1 00:00:02,786 --> 00:00:04,873 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast. 2 00:00:04,873 --> 00:00:08,811 In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a 3 00:00:08,891 --> 00:00:12,663 journey of exploration into agricultural science, education, 4 00:00:12,663 --> 00:00:15,990 leadership development and insights from subject matter 5 00:00:16,071 --> 00:00:19,669 experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come 6 00:00:19,708 --> 00:00:19,969 true. 7 00:00:19,969 --> 00:00:22,344 Here's your host, Aaron Alejandro. 8 00:00:30,190 --> 00:00:33,432 Speaker 2: Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or 9 00:00:33,753 --> 00:00:38,578 whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future podcast 10 00:00:39,521 --> 00:00:41,127 Number one, we want to say thank you. 11 00:00:41,127 --> 00:00:43,862 Thank you for stopping by, thank you for spending some of 12 00:00:43,902 --> 00:00:45,125 your time with us. 13 00:00:45,125 --> 00:00:49,575 It is a real treat for us to bring this podcast and it's a 14 00:00:49,634 --> 00:00:53,564 real honor to have subject matter experts, people that have 15 00:00:53,564 --> 00:00:56,911 these incredible life experiences, who are willing to 16 00:00:56,972 --> 00:01:01,106 share some of their time with us and pour into us so that maybe 17 00:01:01,165 --> 00:01:04,953 we can be encouraged or find a skill set or something that 18 00:01:05,013 --> 00:01:06,382 makes our lives a little better. 19 00:01:06,382 --> 00:01:08,971 Today is no different. 20 00:01:08,971 --> 00:01:11,719 I'm really excited I'm going to go into a little bit more 21 00:01:11,819 --> 00:01:15,709 detail about this man here in a second but I'm really excited to 22 00:01:15,709 --> 00:01:17,753 have Dr Curtis Paulson with us. 23 00:01:17,753 --> 00:01:20,545 Dr Paulson, thank you for joining us today. 24 00:01:21,548 --> 00:01:23,852 Speaker 3: You're welcome, Aaron , and I'm glad to be here. 25 00:01:23,852 --> 00:01:28,228 Thank you for asking me to be a part of this great program. 26 00:01:28,228 --> 00:01:29,835 Thanks, we're going to have fun and again. 27 00:01:29,855 --> 00:01:31,902 Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you a little bit more about Dr 28 00:01:31,941 --> 00:01:33,444 Paulson here in just a second. 29 00:01:33,444 --> 00:01:39,402 But, dr Paulson, we start every episode with every guest asking 30 00:01:39,402 --> 00:01:42,808 the same question, because I think it's just really a really 31 00:01:43,228 --> 00:01:45,311 great place to start question. 32 00:01:45,311 --> 00:01:49,058 Because I think it's just really a really great place to 33 00:01:49,078 --> 00:01:49,739 start and that is this. 34 00:01:55,260 --> 00:01:56,180 Speaker 3: Dr Paulson, what are you grateful for today? 35 00:01:56,180 --> 00:01:57,483 Oh, the most important thing is I'm grateful is that we live in 36 00:01:57,483 --> 00:01:59,486 a great country, I have my spiritual connection with my 37 00:01:59,546 --> 00:02:05,474 higher power and that I have been given the opportunity to do 38 00:02:05,474 --> 00:02:07,036 a lot of things in my life. 39 00:02:07,036 --> 00:02:12,191 And just the concept of gratitude, where I can take any 40 00:02:12,270 --> 00:02:15,968 meal and I can look to agriculture, where all that food 41 00:02:15,968 --> 00:02:19,622 comes from, and all the people that process it, all the people 42 00:02:19,643 --> 00:02:23,866 that import it or that package it, and even the people who 43 00:02:23,907 --> 00:02:27,282 design the packaging equipment I had a good friend that was in 44 00:02:27,364 --> 00:02:28,747 packaging design. 45 00:02:28,747 --> 00:02:33,323 You know everything associated with my life that relates back 46 00:02:33,362 --> 00:02:34,365 to agriculture. 47 00:02:34,365 --> 00:02:39,161 I'm extremely grateful for that and for that I can thank so 48 00:02:39,221 --> 00:02:40,522 many people in my life. 49 00:02:40,522 --> 00:02:45,251 It's just, it's almost beyond words what there is to be 50 00:02:45,311 --> 00:02:45,932 grateful for. 51 00:02:45,932 --> 00:02:47,520 So, with that, thank you, Aaron . 52 00:02:48,342 --> 00:02:49,085 Speaker 2: No, thank you. 53 00:02:49,085 --> 00:02:51,991 And, by the way, everything that he just said I agree with. 54 00:02:51,991 --> 00:02:57,729 I tell people all the time that February 6, 1966, a bouncing 55 00:02:57,790 --> 00:03:01,764 baby boy came into this world and my mama loved me, she hugged 56 00:03:01,764 --> 00:03:01,925 me. 57 00:03:01,925 --> 00:03:06,442 But, in addition to my mom's incredible love, they wrapped me 58 00:03:06,442 --> 00:03:11,538 in this blanket of freedom and liberty and it was a full of a 59 00:03:11,598 --> 00:03:12,861 country of opportunity. 60 00:03:12,861 --> 00:03:16,430 And then, along the way, I had great mentors and I learned 61 00:03:16,449 --> 00:03:19,884 about faith and I learned about all of the things that Dr 62 00:03:19,905 --> 00:03:20,727 Paulson just said. 63 00:03:20,727 --> 00:03:22,592 So I appreciate you sharing all those. 64 00:03:22,592 --> 00:03:24,242 That's good stuff. 65 00:03:25,125 --> 00:03:29,324 The show Growing Our Future comes from the simple concept of 66 00:03:29,324 --> 00:03:32,992 what you just shared, and that is this I tell people all the 67 00:03:33,039 --> 00:03:36,935 time if agriculture's taught me anything, it's taught me that if 68 00:03:36,935 --> 00:03:39,361 you want to know what the future is, grow it. 69 00:03:39,361 --> 00:03:41,866 Well, how do you grow a future? 70 00:03:41,866 --> 00:03:44,353 Well, we've got to plant the right seeds. 71 00:03:44,353 --> 00:03:45,487 We have to take care of those seeds. 72 00:03:45,487 --> 00:03:46,219 We have to take care of those seeds. 73 00:03:46,219 --> 00:03:49,222 We have to weed the garden sometimes and then we have to 74 00:03:49,302 --> 00:03:51,469 harvest and then share with others. 75 00:03:51,469 --> 00:03:53,939 And I think that's what life is about. 76 00:03:53,939 --> 00:03:58,223 I think life is about planting the right seeds, nurturing them, 77 00:03:58,223 --> 00:04:00,645 caring for them and then sharing them with others, them 78 00:04:00,665 --> 00:04:03,649 with others, and that's why I'm honored that you're joining us 79 00:04:03,709 --> 00:04:09,114 today, dr Paulson, to share some seeds of greatness that we can 80 00:04:09,153 --> 00:04:10,235 pour into other people. 81 00:04:10,235 --> 00:04:12,157 Are you ready to get started? 82 00:04:18,980 --> 00:04:20,822 Speaker 3: Sure, and I'd like to just make a comment on that, 83 00:04:20,843 --> 00:04:22,045 you know, relating everything to agriculture. 84 00:04:22,045 --> 00:04:23,288 I like to take that concept and go back to some biblical 85 00:04:23,307 --> 00:04:27,540 examples where our good Lord would always feed the masses 86 00:04:27,781 --> 00:04:29,504 before he did the education. 87 00:04:29,504 --> 00:04:33,853 That concept is even carried back to the biblical scene. 88 00:04:33,853 --> 00:04:34,982 So with that, thank you. 89 00:04:34,982 --> 00:04:35,723 Yes, I'm ready. 90 00:04:36,204 --> 00:04:36,886 Speaker 2: Oh, that's great. 91 00:04:36,886 --> 00:04:38,550 That's good stuff right there. 92 00:04:38,550 --> 00:04:39,632 All right. 93 00:04:39,632 --> 00:04:42,586 So the reason these podcasts are always a little bit 94 00:04:43,607 --> 00:04:46,512 challenging, interesting and fun . 95 00:04:46,512 --> 00:04:50,547 For me to do this one right here is a great example of that, 96 00:04:50,547 --> 00:04:53,420 and that's because I get to interview this man right here, 97 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,451 dr Curtis Paulson, who I want everybody to know was one of my 98 00:04:57,550 --> 00:04:58,312 early mentors. 99 00:04:58,312 --> 00:05:04,370 Here's the story In 1984, when I graduated from Cal Farley's 100 00:05:04,410 --> 00:05:08,124 Boys Ranch, I started summer school at Texas Tech University 101 00:05:08,865 --> 00:05:12,632 and because of some scores that I had made on an ACT test, I had 102 00:05:12,632 --> 00:05:16,307 to take a leveling class in math and English, which I passed 103 00:05:16,307 --> 00:05:17,528 with A's, no problem. 104 00:05:18,430 --> 00:05:24,067 So I get ready to sign up for my fall semester, and I'm a real 105 00:05:24,108 --> 00:05:25,610 rookie at this college thing. 106 00:05:25,610 --> 00:05:30,225 So I'm looking at the titles of all these courses and I see one 107 00:05:30,225 --> 00:05:31,887 that really got my attention. 108 00:05:31,887 --> 00:05:37,745 The course was called Transfer of Ag Technology Transfer of Ag 109 00:05:37,766 --> 00:05:41,574 Technology, and I thought, hey, that really sounds like my kind 110 00:05:41,595 --> 00:05:44,528 of class, cutting edge on the ball. 111 00:05:44,528 --> 00:05:46,721 I think I'm going to sign up for this transfer of ag 112 00:05:46,762 --> 00:05:48,846 technology class and I do. 113 00:05:48,846 --> 00:05:53,959 And I show up to class under this professor who everybody 114 00:05:54,139 --> 00:05:56,764 told me was like this real creative guy. 115 00:05:56,764 --> 00:06:01,339 His name was Dr Curtis Paulson and I show up to class and I 116 00:06:01,380 --> 00:06:05,357 realized real quick I had made a mistake, because along that 117 00:06:05,416 --> 00:06:08,646 path nobody taught me to look at the prerequisite of a course 118 00:06:09,408 --> 00:06:12,221 and I did not look at the prerequisite of this course. 119 00:06:12,221 --> 00:06:15,406 This was a senior level course. 120 00:06:15,406 --> 00:06:19,473 Transfer of ag technology was a senior level course. 121 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,005 We were about to dive into a book by John Nesbitt called 122 00:06:23,226 --> 00:06:26,713 Megatrends and I remember Dr Paulson. 123 00:06:26,713 --> 00:06:27,233 I asked him. 124 00:06:27,233 --> 00:06:30,083 I said, sir, I said if I need a transfer out of here, you just 125 00:06:30,142 --> 00:06:30,725 let me know. 126 00:06:30,725 --> 00:06:34,810 And Dr Paulson said no, I think you'll be just fine. 127 00:06:35,841 --> 00:06:39,440 And this man let me stay in that senior level course and at an 128 00:06:39,661 --> 00:06:44,069 early age started to stimulate my imagination, started to 129 00:06:44,108 --> 00:06:47,514 stimulate my what-ifs and possibilities. 