Ducks Unlimited Podcast

Jimbo Robinson: Welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host today, Jimbo Robinson, and we have a extremely special group of students here with us today. We have Thad. I'm not even going to pronounce your last name. That's okay, right?

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah, it's German.

Jimbo Robinson: Do what? It's German. Don't say that.

Thad Bergschneider: It's a little bit complicated.

Jimbo Robinson: All right. All right.

Thad Bergschneider: So you want to introduce, say your name so you can say your last name? I got you. Yeah, I'm Thad Bergschneider, serving as the national FFA president this year.

Caroline Groth: I'm Caroline Groth, serving as the Eastern Region Vice President.

Jimbo Robinson: Awesome. And we have Mark Horobetz here with us today because Mark, this partnership has been something near and dear to you forever. So you want to talk a little bit about kind of where FFA came from into DU and how these two mesh and how we got the honor Ducks Unlimited to have these two students with us in here today.

Mark Horobetz: Yep. So it's hard to believe, I guess 2014 was the first time that I ever had the opportunity to see the, I guess, what is the just flooding of blue jackets at the National Expo. Back then it was in Louisville, Kentucky and now shifted to Indianapolis, Indiana. But we actually had the vision to attend The Expo, just because we felt like there was an opportunity for us with some crossover to potentially recruit some DU Varsity volunteers and create some new chapters within Ducks Unlimited. What we found out was that while that may be true and there is some crossover, man, this was way much bigger than what we had tended originally to do. And so we've continued to grow the partnership over the years. And we're just so glad to have y'all here as national officers representing your regions and to have Chris Bell, who's a good friend of mine. He didn't want to be on the podcast, but he's here in spirit. But yeah, it's been a great honor to have y'all here. And we took a tour of Bass Pro Shops last night, got to eat a great dinner at the Pyramid, and then learn from the historian Dan Thiel himself so far here at DU headquarters.

Jimbo Robinson: Well, that's an honor. So before we get started and go through the questions, y'all want to just kind of give us a little bit of background about you and how you ended up where you are today with FFA. Don't tell them all the things because we want to hear what it's like to become a national officer. So just a little history of yourself.

Caroline Groth: Yeah, I'll kick things off. I'm from Lexington, Kentucky, so it's a pretty urban area, horse country, and I grew up showing and raising sheep, which is kind of unique for Lexington, Kentucky. But to take a trip down memory lane, it all kind of started with my dad. There was a guy at his church that raised lambs, and he walked up to my dad one Sunday and was like, Jason, I have two bottle lambs that I just can't take care of, and I'm going to send them home with you. So my dad took him home, raised bottle lambs in his garage, which my grandparents were not super thrilled about. But that was kind of how my family got involved in the agriculture industry. My dad showed lambs all through middle and high school. And then after college, he married my mom and they knew they wanted their future kids to be in ag and show lambs. I grew up in the suburbs, rode bikes in the cul-de-sac with my siblings, and I was nine when my parents decided to move us out to the farm. It was 2014, we bought our first three ewes, and 2015, we started showing lambs, and I actually met my ag teacher while showing sheep at the county fair. She's who got me involved in FFA, and I like to say that my SAE, it's a supervised ag experience, a project that every FFA member has, It was a 4-H project gone wild, because I started freshman year, had three U's, graduated high school my senior year with running over 50 head of sat-down U's that my siblings and I, we sold and showed across the country. So that's kind of a little bit about me. Wow.

Jimbo Robinson: That is awesome. That's the best introduction we have ever had on the Texas Unlimited podcast. Thank you. All right, Dad, you don't have big shoes to fill.

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah, that's kind of tough to follow. Yeah. So I really got through into agriculture. I mean, my first memory actually of my family and of ag, I'm five, maybe six years old. My little brother Clark, he was in the NICU and had a condition called Beckwith-Wiedemann. So my mom and my dad, they were staying with him in Springfield. We live 30 minutes away in this small little town. So I'm this little kid staying with grandma and grandpa for the very first time, you know, feeling a little bit alone, just hanging out with grandpa. And in the mornings, he would take me to feed cattle with him. And it was January on this day. We walk outside together and it's below freezing, 15 or 20 degrees out. And my winter coat, it wouldn't zip. So I'm trying to zip this coat up in this high-pitched little kid voice. I'm like, Hey, grandpa, my coat won't zip. You know, he's, don't worry about it, son. Takes me up to the machine shed, grabs a roll of duct tape off the wall, sticks it to my shoulder, and just says, spin, boy. I go around like 15 times, and all of a sudden, I'm in duct tape straight jacket, and I'm just waddling out to the cattle feeder with my grandfather, and he picks me up by the shoulders, throws me into the feeding trough, and I just sit there as these cattle come up and eat at my feet, and I'm looking at my grandpa as he watches me, I think that's really symbolic of what my journey in ag was, was it really just took people throwing me in. You know, my grandpa from day one, when I was five or six, my ag teacher, once I got into high school as a freshman, my dad really pushing me to compete in ag sales and to continue following up with running for chapter office and section office. I'm just really grateful for all the people who've pushed me along the way to be in this blue jacket.

