Megan Setliff, of Kremmling, recently completed another goal when she was awarded the prestigious FFA American Degree at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.
She accepted her award at the Lucas Oil Stadium in front of an estimated 60,000 people.
“Receiving my American Degree has been a goal of mine for the last few years, and it was a big accomplishment for me to reach. I was so proud to be able to represent West Grand in such a positive way,” she said.
In 2015, Setliff was a junior at West Grand High School when learned about the FFA American Degree, the highest achievement she could earn as a student, and she knew she wanted to add it to the list of her accomplishments.
She was on her way to earning the American Degree when she received the State FFA Degree her senior year. She also received at least three years of education in an agricultural program, kept records of her experience and had over 50 hours of volunteerism. In addition, she productively earned $2,000 and worked 2,250 hours in excess of her scheduled class time.
She also had to stay focused on her goal because the American requires that the FFA member graduated at least one year prior to the national convention.
“I think that most high schoolers forget about the program after graduating, but I really wanted it,” Setliff states. “I really became active in FFA my junior year and knew this is what I wanted to do.”
She credits her former Vocational Agriculture teacher at West Grand, Will Humber for igniting her passion for FFA the last two years of her high school career.
Setliff now attends Colorado State University on a full scholarship granted by the Colorado Garden Foundation, and she is preparing to lead others in the agricultural field when she becames a Vocational Education teacher.
“I am just trying to gain knowledge on everything I can so I can be a good teacher. I want my students to learn from me,” Setliff says with earnestness of her chosen field.
She is studying Agriculture Education with a certificate in Meat Sciences. “I am doing extra so I will be able to teach as much as I can.” She is studying Meat Sciences because the opportunity to judge meat was not available to her in high school, and she was always interested. She has also completed course work on welding, plumbing, electricity, animal sciences, crafting and wood working.
She adds, “I want my students to feel prepared after they have had my classes.”
As for now, she encourages other students to take the steps to earn the FFA American Degree.
“I think I am the first in the Kremmling. We were never able to find anyone else who had done it,” she notes, but she is hopeful others will follow in her footsteps.
“I also encourage other students to do as much as they can and take advantage of opportunities in FFA. Even if they don’t think, they will like judging livestock or something else, they should just try it. They never know.”
Setliff had two major FFA projects in high school, working in a local small green house and helping with a sheep and goat herd.
Setliff the daughter of Korby Kline and Everett Setliff is appreciative of her experiences, “I learned a lot of real life skills which will carry on with me for the rest of my life. I learned how to be a hardworking leader through FFA, and am forever grateful to those who got me here.”
