Northwest Missouri State University student Kiersten Helm represented nearly 26,000 Missouri FFA members as a state officer and a voting delegate to the national FFA convention, Oct. 27-30.

In the role, Helm conducted the business of the national FFA organization, which impacts agricultural education and the more than 760,000 FFA members nationwide. This year’s convention was conducted virtually.

“It’s been extremely exciting and nerve-racking,” Helm, a freshman agricultural education major from Lexington, Missouri, said. “Some days I feel overwhelmed because I don’t know if I can represent 25,900 members and be a voice for each of them, but when I see that light bulb after speaking to a member and feel that connection, it propels me to be a successful vice president.”

Helm joined FFA after discovering her passion for agriculture while participating in her high school’s agriculture club. The FFA is a youth organization that prepares members for leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

A first-generation college student, Helm chose to attend Northwest after visiting the campus and speaking  with a student ambassador.

“I’m very happy to be here,” she said. “I have gained a lot of independence and confidence in myself. Just being on campus was always a dream of mine, and now that I’m here I get to make new goals about my adult life, which seemed so far away months ago.”

She also is the recipient of Northwest’s Clint Johnson Memorial Scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year. The $1,000 scholarship honors the memory of Clint Johnson, who was a first-generation Bearcat and attended Northwest from 2004 to 2006. His parents, Robert Johnson and Jennifer Holt, established the scholarship in 2009 with preference given to a Lexington R-V High School graduate attending Northwest in pursuit of a degree in agriculture.

After completing her bachelor’s degree, Helm wants to become a high school agriculture instructor.

“I want to spread joy to kids without stable home lives who don’t know what they are going to do and cannot seem to find their passion,” Helm said. “I want to help them as well as advocate for the agricultural industry.”