Jimbo Robinson: Man, that's, and I'm assuming that that is, the blue jacket is kind of like the, the first duck call in the duck hunting world, right? You get that first duck call that's special, that you learned how to blow from somebody, that's symbolic, and that's what the blue jacket is to y'all.

Caroline Groth: Oh, yeah. I can remember my first blue jacket. I actually didn't buy it. I'm a pretty competitive person. I'd say many FFA members are. So freshman year, a contest that many freshmen do, it's the creed-speaking contest. So the FFA creed, and every paragraph starts with, I believe in the future of agriculture. And so I memorized this creed, and the first three people to memorize the creed would get a free FFA jacket. So, you know, I went home, memorized the creed. It took me a little bit. Didn't just take one night. But I recorded myself saying the creed. I listened to it in the car. I listened to it in the shower. My siblings got sick of me saying the creed. But that's how I got my first FFA jacket, was memorizing the creed. Yep.

Jimbo Robinson: I'm asking here are duck calls something you pass down kind of father to son in the family if you don't lose them if you don't lose them but yeah and most the time what happens is is you pass down that special call like there'll be one call that kind of have calls that you you will use in the field all the time and then there's other calls that are just symbolic and special to you and you pass those down but when you're when your dad and I have a son now nine and My dad, you know, when it's the time is right, it's probably different for my kid because my kid came to D event when he was three and I'm sure one of the volunteers handed it to him as like, hey, go annoy your dad with this on the way home. But for most, when he thinks it's the time is right for you to be able to take it into the field and use it on actual duck hunting, that's kind of that rite of passage of like, now you've made it. And so, but a lot of them are symbolic.

Thad Bergschneider: So I'd say it's the same thing for me and my family. My dad was an FFA, and my first FFA contest that I went to, Ag Sales, my freshman year, I didn't have a jacket yet. And so I'm running around the house like, Dad, what do I do? I don't have a jacket. My advisor hadn't given me one. And so I grabbed his old purple faded FFA jacket out of the closet. And that was the first FFA jacket I ever wore. I was using my dad's. And then even when we got elected, if you look at the photo, I wore my dad's jacket again. So same thing, that family tradition.

Jimbo Robinson: So we're going to peel this onion way back for, for those that don't understand FFA and have no idea really what it's like. Y'all keep talking about competitions and both of you seem to be pretty competitive. Maybe Caroline, you a little bit more.

Thad Bergschneider: Um, I don't compete as much as I just win, you know, nevermind.

Jimbo Robinson: There we go. So, uh, but I don't think people, your normal people would put competitions in FFA in together, right? To, to, to persons, to people that are looking at it from the outside, they just see it as an organization about agriculture, right? Or, or whatever. So what is, what are the competitions? Like, what is that made of? When, what drew you to it besides your family? What, what the competitions, what drew you to the competitions of, of FFA?

Caroline Groth: Yeah, so I'm going to peel the onion back even a little further before I jump into these contests. So FFA is founded on this thing called the three circle model. It's these three circles, if you picture a Venn diagram, like three circles that overlap. So it's FFA is one circle. Ag education is another circle, that classroom experience. And the third circle is the supervised agriculture experience. For me, that was showing and raising sheep. For Thad, that was turkeys and whatever else he was getting into on his family's farm.

Thad Bergschneider: Yep.

Caroline Groth: So that's kind of the principles, those three circles that everything starts with. But in FFA, there's kind of two sectors of contests. There's CDEs, career development events, and LDEs, leadership development events. And then we've got proficiencies, where you can compete with your SAE. And I mean, there's a contest for everybody in FFA. For me, the first contest I got into was because of showing sheep. It was my SAE. I was submitting it for this sheep proficiency award. I could show how much money I raised and how much labor I put in on the farm. And honestly, I was not a public speaker. Going into my freshman year, the creed speaking contest was totally out of my comfort zone. And Thad talked about how it was his dad and his ag teacher that pushed him. For me, it was the same. I had my grandmother and I had my mom who just pushed me and were like, you can do this, Caroline. I have this quote that's hanging above my bed at home, and it's from Theodore Roosevelt. It's, believe you can, and you're halfway there. But as I've learned, as I've gone throughout this leadership journey, and I've gone throughout FFA, is it takes other people believing in us first for us to be able to believe in ourselves. And that's how I got into FFA contests, was there's people believing in me, but I'll let Thad tell a little bit more detail about some of the contest.

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah. And I just give you a little bit of a note on the intensity of these competitions. I mean, you probably have plenty of meetings at Ducks, right? Whether you're just checking in on something or going to a dinner. Well, in FFA, we take parliamentary procedure pretty serious. And Parley Pro is the most efficient way to run a meeting by Robert's Rules of Order. And I mean, Robert's Rules is like four, five inches thick. of just how to run a meeting, the intense rules that accompany it. And FFA members at chapter level comprise of teams where they then read all of Robert's rules of order and then compete in demos and tests where they demonstrate those rules. And I mean, it is like the Superbowl of FFA. I mean, if you look this up on YouTube, I mean, It is absolutely wild. They know this book inside and out. Delegate sessions, business sessions, you see ParleyPro in use, and it's intense. People dedicate their lives to this in FFA.

Caroline Groth: People take it really seriously.

Thad Bergschneider: So the chapter level starts where?