130 00:06:47,514 --> 00:06:51,889 And I just want to say on a personal note that this is going 131 00:06:51,889 --> 00:06:55,343 to be a real honor to have Dr Paulson here today, because he 132 00:06:55,403 --> 00:06:59,353 helped me early on in my life's journey and now we get this 133 00:06:59,459 --> 00:07:04,329 incredible platform where I get to let you share with him his 134 00:07:04,389 --> 00:07:04,728 journey. 135 00:07:04,728 --> 00:07:09,043 So, dr Paulson, let's do that, let's unpack your career, 136 00:07:09,725 --> 00:07:12,692 because I don't necessarily I've done a little bit of research. 137 00:07:12,692 --> 00:07:15,208 I don't necessarily want to call you the godfather of ag 138 00:07:15,228 --> 00:07:19,240 communications, but there is no question, you were one of the 139 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,687 early leaders in ag communication across the United 140 00:07:22,726 --> 00:07:23,649 States of America. 141 00:07:23,649 --> 00:07:27,035 But I want to start and go a little bit further back. 142 00:07:27,035 --> 00:07:30,889 So, dr Paulson, take us all the way back to where you grew up 143 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,851 and kind of walk us through what your career pathway looked like 144 00:07:35,851 --> 00:07:38,651 , and then we'll start extracting things out of that 145 00:07:38,692 --> 00:07:39,456 career path. 146 00:07:40,942 --> 00:07:44,062 Speaker 3: I'd be happy to, and I remember that day very well 147 00:07:44,103 --> 00:07:47,968 when you walked into class, and one of the concepts that I'd 148 00:07:47,988 --> 00:07:51,595 like to talk about throughout the day is the concept of taking 149 00:07:51,595 --> 00:07:52,175 risks. 150 00:07:52,175 --> 00:07:55,002 You know, I thought to myself Aaron's a risk. 151 00:07:55,002 --> 00:07:58,908 You know, does he have the background needed to understand 152 00:07:58,947 --> 00:08:02,471 some of the concepts of diffusion of innovation and what 153 00:08:02,471 --> 00:08:05,995 an innovation is and how that goes through society and through 154 00:08:05,995 --> 00:08:10,709 organizations, and that's, I guess it's a concept that I'm 155 00:08:10,769 --> 00:08:15,244 pretty lucky that I've taken a few risks and just by everything 156 00:08:15,244 --> 00:08:18,730 that Aaron has accomplished in his life, it paid off. 157 00:08:18,730 --> 00:08:22,204 It paid off big for not only for Aaron but for society as a 158 00:08:22,245 --> 00:08:22,545 whole. 159 00:08:22,545 --> 00:08:25,512 But now you asked me what my life was like. 160 00:08:25,572 --> 00:08:27,824 I'd like to start by going back to the beginning. 161 00:08:27,824 --> 00:08:33,960 I grew up, I was born in 1946, and I'm a farm boy and I have 162 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,230 been involved in agriculture my entire life, with the exception 163 00:08:38,289 --> 00:08:43,128 of two years in the military, but even today as I volunteer at 164 00:08:43,128 --> 00:08:46,860 state and national parks, that's agricultural, natural 165 00:08:47,039 --> 00:08:48,123 resource based. 166 00:08:48,123 --> 00:08:51,970 So that goes back to the beginning and, like I said, I 167 00:08:52,029 --> 00:08:52,951 grew up in a farm. 168 00:08:52,951 --> 00:08:55,403 I'm from western Minnesota. 169 00:08:55,403 --> 00:09:00,533 Some of the things that I grew and I'm going to call not grew. 170 00:09:00,533 --> 00:09:03,044 But some of these things that I learned and I'm going to call 171 00:09:03,065 --> 00:09:07,705 them the aha moments in retrospect in life these are the 172 00:09:07,705 --> 00:09:09,187 things that are important to me . 173 00:09:09,187 --> 00:09:14,464 From my dad I learned take responsibilities. 174 00:09:14,464 --> 00:09:17,650 Let's say I'm out on the tractor doing something and I 175 00:09:17,691 --> 00:09:19,942 break a chisel off a chisel plow . 176 00:09:19,942 --> 00:09:24,011 I won't try to hide it, I won't say it broke. 177 00:09:24,011 --> 00:09:25,475 I'll say I broke it. 178 00:09:25,475 --> 00:09:29,224 It was my responsibility because I was in charge of that 179 00:09:29,303 --> 00:09:29,784 machine. 180 00:09:30,547 --> 00:09:33,572 And that has kind of stuck with me my entire life. 181 00:09:33,572 --> 00:09:38,830 When I'm associated with it, I take ownership of it and I 182 00:09:38,870 --> 00:09:42,643 either broke it or I try to find a way to fix it or to go around 183 00:09:42,643 --> 00:09:42,844 it. 184 00:09:42,844 --> 00:09:45,148 You know the other it. 185 00:09:45,148 --> 00:09:49,053 One of the other things I learned from him is to utilize 186 00:09:49,301 --> 00:09:50,283 all your senses. 187 00:09:50,283 --> 00:09:54,976 When you're out alone, utilize the sense of smell, the tactile, 188 00:09:54,976 --> 00:09:58,426 what it feels like If you're running a machine you can sense 189 00:09:58,505 --> 00:09:58,605 it. 190 00:09:58,605 --> 00:10:04,083 The hearing you can hear if something changes, be aware of 191 00:10:04,163 --> 00:10:07,282 your surroundings, and that helps you make decisions. 192 00:10:07,282 --> 00:10:11,549 That was real important and related to that, let's say, I 193 00:10:11,590 --> 00:10:13,453 had a breakdown out in the field . 194 00:10:13,453 --> 00:10:19,990 I had usually a little toolbox with me and then I'd trace the 195 00:10:20,030 --> 00:10:24,250 power source from the engine or the power takeoff to where I 196 00:10:24,311 --> 00:10:27,722 thought the problem of the implement was, and then I had to 197 00:10:27,722 --> 00:10:32,352 make the decision okay, can I fix that with what I have or do 198 00:10:32,432 --> 00:10:36,365 I need to stop and go back and spend that extra hour and get 199 00:10:36,447 --> 00:10:36,687 help? 200 00:10:36,687 --> 00:10:42,283 So utilizing your senses to make some current decisions. 201 00:10:42,283 --> 00:10:46,620 And I think, like everybody else involved in agriculture, I 202 00:10:46,701 --> 00:10:49,048 learned in the early days the work ethic. 203 00:10:49,048 --> 00:10:50,964 I think that's so important. 204 00:10:50,964 --> 00:10:53,210 Is that work ethic? 205 00:10:53,210 --> 00:10:57,241 And I've also stressed that a lot eventually, when I got to 206 00:10:57,302 --> 00:11:02,110 teaching agriculture at the high school level and in watching. 207 00:11:02,110 --> 00:11:07,889 So anyway, aaron, at this point do you have any interest in my 208 00:11:07,928 --> 00:11:08,450 background? 209 00:11:08,450 --> 00:11:10,413 I guess I want to share one other story. 210 00:11:13,688 --> 00:11:16,522 Later on, when I was teaching, one of the students in Texas 211 00:11:16,581 --> 00:11:16,743 asked me. 212 00:11:16,743 --> 00:11:18,929 He said where are you from, dr Paulson, you talk funny. 213 00:11:18,929 --> 00:11:22,881 And I said, well, sir, and he was sitting in the front row, he 214 00:11:22,881 --> 00:11:23,222 was a corpsman. 215 00:11:23,222 --> 00:11:24,585 And I said, well, sir, and he was sitting in the front row, he 216 00:11:24,585 --> 00:11:24,884 was a corpsman. 217 00:11:24,884 --> 00:11:28,730 And I said, well, sir, I'm from the furthest state in the 218 00:11:28,890 --> 00:11:30,433 continental United States. 219 00:11:30,433 --> 00:11:31,174 Where is that? 220 00:11:31,174 --> 00:11:38,922 He looked without skipping a beat and said we don't care, you 221 00:11:38,922 --> 00:11:39,022 know. 222 00:11:39,022 --> 00:11:40,182 And that taught me hey, it's good to have that image. 223 00:11:40,182 --> 00:11:42,586 You know, growing up in Minnesota I didn't like it when 224 00:11:42,605 --> 00:11:45,328 the people from Iowa came up there and fished our fish. 225 00:11:45,808 --> 00:11:48,432 I was proud of that. 226 00:11:48,432 --> 00:11:49,894 I challenged this young man. 227 00:11:49,894 --> 00:11:52,596 I said no, seriously, where am I from? 228 00:11:52,596 --> 00:11:56,971 And he said well, north Carolina, north Dakota, any of 229 00:11:57,010 --> 00:11:58,335 the states with north in it. 230 00:11:58,335 --> 00:12:04,125 But in actuality I got my first real experience of teaching 231 00:12:04,245 --> 00:12:08,071 agriculture in that school district, which was War Road, 232 00:12:08,091 --> 00:12:11,154 minnesota, that part of Minnesota that sticks up into 233 00:12:11,215 --> 00:12:11,696 Canada. 234 00:12:11,696 --> 00:12:15,726 That's the furthest north school district and it's also 235 00:12:15,767 --> 00:12:19,494 the second coldest school district in the United States. 236 00:12:19,494 --> 00:12:22,086 So with that I'll turn this back to Aaron a little bit. 237 00:12:22,105 --> 00:12:23,548 Speaker 2: No, this is good stuff. 238 00:12:23,548 --> 00:12:27,625 It's interesting, Dr Paulson, you know I did through my job. 239 00:12:27,625 --> 00:12:30,413 Sometimes I get to work with my colleagues across the country, 240 00:12:31,159 --> 00:12:35,110 and Val Arsvold is my colleague from Minnesota and she's a very 241 00:12:35,171 --> 00:12:39,539 dear friend and I did some consulting work with Minnesota 242 00:12:39,779 --> 00:12:42,802 and so as part of my time up there they knew that I'm an 243 00:12:42,861 --> 00:12:46,604 outdoorsman and so I asked them if they would take me ice 244 00:12:46,644 --> 00:12:47,024 fishing. 245 00:12:47,024 --> 00:12:51,105 And so I will never forget my experience of the teacher 246 00:12:51,166 --> 00:12:54,648 picking me up and we were driving along and we went down a 247 00:12:54,648 --> 00:12:58,710 hill and at that moment it just kind of dawned on me that we 248 00:12:58,750 --> 00:13:02,731 were on the ice and so I asked the guy, the ag teacher. 249 00:13:02,731 --> 00:13:05,933 I said are we on the ice right now? 250 00:13:05,933 --> 00:13:09,154 And he said yes, and that's a little unsettling from a boy 251 00:13:09,216 --> 00:13:10,056 from West Texas. 252 00:13:10,056 --> 00:13:14,217 And we were driving and we passed a Domino's pizza delivery 253 00:13:14,217 --> 00:13:17,542 sign and I said what in the world is that? 254 00:13:17,542 --> 00:13:19,128 And he said oh yeah, they'll deliver pizza at our fish house 255 00:13:19,187 --> 00:13:19,870 if we want to. 256 00:13:19,870 --> 00:13:23,549 Anyway, we parked, we drilled our holes, had a great time 257 00:13:23,610 --> 00:13:24,010 fishing. 