On Saturday, Feb. 25, the Central Region FFA Meeting was held at Modesto Junior College and, at the meeting, delegates from the over 70 chapters in the Central Region elected the new 2017-18 Central Region Officer Team. One of the newly elected officers is Matthew Lima from right here in Escalon FFA.

As Reporter, I often have to write articles about what’s going on in Escalon FFA, but I’ve never had to write an article about myself. At the risk of sounding conceited, I’ll use this opportunity to tell you all about what this opportunity means for me and for Escalon FFA.

To be elected as a Regional Officer, I had to submit an application, go through an interview process, deliver a speech to the voting delegates at the election, and, finally, be elected by the delegates. I would like to thank all of those who helped me get through the election process especially my advisor Mrs. Stark who helped prepare me for my interview and speech, Mrs. Terpstra who helped me to refine my election speech, and all the Escalon FFA members who went to the meeting to support me. I feel so touched that so many people wanted to take time out of their lives to help me reach this point.

As a Central Region Officer, I will work in a team with the seven other regional officers to not only be a leader for the Central Region, but also encourage all of the 23,000 FFA members from Sacramento to Merced to be leaders in their communities.

I’m so excited to work with my fellow Regional Officers to serve others in our region this coming year. This is a huge opportunity and I hope that I can use it to give back to the organization that has already given so much to me.