Caroline Groth: Yeah, chapter level, you can start in middle school in most states. My home middle school did not have an FFA chapter. I went to a weird middle school. I went to a performing arts middle school. We can talk about that more later.

Thad Bergschneider: We still love her.

Caroline Groth: But for me, it started my freshman year of high school. So you have the chapter level and you have the state level, that's your association, and then the national level. But it all starts at the grassroots and those chapters.

Jimbo Robinson: It's really interesting how, from what I've heard so far, how DU, Ducks Unlimited and FFA on y'all's level kind of run very parallel in how we operate on the volunteer side. And it's very interesting to hear y'all describe it because it's kind of taken me back to some of my early days with DU and how I got involved on the collegiate level. Um, because at the time our varsity chapters didn't even exist. And so he got, you know, that was, he got involved on the, the local collegiate level and then the, uh, the local chapter level. And then, you know, you could go to the state level. So they very similar, have a lot of parallels, um, side by side. And so I bet to our board members, a lot of them, that's how kind of, they ran parallel to what y'all are saying. And it's not as much competitions as it is involvement, right, or volunteers.

Mark Horobetz: Yeah, Jim, to that point, I think there's also similarities in size of the organization. similarity, excuse me, and passion from its members. And we talked about that last night, you know, what that duck head represents for our volunteers. It's what that blue jacket I think symbolizes for you guys as well and for our members. So pretty cool to see that and how the, how the relationship has really expanded since 2014 when I walked in and had no idea what was going on. So.

Thad Bergschneider: In another parallel, one million acres has been a recent achievement for you all, right? I mean, one million members is our recent achievement, too. So, I mean, I think that's a pretty neat parallel, too, that both of us in recent history have hit that one million mark. That's amazing. And that's something we've both been striving to achieve for decades now.

Jimbo Robinson: Really?

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah.

Jimbo Robinson: So, the growth, y'all are growing, obviously, year over year to hit that, because it takes a lot of members to get to a million. So, y'all are both national officers. And Caroline just had a huge smile when asked that. It's obviously, from what I can tell, there was no shortage of drive to get you there, either one of you. But what is the process to become a national officer? Because Justin kind of, he gave a little bit and I was like, blown away at the amount of time it takes. So walk us through that process.

Caroline Groth: It's crazy. I'll start with that. And before I even dive into the process, I want to say, never in a million years did I think I'd be sitting here as a national officer wearing a blank jacket. Like, every morning I wake up and I'm still like, wow, how is this my life? Like, I get to travel. I get to be on a team with these five awesome people. I get to have these amazing mentors pour into me. Like, man, am I blessed. But kind of the process to get here started for me serving as a chapter officer. I was never chapter president. which is not the path that I'd say most national officers have. And to be honest, when I didn't get chapter president my senior year, I thought my FFA career was over. I was like, there's no way I'm going to be a state officer. There's no way I'm ever going to be a national officer. But my ag teacher was like, Caroline, this is not the end of your story. This is just another chapter in your book. You're going to learn from this. You're going to grow from this. And this is going to light the fire that's going to drive you towards bigger and better things. And I didn't believe her at the time. But looking back, she was exactly right, because freshman year, I served as Kentucky FFA state president, and our state advisor, I can remember at the beginning of our year, he said, Caroline, if you aren't burnt out of serving as an FFA officer by the end of state convention, think about running for national officer. And when state convention wrapped up at the end of our year of service, I was like, I want to do this for the rest of my life. Like, I could live this week over and over again. And so that's when I decided to run for national office. And basically, you run at the state level first, and you get the bid for your state. So a couple of my teammates ran against me, and I was lucky enough to get the bid to be Kentucky's candidate. And then at national convention, which is at the end of October, around Halloween-ish every single year, is when all of the candidates from every single state will come to Indianapolis and go through interviews and workshop facilitation and stakeholder engagement and media interviews. And at the end of the week, six are selected to serve for a year as national officers.

Thad Bergschneider: convention hall, packed, serious, that Chicago Bulls music playing over the loudspeakers, the candidates all just swaying arm and arm, and they just start reading names. And what is the excitement like? I kind of got goosebumps some more, I'm just listening to Caroline talk about it. I felt like I was there. So first they read your state. They don't even read your name. You just hear from the state of, and then Illinois. For me, I can look back on the pictures, just total shock.

Jimbo Robinson: So do they pick where y'all, what office you are selected? So obviously you're the vice president, off your jacket you're the president. Do they pick where you, what office or what position you take? Yes, sir.

Caroline Groth: Yeah, there's a nominating committee. FFA is completely student run. Student run. We have a board. There's adults on the board. They kind of like oversee, but everything else, it's student run. And so even our national officer selection process is student run. There's nine.

Thad Bergschneider: Yep, nine state officers.

Caroline Groth: The nominating committee and so there's four vice presidents and then president and secretary and so that nominating committee they choose kind of what office we we get to serve in.

Jimbo Robinson: So it's all students? All students. So your peers?

Caroline Groth: Our peers are choosing us, yeah.

Jimbo Robinson: So do y'all get to get, so do you, is there, what happens after this year?