258 00:13:24,010 --> 00:13:33,744 Anyway, we parked, we drilled our holes, had a great time 259 00:13:33,764 --> 00:13:33,924 fishing. 260 00:13:33,945 --> 00:13:36,048 I remember stepping out of the fish house and it was minus 14 261 00:13:36,107 --> 00:13:37,490 degrees with the wind chill. 262 00:13:37,490 --> 00:13:39,734 I also remember we were in Minneapolis and they closed 263 00:13:39,774 --> 00:13:41,216 schools that day. 264 00:13:41,216 --> 00:13:43,219 Now there was no precipitation, dr Paulson, they just closed 265 00:13:43,239 --> 00:13:43,460 schools. 266 00:13:43,460 --> 00:13:44,841 But they did because of the temperature. 267 00:13:44,841 --> 00:13:46,703 And I said why do y'all close the school because of 268 00:13:46,724 --> 00:13:47,024 temperatures? 269 00:13:47,024 --> 00:13:48,427 And they said because they can't risk a kid getting 270 00:13:48,466 --> 00:13:51,551 frostbite at a bus stop or a bus breaking down. 271 00:13:51,551 --> 00:13:53,452 And it was an awareness. 272 00:13:53,452 --> 00:13:55,495 I love it when you said awareness, my senses. 273 00:13:55,495 --> 00:13:58,264 I got to see what cold really was. 274 00:13:58,264 --> 00:14:02,394 I got to feel what cold really was and I got to hear that the 275 00:14:02,460 --> 00:14:06,668 way we process cold and days off in Texas is a lot different 276 00:14:06,708 --> 00:14:09,695 than the way y'all process days off in Minnesota. 277 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,003 Speaker 3: Absolutely, and related to the cold. 278 00:14:15,003 --> 00:14:22,190 The little community I am from did not have an ag program and I 279 00:14:22,190 --> 00:14:23,750 had industrial arts. 280 00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:28,475 But my neighboring friends that had, from the farm that 281 00:14:28,576 --> 00:14:31,524 adjoined me, three young men my age. 282 00:14:31,524 --> 00:14:35,432 They had agriculture and they told me all these great stories 283 00:14:35,493 --> 00:14:39,169 about vocational agriculture, ffa, that we didn't have. 284 00:14:39,169 --> 00:14:40,833 What did I do? 285 00:14:40,833 --> 00:14:44,144 I went to my industrial arts teacher and I tried to convince 286 00:14:44,264 --> 00:14:48,448 him that, hey, why don't you teach agriculture like they do 287 00:14:48,548 --> 00:14:50,937 in Evansville, the neighboring town? 288 00:14:50,937 --> 00:14:56,774 And he said well, we teach a lot of the skills, the same type 289 00:14:56,774 --> 00:15:00,280 of skills, that are taught in vocational agriculture, and that 290 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:01,081 made sense. 291 00:15:01,081 --> 00:15:07,490 Related to that, he also provided some of the real aha 292 00:15:07,509 --> 00:15:12,515 moments in my life about the importance of the work ethic. 293 00:15:12,515 --> 00:15:17,505 And I'll remember my first year as a sophomore. 294 00:15:17,686 --> 00:15:21,352 We were doing woodworking and we were going to create an image 295 00:15:21,692 --> 00:15:22,654 on just a board. 296 00:15:22,654 --> 00:15:27,211 So my image was a young man hunting and his hunting dog 297 00:15:27,340 --> 00:15:32,111 alongside and a little brush patch and I got a pattern. 298 00:15:32,111 --> 00:15:36,542 I traced that on the wood, I stippled the background, I 299 00:15:36,802 --> 00:15:38,846 painted the image black. 300 00:15:38,846 --> 00:15:42,014 It was a silhouette image and I was so proud of that. 301 00:15:42,014 --> 00:15:43,524 I still have that hanging. 302 00:15:43,524 --> 00:15:45,089 So I turned it in. 303 00:15:45,168 --> 00:15:46,903 I knew I was going to get an A plus. 304 00:15:46,903 --> 00:15:50,412 I was that proud of it and I was devastated when I got an A 305 00:15:50,451 --> 00:15:50,932 minus. 306 00:15:50,932 --> 00:15:55,568 So I went up and I asked them why did I get an A minus? 307 00:15:55,568 --> 00:15:57,754 I needed to know why it wasn't perfect. 308 00:15:57,754 --> 00:15:59,162 And guess what? 309 00:15:59,402 --> 00:16:06,033 He taught me the importance of it's always a chance to improve 310 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,708 and he's pointed out all these little things. 311 00:16:08,708 --> 00:16:10,405 You did a great job. 312 00:16:10,405 --> 00:16:12,948 However, this could have been a little better. 313 00:16:12,948 --> 00:16:18,366 You missed a tiny drop of paint over here that fell into the 314 00:16:18,407 --> 00:16:19,110 stipple part. 315 00:16:19,110 --> 00:16:23,167 This stippling around the bush is not the same as the stippling 316 00:16:23,167 --> 00:16:25,544 out throughout and it was better. 317 00:16:25,544 --> 00:16:29,403 You can always be better in everything you do, but overall 318 00:16:29,442 --> 00:16:33,065 you did a great job and be proud of it, and I've tried to carry 319 00:16:33,125 --> 00:16:36,503 that out throughout my life In high school. 320 00:16:36,503 --> 00:16:37,585 That's. 321 00:16:37,585 --> 00:16:40,893 One of the aha moments is things can be better. 322 00:16:40,893 --> 00:16:51,139 And another aha moment that I had to change a subject is for 323 00:16:51,159 --> 00:16:52,423 some reason I ended up in a typing class and I couldn't type 324 00:16:52,423 --> 00:16:54,446 very fast, but that was a big influence in my life. 325 00:16:54,446 --> 00:16:59,153 Later on, in both the military and Aaron, you referenced the ag 326 00:16:59,153 --> 00:17:00,115 communications. 327 00:17:00,115 --> 00:17:02,866 So with that I'm going to turn it back to you and I'll go back 328 00:17:02,947 --> 00:17:04,632 to the typing concept later. 329 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:05,710 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to talk about that. 330 00:17:05,710 --> 00:17:06,473 I think I know where you're going with that. 331 00:17:06,473 --> 00:17:06,940 I'm going to turn it back to you and I'll go back to the 332 00:17:06,903 --> 00:17:07,253 typing concept later. 333 00:17:07,253 --> 00:17:07,688 Yeah, we're going to talk about that. 334 00:17:07,688 --> 00:17:08,111 I think I know where you're going with that. 335 00:17:08,111 --> 00:17:10,060 So you grew up in Minnesota? 336 00:17:10,060 --> 00:17:11,625 Were you a Golden Gopher? 337 00:17:11,625 --> 00:17:13,571 Did you go to college there in Minnesota? 338 00:17:13,571 --> 00:17:14,599 I? 339 00:17:14,681 --> 00:17:18,347 Speaker 3: did and I'll say a little bit more about my entire 340 00:17:18,387 --> 00:17:18,868 career. 341 00:17:18,868 --> 00:17:22,884 I'm very proud of the fact that I have three different degrees 342 00:17:23,025 --> 00:17:25,873 from three different land-grant universities. 343 00:17:25,873 --> 00:17:28,445 So Minnesota I graduated. 344 00:17:28,445 --> 00:17:30,132 It took me two different tries. 345 00:17:30,132 --> 00:17:34,002 Then I went to the University of Florida later on and that's a 346 00:17:34,002 --> 00:17:39,093 land-grant institution, and from there I went to Texas A&M, 347 00:17:39,313 --> 00:17:43,428 which is another land-grant university, and also while in 348 00:17:43,448 --> 00:17:47,041 the military I took some classes through the University of 349 00:17:47,103 --> 00:17:50,694 Maryland, so that's the fourth land-grant university. 350 00:17:50,694 --> 00:17:54,704 And then I kind of ended up my career teaching at Ohio State 351 00:17:54,806 --> 00:17:58,773 University, which is another land-grant university, and we 352 00:17:58,859 --> 00:18:01,786 could spend days just talking about the importance of the 353 00:18:01,846 --> 00:18:04,992 land-grant system to everybody in the United States. 354 00:18:04,992 --> 00:18:06,979 With that I'm going to turn it back to you, aaron. 355 00:18:07,259 --> 00:18:08,385 Speaker 2: Oh, this is good stuff. 356 00:18:08,385 --> 00:18:09,782 And yes, not only. 357 00:18:09,782 --> 00:18:15,493 I'm very aware of Minnesota, obviously, Maryland, Florida. 358 00:18:15,493 --> 00:18:18,868 And then I knew that there was a giveaway earlier because you 359 00:18:18,909 --> 00:18:19,750 mentioned Corman. 360 00:18:19,750 --> 00:18:23,622 So I knew the young man was in the Corps, so I knew you were 361 00:18:23,642 --> 00:18:24,265 talking about A&M. 362 00:18:24,265 --> 00:18:26,933 So I knew the young man was in the Corps, so I knew you were 363 00:18:26,953 --> 00:18:27,596 talking about A&M. 364 00:18:27,596 --> 00:18:35,788 So while you were at A&M, I believe and this is where we're 365 00:18:35,847 --> 00:18:38,112 going to start the ag communication story I believe 366 00:18:38,132 --> 00:18:40,856 it's when you were at Texas A&M that you started teaching ag 367 00:18:40,876 --> 00:18:41,417 communications. 368 00:18:41,439 --> 00:18:42,180 Speaker 3: Is that correct? 369 00:18:42,180 --> 00:19:06,280 That's correct. 370 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:07,723 And that story came about. 371 00:19:07,723 --> 00:19:10,088 One day I walked into class not class, but I walked into the 372 00:19:10,108 --> 00:19:12,213 department I'd usually get up and play racquetball or two 373 00:19:12,233 --> 00:19:14,077 years before that identified the competencies that ag educators 374 00:19:14,097 --> 00:19:18,825 had that industry wanted, such as public speaking, writing for 375 00:19:18,884 --> 00:19:23,351 newspapers, doing oral interviews for radio and 376 00:19:23,391 --> 00:19:24,071 television. 377 00:19:24,071 --> 00:19:29,703 So this dissertation was done prior to my arriving at Texas 378 00:19:29,824 --> 00:19:30,967 A&M and they asked me. 379 00:19:30,967 --> 00:19:34,759 Well, I guess they told me that the next semester I'd be 380 00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:39,130 teaching the first class and it wasn't an official class, they 381 00:19:39,170 --> 00:19:44,330 had a catch-all phrase that was a what did they call it? 382 00:19:44,330 --> 00:19:47,299 An independent study in agricultural communication 383 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,162 concepts. 384 00:19:48,162 --> 00:19:51,589 It was an offshoot of the ag ed program. 385 00:19:51,589 --> 00:19:57,000 So that, I think, was the first program or the first class in 386 00:19:57,060 --> 00:19:58,563 agricultural communication. 