FFA scholarship season is here! With just one online form completed by Jan. 12, FFA members (high school seniors and college freshmen, sophomores and juniors) can apply to receive one of more than 1,000 scholarships ranging in awards from $500 to $10,000. There are scholarships available for trade schools, certifications, and two-and four-year colleges.
Why apply? “Without my FFA scholarship, I wouldn’t be at my dream college … and I absolutely love it here,” says Payton Irick, a freshman majoring in both animal science and agricultural communications, with a potential minor in agribusiness at Oklahoma State University (OSU).
The three-time Seminole (Okla.) FFA Chapter president is thriving: She pledged ag sorority Sigma Alpha, resides in a living/learning community for ag majors, serves as an OSU delegate for the Agriculture Future of America leadership program, and plans to study abroad with the ag college next year in Australia and New Zealand.
Her self-professed “overachieving nature” carried right over from her FFA experience. A chapter officer each year since eighth grade, she began showing goats for FFA, which transitioned to goat production, which landed her as a national finalist and the Southeast (Oklahoma) Area Star Farmer. She also tried out and made the National FFA Band twice.
“Because FFA is where I spent my time, it’s where I wanted to achieve the most,” Irick says. “I was the FFA kid, so it was important to me to [earn a scholarship] in what I’d done. It was a sense of fulfillment that will pay off in my future” — which ideally includes a career in animal reproduction after pursuing a master’s degree in animal science.
The FFA scholarship process was one of the easier ones, Irick notes, with the entire application online. She has a couple pointers, though, to help future applicants.
1. Keep good records. Irick had a three-ring binder with tabbed sections for FFA, community service, academics, student involvement and honors/awards. Throughout high school, she recorded everything she did in those categories. “Because I had all that, it was pretty easy,” she says. If you’re a senior, and that opportunity has passed, take an extra minute to record as many items as you can think of before you begin.
2. “Show that you can do many things,” she adds. “Mix it up between academics and extracurriculars. Look a little harder for something in addition to your FFA participation, and if it says, ‘detailed description,’ be detailed.”
Learn more about the National FFA Scholarship Program and apply for yours today.