Caroline Groth: Great question. Looks a little different for everybody. As far as continuing with the National FA organization, we can facilitate conferences and other programs. We won't go back and serve on the nominated committee though, but we get to choose the individuals who will serve on the nominating committee, who will pick the next team. And we're about to do that like next month.

Thad Bergschneider: We've been submitting recommendations, getting that moving forward. Yeah.

Jimbo Robinson: So I'm assuming that's part of this process. So what is this? So obviously this was chosen back in October 24. What has this year been like?

Thad Bergschneider: So this year is national officer as national officers will travel a hundred thousand to 120,000 miles hit 25. Say that again. We'll hit roughly a hundred thousand to 120. You don't do that without going internationally. Yeah, we hit Japan. Ah, I knew there was a caveat there. That's when you know you're sharp. Yeah, we hit Japan in February. We got to go on an international experience trip. And as a part of that, there's actually a Japan, Future Farmers of Japan chapter, multiple chapters, actually a whole organization coming out of World War II when their economy and the agricultural industry was just completely crippled. They said, what could we do that would revitalize this country and the industry of agriculture? And they said, well, we know it works in the United States of America, so let's bring it to Japan. So we got to meet those chapters while we were there. That's an aside, but international trips, eight state conventions that we've both done, thousands of members that we get to meet on chapter visits, on foundation visits like this one. And man, so many stories and flights that go along with that.

Jimbo Robinson: Man, the more y'all talk, the more parallel I realize and Mark and Justin have been saying this for years of how similar FFA and DU really is down to traveling to state conventions and nominating committees and, and. And I know that y'all have talked with Mark and Justin about this probably extensively, but it's just really cool to hear how our organizations are very similar. So you talked about going to state conventions and meeting other officers, I guess, delegates, whatever y'all call them. But can you tell people that are interested in moving up? Is there always, like when y'all leave, you have this like, man, that student spent a lot of time with us. They're obviously, is there a game inside of that? Trying to make your name be known.

Caroline Groth: Yes and no. You can't really, like, in a lot of states, it's not a popularity vote. Some states it is. And in those states where it's a popularity vote, there are definitely people campaigning. But like Kentucky, it's all chosen from that nominated committee. There's no campaigning. So some states, yes, you can absolutely tell. Like Florida, for example, Chris, Bell, and I were just in Florida, was that last week? last week for their convention, and part of their selection process is a popular vote, and you can tell. I mean, there's people with buttons on their shirts and posters and campaign slogans. My favorite, oh my goodness, my favorite was at the Kansas FFA State Convention. There's this one member, his name's Mason. He was running for state office. He is in AGR at K-State, and In AGR at K-State, I guess their thing is they all ride mopeds to class. Like, it's this thing that they all do. I have no idea. But his campaign slogan was Moped Mason. And just how he's reliable, so is his moped. And it was a whole cute thing. But he made t-shirts. And so, yeah, there are people that definitely stick out. And you can tell, like… You won't forget Moped Mason. Oh, I won't.

Jimbo Robinson: Did he get nominated? Or do you know? He did.

Caroline Groth: He did get nominated. And he gave me a t-shirt. So, win-win.

Jimbo Robinson: You'll never forget him. that we talked about, you know, kind of your upbringing, but what, at what point along your journey, did you realize that a state officer, I mean, I guess a local officer started, but then a state officer and a national officer was something you wanted to do. Because with all of the distractions of today's world, and I think about this all the time, I think about some of our university and our varsity volunteers on the DU side of, with everything else they have to choose, they chose to spend their time volunteering for Ducks Unlimited and helping us raise money. So what, in your world, what was the if you can relate back to it, but what was it for you?

Thad Bergschneider: So there's an Illinois FFA camp that we go to every summer, and I remember I was sitting at a picnic table, and you're given about 30 minutes to reflect. Blank piece of paper sitting in front of you, and you're just writing a letter to you. They ship it out six months after you leave FFA camp, and it's supposed to be like a reminder of what were you thinking at this moment in time? Reflect where you are now. Who do you want to be in six months, a year in the future? And as I was sitting there trying to reflect and write on this blank piece of paper, I had just retired from state office. Retired? I retired from state office. So you have to retire? Retire, quote-unquote. Yeah, I'm a little bit young to retire, but you give up the jacket to the next person behind you. And so I'd retired from state office. I was planning to run for national office, but I was sitting there reflecting and a couple of my first questions were like, Am I fit for national office? Am I the type of person who can do this? Do I have too many struggles to take this on? Am I too broken to take that on? And as I reflected on those questions, I realized that we're all asking ourselves the same thing. We're all asking ourselves, am I good enough? Am I meant to do this? Do I have the right skills? And that was the moment that I decided to run, because I realized that that self-doubt, that mental health struggle that we talk about in rural communities, that's something that we all need. We need more of. We need more vulnerable leaders who are willing to talk about that. And if I could be a small piece of that, then it'd be worth it. And it was that moment when I committed.

Jimbo Robinson: So it was more about helping others overcome their own self-doubt than it was about ag for you, which says a lot about you.

Thad Bergschneider: I guess you could say, yeah. I mean, I'd say it's twofold. It was mainly that moment. It was also, I knew my passion for business and agriculture could hopefully help FFA members who are trying to explore the same thing. But I mean, yeah, the reason I ran is because I knew I couldn't get to the places I've been without the help of others. And there's somebody out there who needs that same push.