387 00:19:58,563 --> 00:20:01,988 That has since, and somebody told me, and I think it's 388 00:20:02,028 --> 00:20:05,513 correct, that that program has since evolved. 389 00:20:05,513 --> 00:20:11,148 That is larger than most colleges of agriculture in the 390 00:20:11,209 --> 00:20:14,080 United States with the number of faculty and the number of 391 00:20:14,141 --> 00:20:14,622 students. 392 00:20:14,622 --> 00:20:16,164 This is at A&M. 393 00:20:16,747 --> 00:20:17,428 Speaker 2: That's correct. 394 00:20:17,428 --> 00:20:19,211 Do you remember what year that was? 395 00:20:19,211 --> 00:20:19,813 By chance. 396 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:28,113 Speaker 3: That would have been probably in 81 or 82, 82 or 83, 397 00:20:28,212 --> 00:20:29,015 something like that. 398 00:20:29,015 --> 00:20:29,903 Okay, yeah. 399 00:20:30,767 --> 00:20:32,112 Speaker 2: Yeah, I did a little research. 400 00:20:32,112 --> 00:20:34,579 I was drilling out, trying to find out a little bit about 401 00:20:34,921 --> 00:20:37,742 programs and I know that tech started. 402 00:20:37,742 --> 00:20:43,489 They actually started an ag-com class in 73, class in 73, but 403 00:20:43,628 --> 00:20:47,712 it did not become a degree until 92, I believe. 404 00:20:47,712 --> 00:20:59,261 I think it was ag-com degree in 92, 93, somewhere right in 405 00:20:59,281 --> 00:20:59,461 there. 406 00:20:59,461 --> 00:21:01,446 But anyway, that's why I was curious what your reference 407 00:21:01,507 --> 00:21:04,796 point was when you were at Texas A&M when did you move from A&M 408 00:21:04,836 --> 00:21:05,136 to Texas Tech? 409 00:21:05,156 --> 00:21:06,239 Speaker 3: That would have been in 84. 410 00:21:06,239 --> 00:21:12,750 So I think I started at Texas Tech 84 and 85, because I 411 00:21:12,849 --> 00:21:16,115 graduated from Texas A&M in 85. 412 00:21:16,115 --> 00:21:20,430 And I was on staff at Texas Tech for the last year I was 413 00:21:20,490 --> 00:21:21,893 working on my dissertation. 414 00:21:21,893 --> 00:21:23,281 Okay, that's what. 415 00:21:23,362 --> 00:21:24,224 Speaker 2: I remember too. 416 00:21:24,224 --> 00:21:25,909 I was working on my dissertation. 417 00:21:25,909 --> 00:21:27,815 Okay, that's what I remember too, so I remember, you know. 418 00:21:27,815 --> 00:21:34,565 Here now we're getting into the real exciting part here for me 419 00:21:34,585 --> 00:21:36,288 is watching Dr Paulson's career just really take off when he was 420 00:21:36,288 --> 00:21:36,729 at Tech. 421 00:21:36,729 --> 00:21:39,273 So Dr Paulson is at Tech and he starts the Ag Communicators, 422 00:21:39,380 --> 00:21:40,762 the ACT program. 423 00:21:40,762 --> 00:21:44,691 Were you involved also with the starting of NAMA, National 424 00:21:44,750 --> 00:21:45,973 Agri-Marketing Association? 425 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:48,085 Speaker 3: No, I was not. 426 00:21:48,085 --> 00:21:51,778 I was not involved with NAMA, but I did go to some of the NAMA 427 00:21:51,778 --> 00:21:56,814 meetings at different times, both as a professional and at 428 00:21:56,834 --> 00:21:57,916 the university level. 429 00:21:58,180 --> 00:21:59,383 Speaker 2: Well, I remember ACT. 430 00:21:59,383 --> 00:22:01,409 I remember you were very involved with ACT. 431 00:22:01,409 --> 00:22:05,067 I also remember you were our advisor for the Alpha Gamma Rho 432 00:22:05,107 --> 00:22:08,846 fraternity because we just started the Beta Xi chapter. 433 00:22:08,846 --> 00:22:13,823 I went back to a meeting one time, dr Paulson, and everybody 434 00:22:13,843 --> 00:22:17,770 was talking about their pin numbers and I was pin number 21, 435 00:22:17,770 --> 00:22:21,023 and I knew I was the old guy then because I was one of the 436 00:22:21,124 --> 00:22:25,471 original pin numbers when AGR started at Texas Tech. 437 00:22:25,471 --> 00:22:26,614 But you are our advisor. 438 00:22:27,661 --> 00:22:29,648 Speaker 3: I'd like to share a little bit about that. 439 00:22:29,648 --> 00:22:33,922 I was asked to be the advisor when the advisor left the 440 00:22:34,001 --> 00:22:39,251 university and I said sure, and I was very proud of the fact 441 00:22:39,352 --> 00:22:43,490 that I took the it was still a colony at that time that the 442 00:22:43,529 --> 00:22:48,022 colony at Texas Tech would usually come in first or second 443 00:22:48,163 --> 00:22:52,112 in academic rank throughout the entire university and I was very 444 00:22:52,112 --> 00:22:56,488 proud of that, where they could combine the elements of 445 00:22:56,667 --> 00:22:59,053 fraternity life with the academic life. 446 00:22:59,053 --> 00:23:01,780 Let's see. 447 00:23:01,780 --> 00:23:05,729 I want to go back a little bit and go back to another aha 448 00:23:05,788 --> 00:23:08,674 moment I had while at Texas A&M. 449 00:23:08,674 --> 00:23:10,980 That will relate to the Texas growing. 450 00:23:10,980 --> 00:23:15,767 It was one cold night my colleague, another graduate 451 00:23:15,787 --> 00:23:19,471 student, asked me to go to a computer users group where they 452 00:23:19,551 --> 00:23:28,560 introduced the Macintosh technology, the Macintosh 453 00:23:28,580 --> 00:23:29,502 technology, and I was just blown away. 454 00:23:29,502 --> 00:23:30,726 I'd been used to using mainframes and IBMs and the 455 00:23:30,746 --> 00:23:33,914 programming concept and I remember to this day the group 456 00:23:33,994 --> 00:23:38,406 showing the bottom of a tennis shoe the graphic capabilities of 457 00:23:38,406 --> 00:23:42,898 Macintosh, and I thought to myself, wow, and I got the 458 00:23:42,959 --> 00:23:46,520 contact with the person putting on the program that night and 459 00:23:46,601 --> 00:23:50,711 somehow or another, when I went to Texas Tech he contacted me 460 00:23:50,750 --> 00:23:54,948 and he said I think you can use some computers and I said I 461 00:23:55,008 --> 00:23:57,599 think so also, but I don't know what to do with them. 462 00:23:57,599 --> 00:24:00,928 But he said here, here's some computers, you figure it out. 463 00:24:01,710 --> 00:24:05,032 So at that time I was kind of focusing in the ag education, 464 00:24:05,074 --> 00:24:09,988 the mechanized ag component, ag mech, teaching a class in farm 465 00:24:10,028 --> 00:24:11,230 building construction. 466 00:24:12,092 --> 00:24:15,404 So I said, okay, we're going to draw this building first. 467 00:24:15,404 --> 00:24:19,280 So I had to teach the students how to use the Macintosh, how to 468 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,347 picture in their minds all the components of a small farm 469 00:24:23,407 --> 00:24:27,080 building, and then we actually were going to build that. 470 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,930 And what a challenge to stay one step ahead of the students 471 00:24:31,009 --> 00:24:34,864 and learning the technology and then actually building a 472 00:24:34,944 --> 00:24:35,425 building. 473 00:24:35,425 --> 00:24:41,220 But then at that same time I realized the ag communication 474 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:42,001 component. 475 00:24:42,001 --> 00:24:43,846 And you mentioned that one class. 476 00:24:43,846 --> 00:24:48,124 At that time there was only one class and I had found a program 477 00:24:48,124 --> 00:24:53,673 called PageMaker for the Macintosh and I said, hey, can I 478 00:24:53,673 --> 00:24:55,183 take these few students? 479 00:24:55,183 --> 00:24:58,936 And at that time there were seven students and I volunteered 480 00:24:58,936 --> 00:25:01,403 to introduce them to the Macintosh. 481 00:25:01,403 --> 00:25:06,336 And in my mind the rest is history, because we put out that 482 00:25:06,336 --> 00:25:11,446 first newsletter and it was a far cry from what it is today 483 00:25:11,667 --> 00:25:16,422 but it was the beginning of what I call the real advancement of 484 00:25:16,563 --> 00:25:18,266 AgCom, way back then. 485 00:25:19,508 --> 00:25:20,750 Speaker 2: That's an important point. 486 00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:24,867 I want everybody to hear this, because you just said something 487 00:25:24,907 --> 00:25:28,767 that I don't think people really realize the significance of 488 00:25:28,846 --> 00:25:29,788 what you just shared. 489 00:25:29,788 --> 00:25:33,781 One of the things I like to tell people is we all stand on 490 00:25:33,801 --> 00:25:35,763 the shoulders of the people that went before us. 491 00:25:35,763 --> 00:25:39,682 All of us stand on the shoulders of the people that 492 00:25:39,701 --> 00:25:40,105 went before us. 493 00:25:40,105 --> 00:25:42,733 That influenced me too, and I know that. 494 00:25:42,733 --> 00:25:47,324 But what I'm saying is, when you did what you did at Texas 495 00:25:47,364 --> 00:25:51,276 Tech with those Macintosh computers, I still remember that 496 00:25:51,276 --> 00:25:51,276 . 497 00:25:52,186 --> 00:25:56,086 I remember we were so nervous you know we were used to DOS and 498 00:25:56,086 --> 00:25:59,990 we were so nervous using these computers and everything was 499 00:26:00,069 --> 00:26:03,586 WYSIWYG what you see is what you get, and you could click and 500 00:26:03,646 --> 00:26:08,178 hold and move things around, and the imagery was incredible. 501 00:26:08,178 --> 00:26:14,233 And it would be very easy for us as students to be intimidated 502 00:26:14,233 --> 00:26:18,728 , to think, well, we can mess this up, that we could break 503 00:26:18,788 --> 00:26:19,589 this computer. 504 00:26:19,589 --> 00:26:24,106 And I remember Dr Paulson would walk around and he'd say use 505 00:26:24,146 --> 00:26:25,189 your imagination. 506 00:26:25,189 --> 00:26:28,636 He said there's nothing that you're going to do that we can't 507 00:26:28,636 --> 00:26:31,910 fix, there's nothing that you're going to do that we can't 508 00:26:31,910 --> 00:26:32,351 undo. 509 00:26:32,351 --> 00:26:37,188 And so he challenges us to stretch our imaginations. 510 00:26:37,188 --> 00:26:40,973 He challenges us to stretch our boundaries, to know that it was 511 00:26:40,973 --> 00:26:45,079 okay to take that risk, as you mentioned earlier, and then fix 512 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:51,890 it, but because you encouraged us to do that and I left AgComm 513 00:26:51,910 --> 00:26:53,250 and went back into AgEd. 514 00:26:53,250 --> 00:26:58,256 But look at all of the success the AgComm department had as a 515 00:26:58,316 --> 00:27:03,340 result of you unleashing people's imagination and saying 516 00:27:03,401 --> 00:27:06,907 go for it, Use this technology and go for it. 517 00:27:09,112 --> 00:27:11,636 Speaker 3: You know that relates back to you mentioned earlier 518 00:27:11,696 --> 00:27:12,778 is taking risks. 