation for each event.
“From the day we’re elected and properly trained until we hang up our jackets after the State Convention, we’re fully dedicated to serving FFA members in whatever ways possible and being the best version of ourselves possible to help lead other members,” she said. “Looking back, I didn’t think I would be living my dream of serving over 24,000 FFA members.”
Without FFA, Quetta doesn’t think she’d be where she is today. As a student whose family didn’t own a farm or ranch, she was still able to acquire opportunities within the agricultural industry. She said being in FFA allowed her to grow her agricultural background and her leadership skills.”
“I would not have been able to give prepared speeches and lead workshops for hundreds of people if I had not joined FFA and taken the steps to pursue something out of my comfort zone,” said Quetta. “FFA isn’t just for people involved in agriculture; it’s meant to help students with and without agricultural backgrounds to experience leadership and personal growth.”
As Northeast Area Vice President, she and her fellow officers led the Oklahoma FFA Alumni Leadership Camp. More than 1,600 FFA members attended the event where all the officers presented speeches to members from across the state. Quetta also facilitated four small groups and helped them develop leadership skills. She also led a Chapter Officer Leadership Training for all five areas of the state and worked with local chapters in developing leadership skills.
Future projects Quetta will be participating in include hosting the Goodwill Tour, which requires the State Officer Team to present workshops to FFA Chapters throughout Oklahoma. She and her fellow officers will also be attending leadership conferences, attending events and meetings hosted by FFA Chapters.
They will host the 96th Oklahoma FFA State Convention in May 2022.
“My main goal within FFA is to leave an impact on FFA members and those I encounter,” said Quetta. “I hope to remind them of their potential inside and out of FFA, and to serve Oklahoma FFA wholeheartedly, even after my year of service is over.”
She believes FFA has truly placed a flame in her heart to teach students about agriculture and the potentially positive impact it has on them.
“I would not be the leader I am without FFA allowing me to take the step to pursue agriculture on the next level,” she said. “Before I joined FFA, I wasn’t prepared to speak in public. FFA helped me become more comfortable and develop public speaking skills that I’ll use for the rest of my career and life.”