Jimbo Robinson: That same help.

Thad Bergschneider: There's thousands.

Jimbo Robinson: Yeah. Right? And so just influencing one or two, and I'm sure that you've influenced in your hundreds of thousands of miles, literally, that you've traveled. I'm sure that you carry this passion in more than just, it's more than just ag. It's also leadership. It's also, y'all mentioned that. It's also just being good people. and being able to influence somebody. Whether it is in ag, whether their future is in ag or not, we would hope that maybe, you know, their passion would drive them there, but maybe it's not. Maybe the right opportunity didn't show itself right after college or whatever, and they had to go a different route. But that tie to FFA, I'm assuming, kind of what you're saying, that tie and that passion they've had will drive them into something. And being a leader and being a good person, and being mentally strong and no self-doubt will drive them in whatever they do. And I'm sure there's plenty of stories out there that y'all know of of people that maybe didn't get to follow their dreams right out of school, but the foundation that was laid in their FFA time, whether it was a member or an officer or whatever, probably helped them excel. Have y'all seen that? You're smiling pretty big so you've seen it or something. You know something.

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah. I'd just say this year of national office has changed the way that I view influence and the way I view leadership. Because when you go to state conventions and you see yourself and freshmen who are sitting in the back rows of a convention hall and they don't You can tell how nervous they are. You can tell they're like, I don't know if this is my thing, but you go up to them and you smile at them and you pull them up to dance, you know? That's really what we all needed at some point in our life. Whether that was your dad taking you on a hunt, whether that was someone pushing you into an ag class, pulling you out on the dance floor, you gotta have people who pull you up and pull you up into something.

Jimbo Robinson: In that parallel in DU's world, especially in our varsity university chapters is probably one of the most important things. And one of the things that our leaders, um, here at DU push, uh, especially on the varsity and the university level is, is training your, your next year placement, right? Um, recruiting your, the person that's going to take over what you do, whether they're a freshman or a sophomore, because if you don't, then it's going to die at some point and there's going to be no leaders left. And. I remember early on, there was a varsity chapter here in Memphis and there were some seventh graders that were, that's dads were very influential in getting them into the hunting community, into the waterfowl hunting world. And, and they wanted to be on the DU committee just because it's what their dads did. And so they would come to meetings and sit in the back of the room and be quiet. And there was one leader on that in their upper varsity level and their upper chapter level. that would always include them and whether it was, Hey, what, what do y'all think about this? And I remember the meeting. I can remember the morning vividly when the light went off for them and the pure joy and excitement and the passion drove them for the chapter was the day that they, that the older group, the seniors in high school, got them really involved in helping them with some of the, some of the decisions and the decisions could have been small, but that didn't matter to them. It was just letting them have one ounce. of influence on what the chapter was going to do. And those leaders eventually went from seventh grade, eighth grade to when they were the first two chairmen we had that were juniors. And then their senior year, they got to pass it on to the next group who happened to be seniors, and then it's gotten passed down. But that influence of bringing that next generation up behind them has stayed with that committee. And it's one of the most successful varsity committees we've had in DU, and they're the national champions seven times. They've raised the most money and it's because those older, and it was just the first group, but it was that foundation that they laid to allow the younger ones to have an influence that's kept that group going. And so it's exactly what you're saying. It's grabbing that freshman from the back. and bringing them up just to give them a glimmer or ounce of hope or an ounce of that same passion you have to carry them on. And it's impressive.

Thad Bergschneider: I mean, that's the heart of Ducks that I feel like we've gotten to see is that when they started this organization, you know, it wasn't about them. It wasn't about their ability to continue hunting. It was about the legacy of what they'd be able to leave behind. Right. It's so much more than each of us.

Jimbo Robinson: And that's, and that's in everything, right? I mean, you said it, it was the, the early sheep days. It was that one person just, you know, coincidentally passing them down to your dad that's now driven that for generations. And it was just cause he didn't want them and there was an opportunity there. And when an opportunity. Um, is given anything can happen. So that's, that's amazing. So, um, what are some, I know you've talked a little bit about going to different states. Um, but that this to you, what, what has been besides meeting people? What is, what's one thing you'll remember about this year and maybe it is Japan, but the different states, maybe tell us what states you've been to and kind of what was unique and what'd you learn at kind of each one of them. Ooh. Okay.

