212 Conference

By Emmaline Perkins 

On February 8 and 9, agriculture teacher Jacob Meisner and five Princeville FFA students traveled up to Chicago for the annual 212 Conference. The 212 Conference is used “to kick-start freshman FFA members,” as Meisner put it during an interview. 

“It is called 212 because two hundred-twelve degrees Fahrenheit is the boiling point of water,” said freshman Brianna Olshawsky, who attended the conference. The FFA organization wants to get the freshman FFA members excited for their next four years the organization.   

This year’s theme was “the boiling pot and leadership,” said Olshawsky They discussed that “you need to sometimes step up into that leadership role and not be afraid to be a leader.” said Olshawsky. They also talked about how “you need to find your passion and run with it,” said Kate Colgan, another Freshman attendee.

The nice thing about the 212 Conference is that there are FFA chapters from all around Illinois that participate. The kids had an opportunity to meet kids from the other chapters. 

“It was interesting and fun to meet other kids with the same interests as you,” said Colgan.

Brianna Olshawsky also expressed that “it was good to go out of [her] comfort zone” and that  “she loved talking to strangers and making new friends.”

Since this conference is aimed towards educating the students, Brianna Olshawsky and Kate Colgan both said that their biggest takeaway from the conference was that, no matter what, find your passion and go with it even if no one else will.