Matthew and Andrew Burroughs
Age: 17 (twins)
Parents: Bill and Stephanie Burroughs
Hometown: Greenbrier, Ark.
FFA chapter: Greenbrier FFA
Advisors: Brandon Lewis and Rodney Wiedower
How do you participate in FFA?
Matthew: “For the past two years both my brother and I have been on the mechanics career development events team. It was kind of fun this year because Andrew and I were the only returning members and were in a leadership role. We got third in nationals as a team and I got 13th in the nation as an individual.”
Andrew: “Because we won state last year, we are disqualified from further participation in that event so both of us chose to go into electricity career development events. This requires a basic understanding of electricity such as an electrician would know including as well as an understanding of the electric code. Our knowledge will be tested through 50 questions about the code as well as the more practical aspects of electricity. In addition we both have supervised agricultural experience where we keep records of our hours and tasks in terms of cattle production with a 200-head herd.”
What kind of chores do you do around the farm?
Matthew: “We build electric fences, move hay, disc, brush hog, feed or whatever else is needed, obviously when we’re not in school.”
Andrew: “We also raise turnips, wheat and rye in addition to grass. I like disking best because you get the satisfaction of seeing the ground produce 8- or 9-foot tall Sudan grass in a typical year.”
What are your future plans?
Matthew: “I plan on attending the University of Arkansas for mechanical engineering, though my exact career goal is up in the air depending upon what I learn when I study and what’s available at the time.”
Andrew: “I’m going to the U of A to study computer science. In terms of a career, I will have to wait to see what’s available because there might be a job that isn’t even invented yet. My favorite part of computer science is problem-solving, especially when it concerns maximizing efficiency.”