Thad Bergschneider: I'll take you through my state conventions. Let's go. So state conventions, I got to go to Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Alabama, Utah, Washington. And then a chapter visit that I got to go to was in Idaho. And it was Idaho where I think the most impactful moment of my year probably occurred. I was at their chapter banquet. And they were sitting around and they were handing out the awards for the year to their seniors, like your goodbye plaque, your goodbye letter from their ag teacher, Mr. Badia. And I'd spent like a week there, which is super rare in a national officer's schedule. Usually you spend three or four days somewhere and then you're on to the next place. But it had worked out with my schedule. I'd stayed with Mr. Badia. I'd actually gone out and seen him train his hunting dog, his bird dog, Sonny. I'd never seen that before. It was awesome. I loved it. I was having a great trip. But at the banquet while he's handing out these awards to his seniors, he's reading these stories about them the moment they walked into his ag classroom their freshman year and then to now when they're on this stage and what he sees in each of them. And he calls me up to come to the stage after spending a week with him. I'm like, man, okay, now you're putting me on the stage too. What's about to happen? And I go up there and I'm standing with these seniors then as they listen to Mr. Badia talk about him. And it was one of them, Excel, who walks over to Mr. Badia, gives him a hug. And he just said that, Excel, I knew you wouldn't have done this. I knew this wouldn't have been possible. without your willingness, without your parents' willingness, without your community's willingness to say yes and stand by me. And so for that, I'm eternally grateful. And I'm going to mess up what he said a little bit, but I'll never forget looking at her, looking at her ag teacher, and then looking at the community sitting out in the banquet hall. And this community is 50% Hispanic, 50% white, and they're just like going crazy over their seniors and their people. And I don't know, I feel like I'm not even doing it justice as I describe it to you, but just the magic and the power in this room of a community and these seniors and this ag teacher, like… It was strong. It was strong. It was strong. I've never seen so many people gathered together who cared so much and so passionately for one thing.

Mark Horobetz: You've left Jimbo speechless. Congratulations.

Jimbo Robinson: Well, I mean, it's the passion, right? I mean, it's the drive. It's the want to. It's what we see sometimes at DU with with some of our volunteers, and it's a community. And in some areas at Ducks Unlimited, we say it's their opening, their grand opening, and they're going at a business sale on the same night. And some people spend an entire year focusing on that one night, and that's their banquet. And that's the opportunity for an area chairman to get up there and thank their sponsors and thank their people. And that's the area chairman. It's the same thing as that ag teacher. As you were talking, as you're wrapping up, I was thinking about some of the events that I've been a part of in my life and where there were those, those volunteers that were retiring or stepping down from their position and listen to all these people talk about the influence they've had on, on the community and DU. And it was just taking me back to a. Some great nights I've had in du and it's just The way that you told that story is that that will leave an impact on you forever because you'll probably follow up with that person and you'll probably try to stay in touch with That leader and whatever they do because it meant something to you and it was an out-of-state convention which is how you know, really cool things happen is when they're they're not planned and it's just a A road that less travel that you get to go down and it's obviously meant a lot to you.

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah, and I mean That's the moment. I want I want to be able to live out, right? Like that's what we live for and you're you're gonna live for that moment. We're at some ducks banquet someday You know someone gets up there and reads a whole paragraph about you and what you've done for them I mean, maybe maybe I'm calling this out too far but I mean it sounds like your heart for the organization right now like you You're not living for the praise or for the the achievement for the accomplishment but there is this legacy that you're gonna leave that someone's gonna read about and Care for and and take on so we got to hear his stage.

Jimbo Robinson: So y'all obviously y'all don't go the same States conventions So we're lucky and we get to have both y'all at the same place same time. That's awesome But where have you gone? And what's one story out there that? meant something to you

Caroline Groth: Yeah, so I kicked off the year at Nevada State Convention. I went to Montana, Kansas, Alaska, Minnesota, Florida, Montana, Kentucky. Those are my states. And the one I was probably the most anxious for was the one where I had the most moments that I think will stick with me. It's the Alaska FFA State Convention. And I'll tell you, Alaska is like a foreign country. Like, they're so removed from everything. And they call us states down here, the lower 48. They kind of have their own culture there. And I was at about the midpoint of my state convention season when I was heading to Alaska, and I'll be completely transparent with y'all. I was at like my breaking point. Like I hadn't seen my family in weeks. I was missing my college friends. I was like crying in the airport on the phone with my parents. I was like, gosh, I don't know how I'm going to do this. Like I'm flying all this way to Alaska, and I'm supposed to be like so present and pouring my heart out to members, and I just feel drained. And so I spent some time on the plane just like journaling and I bought Wi-Fi so I could like text my people and I land in Alaska and I'll never forget. I walk out and there's this white Ford F-150 that looks like it has been through it that's there to pick me up. I mean there's plywood in the back, there's all of these like hammers and nails. I mean, this is an Alaskan farm truck. The windshield's completely cracked. These boys are here to pick me up, and I'm like, what have I gotten myself into? But I get in the truck. They take me to the state convention, and like, they're so kind. They're so nice. But still, I'm like, so tired. I don't know how I'm going to do this. But the first day of convention kicks off, and I get to meet their state officers, and I get to meet their state staff, and they're all lovely. They're wonderful people. And we head to lunch, and we're having pizza and fruit. And, you know, these state conventions, we walk in and we're strangers. And it's our role to, like, go up and initiate conversation. And so I walk up to this sweet girl, and I'm like, hey, can I sit next to you? And we have this whole conversation and I later learn this girl's name is Jackie. Jackie is not from Alaska. In fact, she is from Florida and moved to Alaska because her mom had passed away and she had moved to live with her grandparents. And she had had a struggle with mental health and anxiety her whole life. And she says a sentence that I will never forget. She said, Caroline, it is the relationships and the responsibility the FFA gave me that is why I'm still here today. And like, in that moment, I was like, hold up. Whoa. Here I was in the airport feeling drained, feeling tired, feeling like how on earth am I going to make an impact? How am I going to do this? And that girl sat me down at lunch and like changed my whole perspective on the year. And I was like, yes, relationships and responsibilities. And through that convention, I was there for a week, which again, Thad was like saying, it's crazy. Like we normally don't get to spend a week places. But Jackie became like a best friend to me that week. We still snap every single day. I'm like, I love this girl. She's great. She's got a blog. She's got a website. She's wonderful. But yeah, Jackie Denny, I'll never forget her.