519 00:27:13,585 --> 00:27:18,087 You know I didn't know what was going to happen, but as I look 520 00:27:18,147 --> 00:27:23,111 back on all the graduates of ag communications from Texas Tech, 521 00:27:23,131 --> 00:27:28,054 from Texas A&M and from other universities, I can see little 522 00:27:28,134 --> 00:27:32,195 bits here and there that all these other graduate students 523 00:27:32,236 --> 00:27:35,518 have taken throughout the world. 524 00:27:35,518 --> 00:27:39,099 I was I'm kind of bragging. 525 00:27:39,099 --> 00:27:42,582 I was recruited to go to Korea, south Korea, to one of the 526 00:27:42,662 --> 00:27:52,631 universities, but at the time you may remember that there was 527 00:27:52,651 --> 00:27:54,236 a bunch of demonstrations back then and they were all related 528 00:27:54,256 --> 00:27:54,537 to agriculture. 529 00:27:54,537 --> 00:27:56,222 I don't know all the facts behind it, but all of a sudden 530 00:27:56,242 --> 00:28:00,432 this position dissolved and somebody stepped on somebody's 531 00:28:00,491 --> 00:28:02,655 toes, didn't come about. 532 00:28:02,695 --> 00:28:04,965 Speaker 2: But that all goes back to the concepts you're 533 00:28:04,987 --> 00:28:10,015 talking about taking the risks of agriculture and education 534 00:28:11,257 --> 00:28:14,567 well, I got to tell you, it was really, you know it as me, for 535 00:28:14,647 --> 00:28:17,711 me as a freshman, in 1984. 536 00:28:17,711 --> 00:28:23,138 And then I left my 85, 86 year, because that's the year I was 537 00:28:23,179 --> 00:28:27,753 state FFA president and to leave and come back and in just one 538 00:28:27,814 --> 00:28:31,345 year see the incredible growth of the ag communications 539 00:28:31,565 --> 00:28:35,093 department, see the growth of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, 540 00:28:36,055 --> 00:28:38,928 and both of those programs had your thumb, your fingerprint on 541 00:28:38,948 --> 00:28:39,810 them, just so, so you know. 542 00:28:39,810 --> 00:28:43,667 So it was interesting to walk away from it for a year and come 543 00:28:43,667 --> 00:28:47,517 back and see them both just thriving and and continue to 544 00:28:47,576 --> 00:28:50,148 thrive, and they continue to thrive to this day. 545 00:28:50,148 --> 00:28:54,278 Again, go back to what we're talking about growing the future 546 00:28:54,278 --> 00:28:54,278 . 547 00:28:54,806 --> 00:28:57,769 Speaker 3: You know, aaron, you gave me credit for that a lot of 548 00:28:57,769 --> 00:29:02,538 times but as as I think back, I did not have the training in 549 00:29:02,577 --> 00:29:03,480 communications. 550 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:08,096 So one of my reasons for success is I had gone to the 551 00:29:08,196 --> 00:29:11,827 national ACT Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow 552 00:29:12,490 --> 00:29:16,182 national meeting and I realized at that meeting that there were 553 00:29:16,363 --> 00:29:19,510 eight or nine professional associations throughout the 554 00:29:19,570 --> 00:29:22,577 United States where our students could go. 555 00:29:22,577 --> 00:29:28,193 So with that little fact I went back to Texas Tech and I formed 556 00:29:28,193 --> 00:29:32,627 an advisory committee and I said, hey, I'm the new kid on 557 00:29:32,647 --> 00:29:36,757 the block, I need to know what our students need in their 558 00:29:36,797 --> 00:29:37,439 curriculum. 559 00:29:37,439 --> 00:29:41,354 So we went through a nominal group technique, a brainstorming 560 00:29:41,354 --> 00:29:45,070 technique, and we identified the major concept of that ag 561 00:29:45,090 --> 00:29:46,394 communication program. 562 00:29:46,394 --> 00:29:48,464 Now you give me credit for that . 563 00:29:48,525 --> 00:29:51,131 But I'm going to turn that right back to. 564 00:29:51,131 --> 00:29:55,265 Yes, I had the wherewithal to form that committee, but the 565 00:29:55,806 --> 00:30:00,994 success of that committee came because the professionals told 566 00:30:01,115 --> 00:30:04,665 me slash the university, what should be in the program. 567 00:30:04,665 --> 00:30:08,573 I took it to my boss, dr Stockton, and we got that 568 00:30:08,633 --> 00:30:13,627 approved at the college level and the university level and 569 00:30:13,647 --> 00:30:14,971 then the rest is history. 570 00:30:14,971 --> 00:30:20,307 So I turned this success back to that committee and I'm still 571 00:30:20,387 --> 00:30:23,527 friends with quite a few of those people, in fact, as one of 572 00:30:23,527 --> 00:30:28,036 the advisors on that committee, received one of the highest 573 00:30:28,276 --> 00:30:31,008 honors that Texas Tech gave to any alumni. 574 00:30:31,008 --> 00:30:36,356 He was one of the first ag communication people, so it's a 575 00:30:36,557 --> 00:30:38,705 group effort Well. 576 00:30:40,490 --> 00:30:41,672 Speaker 2: I don't disagree with that. 577 00:30:41,672 --> 00:30:44,605 But every you know, every successful venture has to start 578 00:30:44,665 --> 00:30:47,794 as a creative idea and then there has to be something that 579 00:30:47,835 --> 00:30:50,970 becomes the catalyst, and I don't think there's any question 580 00:30:50,970 --> 00:30:53,396 that you became the catalyst for a lot of the good things 581 00:30:53,444 --> 00:30:54,469 that we experienced. 582 00:30:54,469 --> 00:30:56,115 It's so funny here. 583 00:30:56,115 --> 00:30:58,744 I knew when we started into this there were going to be 584 00:30:58,785 --> 00:31:00,468 things I was going to get to share with you. 585 00:31:00,468 --> 00:31:02,231 One you talked about PageMaker. 586 00:31:02,231 --> 00:31:05,939 I'm going to make sure that my former executive assistant, 587 00:31:05,999 --> 00:31:10,172 joanne, gets to see this interview, because she worked 588 00:31:10,211 --> 00:31:13,939 with me for 12 years at the Texas FFA Foundation. 589 00:31:13,939 --> 00:31:17,019 She did not come from an ag background, she came from a 590 00:31:17,078 --> 00:31:21,498 technology background, but she was so frustrated at me because 591 00:31:21,577 --> 00:31:26,573 I would not quit using PageMaker , because I was so accustomed to 592 00:31:26,573 --> 00:31:29,766 PageMaker that I wouldn't move over to the other you know, 593 00:31:29,806 --> 00:31:34,955 adobe or Microsoft programs and anyway, she just always got a 594 00:31:34,996 --> 00:31:38,527 kick that I would refuse to leave PageMaker. 595 00:31:39,930 --> 00:31:41,733 Speaker 3: You know, related to that concept. 596 00:31:41,733 --> 00:31:45,509 I got started with Pagemaker and then another program came 597 00:31:45,690 --> 00:31:50,463 out called Quark Express and it was a lot of frustrations 598 00:31:50,703 --> 00:31:53,931 amongst all the students because I switched. 599 00:31:53,931 --> 00:31:57,598 I destroyed Pagemaker because I thought Quark Express was a 600 00:31:57,724 --> 00:32:01,253 little bit better, and nowadays there's all kinds of publishing 601 00:32:01,294 --> 00:32:01,796 programs. 602 00:32:06,505 --> 00:32:07,490 Speaker 2: I remember, I remember when y'all made that 603 00:32:07,509 --> 00:32:08,635 transition and I, like I said, I stuck with PageMaker. 604 00:32:08,635 --> 00:32:10,103 The other thing that I wanted to share that you mentioned, you 605 00:32:10,103 --> 00:32:12,550 referenced, which I'm glad you did, and we're not going to talk 606 00:32:12,550 --> 00:32:17,029 about it in detail, but it's one of those things that I think 607 00:32:17,029 --> 00:32:18,070 people don't really. 608 00:32:18,070 --> 00:32:23,299 I always tell kids I want you to listen, and when I mean 609 00:32:23,359 --> 00:32:26,230 listen, I mean listen with your eyes and listen with your ears. 610 00:32:26,230 --> 00:32:28,436 So important, Absolutely. 611 00:32:28,457 --> 00:32:32,196 Because, there's things that you can pick up and one of the 612 00:32:32,237 --> 00:32:36,047 things I picked up on early in my career again because of your 613 00:32:36,106 --> 00:32:41,035 tutelage was the nominal group technique and I remember you 614 00:32:41,096 --> 00:32:44,948 walked us through that exercise in class one time where we were 615 00:32:45,028 --> 00:32:50,522 kind of dissecting a topic and an idea and trying to vet it out 616 00:32:50,522 --> 00:32:53,490 and think through it and I remember we went through the 617 00:32:53,569 --> 00:32:59,288 nominal group technique strategy to get to a final conclusion. 618 00:32:59,288 --> 00:33:03,663 And interesting, later in my life I've been in numerous 619 00:33:03,742 --> 00:33:08,172 non-profit roles and organization roles where I've 620 00:33:08,231 --> 00:33:13,468 leaned into that nominal group technique to drill down to find 621 00:33:13,528 --> 00:33:14,852 that common solution. 622 00:33:14,852 --> 00:33:18,463 So that's just another fun example of seeds that you 623 00:33:18,503 --> 00:33:21,471 planted that are still being harvested today. 624 00:33:22,374 --> 00:33:23,455 Speaker 3: And related to that. 625 00:33:23,455 --> 00:33:27,971 I've always thought that a group decision is more valuable 626 00:33:28,032 --> 00:33:29,796 than an individual decision. 627 00:33:29,796 --> 00:33:34,632 If I had gone to my boss with all these ideas and say we're 628 00:33:34,652 --> 00:33:39,008 going to do this, this and this just based on my recollection or 629 00:33:39,008 --> 00:33:41,874 my knowledge, he'd have probably scoffed at the idea. 630 00:33:41,874 --> 00:33:46,670 But when I took those ideas, and with the stamp of approval 631 00:33:46,789 --> 00:33:50,758 of the professionals, that added a lot more weight to that 632 00:33:50,825 --> 00:33:51,425 decision. 633 00:33:51,425 --> 00:33:55,915 And I have used that nominal group technique as a consultant 634 00:33:56,036 --> 00:33:57,058 in various points. 