Former Illinois FFA President Thaddeus Bergschneider of Franklin is among 37 National FFA officer candidates this year.
Bergschneider left for Indianapolis last weekend. He says his freshman year experience shaped his days in FFA leadership.
For one of his first events, Bergschneider says he didn’t have an official FFA jacket, but his father was able to bail him out: “My first FFA event was Section 13 before we re-sectioned to Section 14…Section 13 Ag Sales, and I had to get into official dress for the very first time and I didn’t have an FFA jacket yet. So, I got completely dressed and got my dress pants on, got my tie on, everything and I went to my dad. I was running around the house saying I don’t know what I was supposed to do. He went into his office and went into his closet, reached all the way back, and he grabbed his FFA jacket. It was a little bit more purple than blue, to be honest. That was the first jacket I ever wore was my dad’s FFA jacket. I go back and look at the picture as little freshman Thad. He kind of has a little bit of an afro. He’s wearing an old purple jacket that says ‘Paul Bergschneider’ and that’s where it started. When I look back, I’m so happy that I didn’t have my own jacket at first because wearing that jacket, I know that I have the tradition of my dad, the tradition of my brother that I’m carrying on. Then, I got to form my own tradition. For me, during high school, I loved Ag Sales and I loved Public Speaking. In the moment that I really knew that FFA was the place that I wanted to be and that FFA aligned with my values and who I am is doing Creed Speaking my freshman year…state Creed Speaking, and because of Covid, I had to do it in my living room.”
Bergschneider is majoring in Finance in Agribusiness at the University of Illinois. Bergschneider is 1 of 22 remaining finalists for six spots to lead National FFA next year. The National officer team will be named on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 1 p.m. EDT. You can watch the livestream of the results at this link. To learn more, visit Convention.FFA.org.