Jimbo Robinson: I'm sorry, I didn't know what Snap meant.

Caroline Groth: Oh, Snapchat. Sorry. Snapchat, Snapchat.

Jimbo Robinson: I'm sorry. That's the one thing, that's the one social media I'm not on. I had no idea what that was. I had to make sure I wasn't missing something. Chris is laughing over there. He had a second to fake it too. You had him. I know. I didn't know. Yeah.

Mark Horobetz: He kind of threw me off when he looked at me and said… But that is… It's amazing.

Jimbo Robinson: These stories, I am… I'm really in awe because this is so much more than just what I expected this to be in here today. Like the ag is not it, it's the people. It's the relationships. And that is everything at DU. And as a regional director, I was a regional director for 13 years and that, There were so many nights when I felt exactly like you did and where you've been on a run of events and you're putting them on and every night, no matter what, how tired you were, how you felt that committee of volunteers was the most important thing. And this was their night and you had to make it their night and make it special. And so there's a lot of times I'd sit in my car. And I would drink water and just, I mean, eat snacks, whatever, anything to refuel and get me in the right mindset to go in there and put on a smile and be happy. But I had to be focused and I had to be on every single night because you didn't want to miss anything. But to them, that was their most important night. And so having you there. To them was their most important thing. And what, you know, and, and you got obviously just going and being in attendance was a big deal for them, but for them to pour themselves out to you, um, you, you may not have wanted to, but I guarantee you, she would sit on the other side and go spending that little time with Caroline made my year. And if we had her sitting here and three years or whenever, She would probably say the moment that changed my career in FFA or changed my path forward was that time I got to spend with Caroline. And that's like, because it was for you. And when you get to the top, you know, being humble and like you said, we have to go initiate, right? And to them, that means everything to people. And so it'll be really interesting to hear kind of, and I don't know if I, It would be an awesome thing, but to be, have them tell their side of what y'all have meant to them by going and spending time and don't undersell yourself because both of your passion and the stories that you're telling one day, those people will be telling the same stories, whether it's in business as a national officer, because it probably meant more to them because it's an honor.

Caroline Groth: And I'll tell you, our team's theme for the year is planting, because this year is all about planting seeds that we are never going to get to see the harvest. We have these moments and we get to talk to these people and hear their stories and That's something we do not carry lightly. And I like to call ourselves stewards of stories. Because it's like we're carrying around these backpacks all the time. And we get to meet these people who just like pour out their hearts to us. And we get to carry those stories and then inspire other people by sharing them. And man, that's humbling. Like how cool is it that people trust us with their stories?

Jimbo Robinson: But just like in DU, yeah, the work you do today and the wetlands that we may help with our, with our dollars, right? We may not get to see the fruits of those labor, but our kids will. But the same thing is, is these seeds that you're planning with people like Jackie, um, for you with XL, um, those people you will, because when you look back 10 years from now, and they're sitting at 1.2 million members, even though you can't directly tie those two together, those seeds that you planted and the passion that you planted and the people you've seen at your convention, you'll know. you can kind of pat yourself on the back and go. It wasn't all me, but hopefully what I did at all these conventions meant something. Because the only way they're going to grow is learning from people like you two. And it's inspiring. When you watch the news at nights and when you sit around and you look at our world as a whole, it's people like you two that wake me up every morning and that this next generation and the legacy y'all are passing on, that there's a lot of hope in the world because y'all are incredible people. And we meet the same style students in our third term, which we have coming up, which is our big collegiate leadership summit. We meet students every year and I'm, you know, almost 40 years old and, and I still have a lot of drive and a lot left, um, in front of me, but leading up to, you put so much time in the third term and leading up to that, that you almost are drained. But when you leave there, the inspiration, these students share, they mean more to us sometimes. And then I think we do to them the same thing I'm telling y'all is. I leave there with a drive and I'm inspired by the students that are carrying the Ducks Unlimited torch on. And I know that that's what those students that y'all are working with, it's exactly what they're feeling. And it's that parallel of leadership and responsibility and everything that y'all are talking about is, it's amazing. And it gives so much hope to this next generation because one day I'm gonna be gone, but it's the legacy and the seeds that we planted that are going to lead us on. So if you could, um, we're, uh, we'll wrap this up, but if there's, we'll ask both of you, but, um, and Mark, do you have any, do you have any questions?