635 00:33:57,058 --> 00:34:00,669 In fact, as you mentioned, nonprofits, within the next 636 00:34:00,769 --> 00:34:04,513 month I'll be using that technique to establish the 637 00:34:04,795 --> 00:34:09,260 agenda for the upcoming new nonprofit that deals with Civil 638 00:34:09,340 --> 00:34:10,885 War history, you know. 639 00:34:10,885 --> 00:34:14,047 So that technique and making decisions, I'm still using it 640 00:34:14,387 --> 00:34:16,907 and that's something I learned in graduate school. 641 00:34:16,907 --> 00:34:17,989 I love it. 642 00:34:18,869 --> 00:34:20,230 Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit here Now. 643 00:34:20,230 --> 00:34:21,490 This is really good stuff. 644 00:34:21,490 --> 00:34:25,092 So we've talked about kind of your career and you left Texas 645 00:34:25,132 --> 00:34:28,514 Tech and you went on to Ohio State University where 646 00:34:29,054 --> 00:34:32,295 ultimately you retired from Ohio State. 647 00:34:32,295 --> 00:34:35,418 Yes, you were a Buckeye. 648 00:34:36,458 --> 00:34:37,818 Speaker 3: You know what a Buckeye is? 649 00:34:37,818 --> 00:34:42,201 It's a hairless nut of absolutely no economic value. 650 00:34:43,981 --> 00:34:50,887 Speaker 2: Well, obviously you know you and I know that I've 651 00:34:50,907 --> 00:34:51,711 got a connection to the Buckeyes as well. 652 00:34:51,711 --> 00:34:52,134 And what do they say? 653 00:34:52,134 --> 00:34:53,219 The more things change, the more things stay the same. 654 00:34:53,219 --> 00:34:53,400 You know? 655 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:54,204 I believe that I've said that all along. 656 00:34:54,204 --> 00:34:55,387 I said people don't change. 657 00:34:55,387 --> 00:34:59,655 I think individuals can change, but people don't change. 658 00:35:00,235 --> 00:35:03,246 You can read the Bible and find pessimists and optimists and 659 00:35:03,746 --> 00:35:07,635 status quo and innovators there In 1920, you can find the same 660 00:35:07,675 --> 00:35:12,369 1950, and, lo and behold, here we are in 2024, and there's 661 00:35:12,431 --> 00:35:15,878 probably somebody in a coffee shop that believe America's 662 00:35:15,925 --> 00:35:19,172 going to hell in a handbasket and there's probably some kid in 663 00:35:19,172 --> 00:35:21,416 a classroom thinking our best days are ahead. 664 00:35:21,416 --> 00:35:31,068 Let's capitalize on your history, but bring it to today. 665 00:35:31,068 --> 00:35:32,592 So one of the things that I like to talk about here is this 666 00:35:32,612 --> 00:35:36,603 I like to ask kids how many high schools are in Texas, and 667 00:35:36,623 --> 00:35:40,012 they'll usually hem-haul around and say a lot, and I said, yeah, 668 00:35:40,012 --> 00:35:40,594 there's a lot. 669 00:35:40,594 --> 00:35:42,907 There's over 3,000 high schools in Texas. 670 00:35:42,907 --> 00:35:45,994 Every one of those high schools are going to have a graduating 671 00:35:46,034 --> 00:35:46,414 class. 672 00:35:47,617 --> 00:35:49,469 That means the kids are going to get out, they're going to be 673 00:35:49,509 --> 00:35:54,405 looking for a job, scholarship or an opportunity, and so I 674 00:35:54,527 --> 00:35:56,755 always ask the kids what's your competitive edge? 675 00:35:56,755 --> 00:36:00,186 What is it that separates you from your peers? 676 00:36:00,186 --> 00:36:05,516 And so you've already shared some things that I think can be 677 00:36:05,536 --> 00:36:11,856 a competitive edge Paying attention, taking risk, looking 678 00:36:11,916 --> 00:36:12,637 for trends. 679 00:36:12,637 --> 00:36:16,539 I think all of those things that you mentioned are elements 680 00:36:16,599 --> 00:36:17,585 of a competitive edge. 681 00:36:17,585 --> 00:36:22,695 But in your life, in the season that you're in, and in your 682 00:36:22,735 --> 00:36:26,110 career history, what are some things that you would tell a 683 00:36:26,150 --> 00:36:30,967 young person would be skill sets to put in place in their lives 684 00:36:30,987 --> 00:36:32,530 that'll give them a competitive edge. 685 00:36:34,675 --> 00:36:37,969 Speaker 3: First of all, I think it's taking a risk and 686 00:36:38,108 --> 00:36:41,916 utilizing your senses to say hey , this is a good idea. 687 00:36:41,916 --> 00:36:43,099 It's not a good idea. 688 00:36:43,099 --> 00:36:45,108 And I'm going to share an example. 689 00:36:45,108 --> 00:36:49,797 I had a student at Ohio State University who was a better than 690 00:36:49,797 --> 00:36:50,626 average student. 691 00:36:50,626 --> 00:36:54,976 He was really good and he loved agriculture, just like I did, 692 00:36:55,195 --> 00:36:58,730 and I helped him get an internship in Denmark on a 693 00:36:58,809 --> 00:37:02,757 500-year-old hog operation that still had some of the original 694 00:37:02,838 --> 00:37:07,413 moat around the castle, but it was a state-of-the-art hog swine 695 00:37:07,413 --> 00:37:08,034 production. 696 00:37:08,034 --> 00:37:11,507 And that was about the time I was leaving Ohio State 697 00:37:11,608 --> 00:37:12,329 University. 698 00:37:12,329 --> 00:37:16,458 So I asked him to join me when he got back from Denmark and he 699 00:37:16,518 --> 00:37:17,686 said, yes, I will. 700 00:37:18,909 --> 00:37:21,594 Now he was a guy willing to take risks. 701 00:37:21,594 --> 00:37:27,208 He went over to Europe and he interned and he published some 702 00:37:27,349 --> 00:37:30,434 articles related to that in some national magazines. 703 00:37:30,434 --> 00:37:35,969 So, anyway, his first day on the job, he said okay, boss, 704 00:37:36,070 --> 00:37:37,211 what am I going to do? 705 00:37:37,211 --> 00:37:42,318 And I asked do you remember, don, when you told me about this 706 00:37:42,318 --> 00:37:44,021 little reading project? 707 00:37:44,644 --> 00:37:48,534 You were interning at Reading Recovery back in Ohio and that's 708 00:37:48,534 --> 00:37:52,168 a program designed to help students in the lower quartile 709 00:37:52,570 --> 00:37:56,144 if they have trouble learning to read in kindergarten and grade 710 00:37:56,164 --> 00:37:57,407 one, and you described how they wanted to publish some little 711 00:37:57,427 --> 00:37:57,947 books to help that program. 712 00:37:57,947 --> 00:37:59,869 And you described how they wanted to publish some little 713 00:37:59,949 --> 00:38:01,530 books to help that program. 714 00:38:01,530 --> 00:38:04,215 So I said let's make that happen. 715 00:38:04,215 --> 00:38:08,539 So we wrote a proposal, they presented it to Reading Recovery 716 00:38:08,539 --> 00:38:16,990 , they accepted it and pretty soon we coordinated the writers 717 00:38:17,010 --> 00:38:18,639 and the illustrator and all the pre-press work for four little 718 00:38:18,659 --> 00:38:21,309 books that are still in use today and they were very 719 00:38:21,389 --> 00:38:22,052 successful. 720 00:38:22,052 --> 00:38:26,492 They wanted more, and I think that first press run was 20,000 721 00:38:26,532 --> 00:38:26,893 books. 722 00:38:26,893 --> 00:38:31,507 So then we immediately ran another press run for another 20 723 00:38:31,507 --> 00:38:35,177 or 40,000 or something like that, and they were just wildly 724 00:38:35,237 --> 00:38:35,878 successful. 725 00:38:37,085 --> 00:38:42,476 So within a few months we had eight books in the set and we 726 00:38:42,795 --> 00:38:44,559 did a press run of one million. 727 00:38:45,304 --> 00:38:50,137 After that date we never ran a press run less than a million. 728 00:38:50,137 --> 00:38:56,378 One time we had four million books on press at one time. 729 00:38:56,378 --> 00:38:59,253 We bought paper by the railroad cars. 730 00:38:59,253 --> 00:39:01,106 We bought ink by the barrels. 731 00:39:01,106 --> 00:39:02,688 We bought paper by the railroad cars, we bought ink by the 732 00:39:02,708 --> 00:39:03,128 barrels. 733 00:39:03,128 --> 00:39:07,393 And that's a result of taking a chance and using your gut level 734 00:39:07,393 --> 00:39:09,094 feeling, you know. 735 00:39:09,094 --> 00:39:10,976 Is that the competitive edge? 736 00:39:10,976 --> 00:39:12,858 Was it luck? 737 00:39:12,858 --> 00:39:14,338 Was it intuition? 738 00:39:14,338 --> 00:39:16,601 Was it utilizing the census? 739 00:39:16,601 --> 00:39:19,766 Did I pick up on the trend? 740 00:39:19,766 --> 00:39:22,411 Did my friend who was interning in Denmark? 741 00:39:22,411 --> 00:39:25,889 Did he pick up on the trend because he had interned with 742 00:39:25,949 --> 00:39:26,913 Reading Recovery. 743 00:39:28,365 --> 00:39:33,335 So I look at being able to pick a lot of different pieces a lot 744 00:39:33,376 --> 00:39:36,449 of different strings and this might relate to string theory, 745 00:39:36,811 --> 00:39:38,436 which I think you're familiar with, aaron. 746 00:39:38,436 --> 00:39:41,590 We talked about that a little bit in Diffusion, but you know, 747 00:39:41,773 --> 00:39:45,012 picking up on something and then taking the risk to follow it 748 00:39:45,072 --> 00:39:45,333 through. 749 00:39:45,333 --> 00:39:49,235 The bad part of this story is this young man who did this. 750 00:39:49,235 --> 00:39:53,150 He came down with leukemia and he passed away about six months 751 00:39:53,231 --> 00:39:57,018 into this whole program and they ended up dedicating the program 752 00:39:57,018 --> 00:39:59,913 to him for a while and that's kind of gone by the wayside now. 753 00:39:59,913 --> 00:40:03,688 So I don't know if that's what you're talking about the 754 00:40:03,708 --> 00:40:04,088 competitive edge. 755 00:40:04,088 --> 00:40:09,447 But as I look back in my career , I think about the risks I took 756 00:40:09,447 --> 00:40:09,447 . 757 00:40:09,447 --> 00:40:12,655 But I didn't really realize there were risks at the time. 758 00:40:12,655 --> 00:40:13,777 It just felt natural. 759 00:40:14,505 --> 00:40:16,530 Speaker 2: What I like that you've shared already and this 760 00:40:16,590 --> 00:40:18,786 is one reason I like these interviews, by the way is 761 00:40:18,846 --> 00:40:20,590 because there's a lot of seeds of greatness. 762 00:40:20,590 --> 00:40:23,675 If we'll just listen to somebody's story, if we'll 763 00:40:23,715 --> 00:40:27,670 listen to somebody's testimony, we find elements in there that 764 00:40:27,710 --> 00:40:28,851 we can all learn from. 765 00:40:28,851 --> 00:40:31,847 And there's several things that you've talked about. 