For my service-learning project, I helped out with the District 2 FFA contest that was held in Lisbon on October 6, 1999. With this competition, there are a variety of contests held during the day. I was assigned to the demonstration speech contest. With this contest, the FFA students have picked various subjects to do a demonstration speech on, whether it was How to Show Rabbits, to making a fruit salad. I learned that with the students, sometimes you had to be very critical to them in order for them to improve their speeches. I also learned that you as a judge also had to take some criticisms as well. I learned it took a lot to be successful as a FFA advisor for your students to be successful in FFA. You have to do a lot of guiding in which they have to choose what is the right thing to do, and if what they are doing is the way that is going to make them successful.
Overall, I thought it was a really good learning experience for me because it really was the first time that I was actually behind the contests and wasn't in one. It gave me the respect for the judges and the advisors that are really behind the scenes at these contests in order to make them very successful. I also liked that the students are still learning with the contest. They learn whether or not a specific contest is for the, and if it is, what kind of ways they can take to best improve their presentation or whatever in order for them to be successful.
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