Mark Horobetz: No questions. I just echo what Jimbo said. I mean, I came in here today, this podcast, just hoping to kind of sit back and talk a little bit about the partnership between Ducks Unlimited and FFA. And I thought in my mind, you know, how am I going to add to this conversation, to this podcast? In reality, I took… something very beneficial away from this. And I appreciate what y'all represent, who you are as people, individuals, and we're blessed to be able to host y'all here at Ducks Unlimited. I think there are a lot of parallels between the organization. Caroline, I would echo to your point, I had some Some times like that in the airport when I was traveling and being away from family and then I get to where I'm going and immediately I have this sense of where I'm supposed to be because of the staff and volunteers within DU. So thank you for sharing that and Thad, yours was awesome. The last thing I would say, Jimbo, we're trying to get him. It's a national FFA convention. I mean, third term is definitely for me to seeing those college volunteers who mean so much to me, but it's also the same experience, uh, whether in Louisville or in Indy. Um, so thank y'all for having us and thank y'all for treating us so well.

Jimbo Robinson: When Justin came back last year, that's thanks Mark. And when Justin came back last year, he's like, dude, you have to go. And I'm like, man, yeah. But my kids are nine and six and like Halloween to them is their everything. And we always laugh about that. And I know Mark probably missed it. He's got one now younger. And so it's just, but yeah. And he continues, he's like, hey, what day is you going to try to come? So I am going to try to come this year. I can't wait till we all be there. I mean, obviously you will.

Caroline Groth: Oh yeah, we'll be there.

Jimbo Robinson: We got you. You can leave. I mean, you got, you can leave out a little early. I just want to see the madness that apparently happens in the ducks unlimited booth with the duck calls. Like it's yeah. And, uh, I've seen some really awesome stuff that the team's been working on. Um, but what's really cool is FFA gets talked about at ducks unlimited in this building. like all the time and the passion that, that our, our youth engagement team has for, for FFA and what we see from y'all and whether it's, you know, Tom Johnson in Texas and, and the cool things that that team down there is building. And some of the most amazing things I've seen by FFA students, um, and then they go and sell it at a DU event. It's just, it's amazing. I would have never in my imagination been able to do anything of what they're doing and know that it's all student built. It's just, it's incredible. And just very thankful that y'all chose Ducks Unlimited to come. I think y'all probably chose the hottest week we've had so far this year. I know that y'all have had a really good time So what is just leave us with something like leave us Caroline with? Something that you want everybody to know and and and it whether it's your your FFA Group or the Ducks unlimited group. Just leave us with something that you want to leave the what's your going out quote? I

Caroline Groth: Yeah, so to all the listeners, I'd say, I am here today because of the people who built me. And man, is it important to have people that pour into you. I was listening to a podcast the other day with a lady named Kirby Green. She's an icon from Kentucky. And she talked about building your board of directors, having mentors in your life, whether it's career mentors or faith mentors. I don't know, parental mentors, if you're wanting to be a parent and just having all those people from all the facets of your life to look up to. And that's something that FFA has really given me and prioritized is the importance of mentorship. So to anyone listening, I'd really encourage you, build your board of directors. All it takes is one phone call, one ask, reach out to somebody that you look up to, get a business card, go up to a booth at an expo and just ask. Because there are so many people in today's society who one of our teammates Mary likes to refer to as sage wisdom givers. People who just want to pour in to young people. So take advantage of those people. Listen to them. Learn from them. Because that's why I'm here today. And I hope that one day I could be that for somebody else.

Jimbo Robinson: I think you've already been that for somebody else. You just don't know yet.

Thad Bergschneider: Yeah, a moment I keep coming back to this year is we were in Georgia for our experience week as national officers, and I'm sitting down with this group of students, and I go up to this sophomore named John, and I'm just talking to him about life. He has a power washing business. He's trying to save up enough money to buy a truck, but written down on this card, he's got one goal that he wants to accomplish, and it's not the truck. It's not making more money from power washing. It's helping Braxton. And I just wanted to know, I asked John, like, John, why Braxton? And he pointed to him. He said, Braxton's overweight. He gets picked on. And you wouldn't be able to see it in me now, but that was me two years ago. I've lost like 50, 60 pounds. I'm doing great now, but I know exactly how he's feeling right now and the struggles he's going through. And when I go back to that moment, I always just think that, you know, we never have the opportunity to go relive life. We can't fix our mistakes, but the best thing we can do that's pretty dang close to that is we can help people who are in the shoes that we used to be.

Jimbo Robinson: Chris, when we walked in today, I had, I'm not left speechless often. I feel like today there's been three or four different times when I literally feel like you two have impacted or left a moment in my time that I can remember or… have inspired me more than I have felt in a long time. You two are an amazing group of students. And I can only imagine, I know I've said this a few times, but I can only imagine the impact that y'all have made on other students around this country. Because if you two are going around sharing the passion y'all shared in this room today with other students, The impact you've made on them will carry on forever. And you may not be able to see the seeds that you've planted, but I can promise you those seeds that y'all have planted will carry on an FFA. And one day you'll be able to look back and go, I don't know that I did that, but I'm pretty sure that I, I had an impact on. some students that are making the growth and that what y'all want to see for the future of, of FFA. And so I know I've been inspired today. I know that the listeners are going to be inspired because this is the next generation that's going to carry the torch for FFA, for Ducks Unlimited, for our world and our country. And I am inspired and I can't thank y'all enough today for spending an hour with us and me in here. Um, I wish that I would have been around all day and not been busy because I would love to hang out with y'all more, but thank you for coming to ducks unlimited. And from all of us here at one waterfowl way, we thank you for listening to the ducks limited podcast. See you next time.