766 00:40:31,847 --> 00:40:34,414 Like I said, you've talked about paying attention, you 767 00:40:34,434 --> 00:40:38,809 talked about work ethic, you talked about taking risks, being 768 00:40:38,809 --> 00:40:40,331 creative, being innovative. 769 00:40:40,331 --> 00:40:41,733 We've talked a lot about innovation. 770 00:40:41,733 --> 00:40:42,855 You've said it several times. 771 00:40:42,855 --> 00:40:46,320 You know, I think there's a lot of wisdom in being an innovator 772 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:51,775 , because everything that we experience, every successful 773 00:40:51,815 --> 00:40:53,818 venture, started as a creative idea. 774 00:40:53,818 --> 00:40:57,594 So I think there's a lot of brilliance and innovation, but 775 00:40:57,693 --> 00:41:02,239 you've got to be willing to take that risk, to try it and then 776 00:41:02,338 --> 00:41:05,027 use critical thinking to figure out why it worked. 777 00:41:05,108 --> 00:41:07,414 And you know, I like what John Maxwell says. 778 00:41:07,414 --> 00:41:10,728 He says every success, you need to do an autopsy on it. 779 00:41:10,728 --> 00:41:13,235 You know you need to evaluate it. 780 00:41:13,235 --> 00:41:16,172 You need to do the same thing to a failure you need to unpack 781 00:41:16,231 --> 00:41:16,311 it. 782 00:41:16,311 --> 00:41:20,405 But I guess you know, dr Paulson, one of the things I 783 00:41:20,445 --> 00:41:22,989 tell people is all the people that I've been blessed to work 784 00:41:23,030 --> 00:41:27,018 with incredible corporate leaders, policy leaders, 785 00:41:27,559 --> 00:41:28,099 athletes. 786 00:41:28,099 --> 00:41:32,713 There's one word that they all have in their vocabulary that I 787 00:41:32,773 --> 00:41:36,771 find very unique, and that word is next. 788 00:41:36,771 --> 00:41:41,606 It does not matter if they have a success, what's next? 789 00:41:41,606 --> 00:41:42,813 It does not matter if they have a success, what's next. 790 00:41:42,813 --> 00:41:45,989 It does not matter if they have a failure, what's next? 791 00:41:45,989 --> 00:41:50,139 It does not matter if they move to a new job, what's next, 792 00:41:50,601 --> 00:41:53,987 doesn't matter if they retire, it's what's next. 793 00:41:53,987 --> 00:42:00,275 Next, I believe, creates a target and a goal that beckons, 794 00:42:01,197 --> 00:42:06,288 and I believe that next provides fuel to give us purpose, and I 795 00:42:06,327 --> 00:42:10,775 think that looking for what's next is also something that can 796 00:42:10,795 --> 00:42:11,858 create a competitive edge. 797 00:42:14,181 --> 00:42:16,621 Speaker 3: I like that concept and you know you talked about. 798 00:42:16,621 --> 00:42:18,543 You mentioned failure a little bit. 799 00:42:18,543 --> 00:42:21,826 You know, so far we've talked mostly about the successes. 800 00:42:21,826 --> 00:42:24,027 I've had AgCom and AgEd and that. 801 00:42:24,027 --> 00:42:27,570 But you know, as I think back I've had plenty of failures too. 802 00:42:27,570 --> 00:42:32,512 But as I look back on those now , you know my first time I went 803 00:42:32,532 --> 00:42:34,653 to college I was a poor student. 804 00:42:34,653 --> 00:42:36,835 I was a tremendously poor student. 805 00:42:37,335 --> 00:42:38,115 I was a poor student. 806 00:42:38,115 --> 00:42:41,057 I was a tremendously poor student Back in the 60s. 807 00:42:41,057 --> 00:42:42,139 I drank way too much. 808 00:42:42,139 --> 00:42:47,202 I knew I was going to farm, so I went home every weekend. 809 00:42:47,222 --> 00:42:48,385 I didn't spend any time at the university studying and 810 00:42:48,405 --> 00:42:51,692 basically I probably would have failed out of college had I not 811 00:42:51,731 --> 00:42:55,025 dropped out of college when my dad had a heart attack and I 812 00:42:55,065 --> 00:42:59,293 went back to the family farm and at that point what was next? 813 00:42:59,293 --> 00:43:03,849 We had created a livestock feedlot when I was in high 814 00:43:03,889 --> 00:43:05,873 school because I was going back to the farm. 815 00:43:05,873 --> 00:43:10,367 But you know, I've had plenty of different ideas that weren't 816 00:43:10,427 --> 00:43:15,483 successful, but I learned from them and I just asked, like you 817 00:43:15,543 --> 00:43:17,088 said, aaron, what's next? 818 00:43:17,088 --> 00:43:19,780 You know you need to take all those in stride. 819 00:43:19,780 --> 00:43:23,728 You can't let anything get you down and just go for the next. 820 00:43:24,911 --> 00:43:26,641 You know I mentioned South Korea . 821 00:43:26,641 --> 00:43:30,893 I thought I really kind of wanted to go to South Korea 822 00:43:30,954 --> 00:43:35,184 because I was stationed in South Korea and in my military. 823 00:43:35,184 --> 00:43:41,114 Related to the next concept, I mentioned high school typing 824 00:43:41,153 --> 00:43:46,980 class that led me to a radio teletype communication job and 825 00:43:47,021 --> 00:43:50,867 that required an extremely high security clearance because I was 826 00:43:50,867 --> 00:43:55,293 responsible for all classes, from non-classified to top 827 00:43:55,333 --> 00:43:58,853 secret, and they called it a crypto clearance because I 828 00:43:58,974 --> 00:44:02,929 operated the equipment and all those things were related to 829 00:44:03,028 --> 00:44:06,440 agricultural community or to communications and I in turn 830 00:44:06,579 --> 00:44:08,585 brought those into the ag communications. 831 00:44:08,585 --> 00:44:13,440 Without turning back to you, I kind of changed the rabbits 832 00:44:13,500 --> 00:44:16,347 there no, that's good stuff I was thinking through. 833 00:44:16,387 --> 00:44:20,081 Speaker 2: When you talked about your resiliency, I got to 834 00:44:20,141 --> 00:44:26,565 thinking about tenacity, and there's a great movie about an 835 00:44:26,746 --> 00:44:29,692 astronaut who was a migrant farm worker, called A Million Miles 836 00:44:29,753 --> 00:44:30,012 Away. 837 00:44:30,012 --> 00:44:35,347 It's a true story and there was a moment there that he was 838 00:44:35,387 --> 00:44:39,425 about willing to give up and one of his instructors told him 839 00:44:39,485 --> 00:44:45,128 that tenacity is your superpower and that's what kept him going. 840 00:44:45,128 --> 00:44:52,492 And sadly, she was one of the crew members in the not the 841 00:44:52,532 --> 00:44:53,153 Challenger. 842 00:44:53,153 --> 00:44:58,570 It was the other space shuttle that went down under with 843 00:44:58,831 --> 00:44:59,873 Captain Rick Husband. 844 00:44:59,873 --> 00:45:04,552 But I'll never forget that that tenacity is a superpower. 845 00:45:04,552 --> 00:45:09,547 I met a person one time that told me they were just tired of 846 00:45:09,568 --> 00:45:13,086 the storms of life and they said they really wish they'd just 847 00:45:13,126 --> 00:45:13,688 quit raining. 848 00:45:13,688 --> 00:45:20,170 And I said, well, you want a place that never rains. 849 00:45:20,170 --> 00:45:23,141 I said I can take you there and they said, really. 850 00:45:23,222 --> 00:45:27,052 I said yeah it exists, so it's called a desert and nothing 851 00:45:27,092 --> 00:45:27,492 grows. 852 00:45:27,492 --> 00:45:32,088 But you show me somebody that's had a little pain, a little 853 00:45:32,530 --> 00:45:35,704 challenge, a little heartache, and I'll show you somebody 854 00:45:35,724 --> 00:45:38,010 that's probably poised for some incredible growth. 855 00:45:38,010 --> 00:45:39,342 A little heartache, and I'll show you somebody that's 856 00:45:39,362 --> 00:45:40,644 probably poised for some incredible growth, and I think 857 00:45:40,684 --> 00:45:47,740 that through those failures, which I've had as well, if we're 858 00:45:47,740 --> 00:45:48,463 smart about them, we learn from them. 859 00:45:49,646 --> 00:45:51,271 Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely. 860 00:45:53,860 --> 00:45:54,842 Speaker 2: And they just make us better. 861 00:45:54,842 --> 00:45:56,686 All right, let's close this up. 862 00:45:56,686 --> 00:45:59,472 I want to talk about one last topic, and that's leadership. 863 00:45:59,472 --> 00:46:05,864 Our country, you know, I tell people all the time this 864 00:46:05,884 --> 00:46:07,086 country's got three vital and renewable resources. 865 00:46:07,086 --> 00:46:07,427 Think about that. 866 00:46:07,427 --> 00:46:09,572 We've got three vital and renewable resources. 867 00:46:09,572 --> 00:46:13,965 That's young people, agriculture and leadership. 868 00:46:13,965 --> 00:46:17,500 And I want to talk about leadership for a minute. 869 00:46:17,500 --> 00:46:20,882 If you were to share some tips on leadership, what would you 870 00:46:20,922 --> 00:46:21,744 tell young people? 871 00:46:21,744 --> 00:46:25,621 What are some tips that they should employ to be really good 872 00:46:25,681 --> 00:46:26,023 leaders? 873 00:46:27,947 --> 00:46:30,255 Speaker 3: I think the first one is something you mentioned 874 00:46:30,476 --> 00:46:35,927 earlier is the ability to listen , listen to understand, not 875 00:46:36,126 --> 00:46:37,329 listen to reply. 876 00:46:37,329 --> 00:46:39,092 Everything, everything. 877 00:46:39,092 --> 00:46:42,543 You should try to relate it to something else and understand 878 00:46:42,905 --> 00:46:43,847 what you're hearing. 879 00:46:43,847 --> 00:46:47,942 There are so many people and I think it's my pet peeve of every 880 00:46:47,942 --> 00:46:53,418 of anybody is somebody who just listens enough to reply without 881 00:46:53,418 --> 00:46:54,902 understanding the meaning. 882 00:46:54,902 --> 00:47:04,045 That may go deep, and I think that's a skill that can be 883 00:47:04,065 --> 00:47:04,206 learned. 884 00:47:04,226 --> 00:47:05,248 Speaker 2: Does that answer your question? 885 00:47:05,650 --> 00:47:05,889 Speaker 3: Yeah. 886 00:47:05,969 --> 00:47:07,432 Speaker 2: If you got any more, you got anything else. 887 00:47:09,340 --> 00:47:11,224 Speaker 3: Listen what else would a good leader do? 888 00:47:11,224 --> 00:47:16,684 I am finding within the last year I have gravitated a lot to 889 00:47:16,704 --> 00:47:20,382 stoicism, the stoic principles that have been around since the 890 00:47:20,442 --> 00:47:25,197 Greeks and the Romans, with the number one thing is evaluating 891 00:47:25,298 --> 00:47:28,949 everything and say is this within my control? 892 00:47:28,949 --> 00:47:31,425 Can I do something about it? 893 00:47:31,425 --> 00:47:37,128 It might be just to acknowledge it, it might be nothing, or it 894 00:47:37,188 --> 00:47:41,302 might be to dive headfirst in and use that intuition and do 895 00:47:41,382 --> 00:47:46,516 something, but everything you deal with ask yourself is this 896 00:47:46,617 --> 00:47:49,222 within my control and what should I do with it? 897 00:47:50,465 --> 00:47:54,039 You can pass that on to the people you're working with if 898 00:47:54,101 --> 00:47:59,811 you can give them the attitude of that and I'm really firmly, 899 00:48:00,592 --> 00:48:04,324 I'm impressed with the Stoicism and I have just learned that 900 00:48:04,565 --> 00:48:07,030 recently, within the last few years. 901 00:48:07,030 --> 00:48:11,164 So if I were to go back to the academic world again, I would 902 00:48:11,224 --> 00:48:15,793 try to introduce a section on philosophy, history and 903 00:48:15,860 --> 00:48:18,907 philosophy related to the Stoic principles. 904 00:48:18,907 --> 00:48:23,846 And just this morning, for the grins and giggles, I listened to 905 00:48:23,846 --> 00:48:29,797 a podcast of 70 Stoic principles that are influenced 906 00:48:30,181 --> 00:48:36,349 for 93% of your decisions in that decision process and it 907 00:48:36,389 --> 00:48:37,251 made sense to me. 908 00:48:38,052 --> 00:48:39,213 Speaker 2: I really appreciate that. 909 00:48:39,213 --> 00:48:47,121 By the way, just so you know, I've been on a kick for last 910 00:48:47,141 --> 00:48:48,224 year and this year. 911 00:48:48,244 --> 00:48:49,907 I'm on a real kick on the word discernment and we need to start 912 00:48:49,907 --> 00:48:51,891 raising young people to be discerning. 913 00:48:51,891 --> 00:48:54,083 You've got to start being discerning. 914 00:48:54,083 --> 00:48:56,831 You can't just scroll through social media and believe that 915 00:48:56,871 --> 00:48:57,541 it's factual. 916 00:48:57,541 --> 00:49:00,788 You can't just turn on a news station and believe everything 917 00:49:00,809 --> 00:49:01,228 you hear. 918 00:49:01,228 --> 00:49:04,403 You're going to have to be discerning and you're going to 919 00:49:04,443 --> 00:49:07,340 have to do a little research to be discerning and you're going 920 00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:08,643 to have to ask questions. 921 00:49:08,724 --> 00:49:11,791 And you know, we put teachers on a bus every summer and take 922 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:15,407 them on a week-long leadership development program and they get 923 00:49:15,407 --> 00:49:17,952 their notebooks and when they open up their notebooks, the 924 00:49:18,072 --> 00:49:21,367 first thing they see when they open up the notebooks is the 925 00:49:21,407 --> 00:49:22,248 word question. 926 00:49:22,248 --> 00:49:24,152 And I asked the teachers. 927 00:49:24,152 --> 00:49:26,684 I said what's the root word of the word question? 928 00:49:26,684 --> 00:49:30,210 Quest, to go on an adventure. 929 00:49:30,210 --> 00:49:33,523 I said I want y'all on an adventure all week long this 930 00:49:33,603 --> 00:49:33,844 week. 931 00:49:33,844 --> 00:49:37,951 I want you always asking questions and trying to learn, 932 00:49:38,492 --> 00:49:42,184 because I believe that helps us become discerning and I think 933 00:49:42,224 --> 00:49:44,849 that also adds to your stoicism, if you will. 934 00:49:44,849 --> 00:49:48,545 I think that we've got to be discerning, we've got to start 935 00:49:48,644 --> 00:49:53,380 asking questions about things, otherwise we're you know we're 936 00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:56,373 liable to be led down a path that we're going to regret that 937 00:49:56,414 --> 00:49:57,679 we were being led down. 938 00:49:57,699 --> 00:49:58,721 Speaker 3: We're liable to be led down a path that we're going 939 00:49:58,721 --> 00:49:59,521 to regret that we were being led down. 940 00:49:59,521 --> 00:50:01,525 You know you brought up discernment and I want to bring 941 00:50:01,605 --> 00:50:02,686 up back. 942 00:50:02,686 --> 00:50:06,710 When we talked about AGR, the fraternity, and you had pin 943 00:50:06,751 --> 00:50:07,871 number 20-something. 944 00:50:07,871 --> 00:50:21,041 I was advisor to the colony but one of the guidelines of the 945 00:50:21,061 --> 00:50:23,244 Alpha Gamma Rho National is that the advisor has to have been in 946 00:50:23,244 --> 00:50:24,967 Alpha Gamma Rho as an undergraduate. 947 00:50:24,967 --> 00:50:27,472 So they kind of made an exception and gave me pin number 948 00:50:27,472 --> 00:50:36,148 one before, or they inducted me as a colony as an undergraduate 949 00:50:36,148 --> 00:50:37,751 , but yet I was advised this. 950 00:50:37,751 --> 00:50:39,780 So it's a way to get around that rule. 951 00:50:39,780 --> 00:50:43,630 When I went back and talked about leadership back then I 952 00:50:43,690 --> 00:50:47,166 talked about discernment and that was one of the topics that 953 00:50:47,266 --> 00:50:47,969 I mentioned. 954 00:50:47,969 --> 00:50:51,820 You may remember it a little bit, but be able to discern what 955 00:50:51,820 --> 00:50:57,090 is important and that relates back Well, young people, if 956 00:50:57,130 --> 00:50:57,931 y'all are listening. 957 00:50:57,972 --> 00:50:59,675 Speaker 2: Right now we need it more than ever. 958 00:50:59,675 --> 00:51:03,237 There is a tax on agriculture, there's a tax on animal 959 00:51:03,356 --> 00:51:05,762 agriculture, there's a tax on ways of life. 960 00:51:05,762 --> 00:51:09,284 There's so many things out there that if we are not 961 00:51:09,364 --> 00:51:15,268 discerning, we could fall victim to an ability to pay attention, 962 00:51:15,268 --> 00:51:16,831 an ability to have that aha moment, as Dr. 963 00:51:16,831 --> 00:51:18,371 An ability to pay attention, an ability to have that aha moment 964 00:51:18,371 --> 00:51:19,713 , as Dr Paulson said. 965 00:51:19,713 --> 00:51:22,516 And I don't want the aha moment to be because we lost 966 00:51:22,576 --> 00:51:23,135 everything. 967 00:51:23,135 --> 00:51:29,161 I don't want it to be well, where'd everything go? 968 00:51:29,161 --> 00:51:30,065 What happened to my freedom? 969 00:51:30,065 --> 00:51:31,090 What happened to my liberty? 970 00:51:31,090 --> 00:51:32,012 What happened to my country? 971 00:51:32,012 --> 00:51:32,876 What happened to my way of life ? 972 00:51:32,876 --> 00:51:33,719 I don't want that to be the aha moment. 973 00:51:35,463 --> 00:51:38,036 Speaker 3: And now with the artificial intelligence, that's 974 00:51:38,157 --> 00:51:41,005 one of the hottest topics and what's going on? 975 00:51:41,005 --> 00:51:44,351 You know, back when the Macintosh technology was first 976 00:51:44,411 --> 00:51:48,827 coming out, I took a camera, a digital camera, to one of the 977 00:51:48,847 --> 00:51:52,463 professional meetings and everybody was just clamoring the 978 00:51:52,463 --> 00:51:56,090 technology wasn't there yet but it was coming. 979 00:51:56,090 --> 00:51:59,478 But they had professional meetings about how that 980 00:51:59,538 --> 00:52:03,891 technology was utilized in the wrong way in advertising of the 981 00:52:03,952 --> 00:52:07,804 high-end livestock and the bulls and the cows and how they were 982 00:52:07,864 --> 00:52:11,155 manipulating the picture in their advertising and what were 983 00:52:11,195 --> 00:52:12,800 the ethics related to that. 984 00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:16,688 So we've had that concept for a long time and it continues. 985 00:52:16,688 --> 00:52:19,193 It just really continues and it's getting worse. 986 00:52:19,193 --> 00:52:20,425 It's getting more and more. 987 00:52:21,121 --> 00:52:23,887 Speaker 2: Well, that could be a whole other podcast, just so 988 00:52:23,947 --> 00:52:24,289 you know. 989 00:52:24,289 --> 00:52:29,224 But I'm glad you brought it up Because I recently had I was at 990 00:52:29,244 --> 00:52:32,289 an FFA board meeting and a foundation board meeting less 991 00:52:32,309 --> 00:52:35,813 than a year ago, by the way where I shared with them my 992 00:52:35,873 --> 00:52:36,576 concerns. 993 00:52:36,576 --> 00:52:40,440 You know, back when we had websites, we had SEO, search 994 00:52:40,501 --> 00:52:44,550 engine optimization Brands would work hard to push their brand 995 00:52:44,590 --> 00:52:45,052 to the top. 996 00:52:45,052 --> 00:52:49,512 Well, now that you got chat, gpt and AI, you've got the same 997 00:52:49,572 --> 00:52:53,668 thing going on is it's capturing information, and if we're not 998 00:52:53,748 --> 00:52:57,885 careful and we're not populating the right information and we're 999 00:52:57,885 --> 00:53:01,507 not discerning, it doesn't take you long to see where this 1000 00:53:01,547 --> 00:53:02,469 could be a real problem. 1001 00:53:02,469 --> 00:53:06,309 So the reason I'm saying thank you is because you're bringing 1002 00:53:06,369 --> 00:53:08,764 up a topic that I think you're going to find on this podcast 1003 00:53:09,286 --> 00:53:12,719 more and more in the coming year , because it's very important 1004 00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:13,824 that we have that discussion. 1005 00:53:14,601 --> 00:53:17,670 Speaker 3: And we both have been involved in agriculture and 1006 00:53:17,730 --> 00:53:21,804 communications and for the future of both that's so 1007 00:53:21,844 --> 00:53:26,036 important to just continue teaching, continued striving, 1008 00:53:26,597 --> 00:53:29,646 continued working towards what is correct. 1009 00:53:29,646 --> 00:53:32,735 There's just so much information in the whole 1010 00:53:32,856 --> 00:53:35,664 communication and agricultural fields. 1011 00:53:35,664 --> 00:53:39,112 I'm happy and proud to have been a part of it over these 1012 00:53:39,179 --> 00:53:39,541 years. 1013 00:53:40,903 --> 00:53:41,646 Speaker 2: Dr Paulson. 1014 00:53:41,646 --> 00:53:44,351 We got to bring this to a close , but I want to tell you thank 1015 00:53:44,391 --> 00:53:44,532 you. 1016 00:53:44,532 --> 00:53:47,806 You're welcome Personally and professionally. 1017 00:53:47,806 --> 00:53:51,701 On a personal note, you sure didn't have to let that freshman 1018 00:53:51,701 --> 00:53:55,086 kid in your class, but I'm glad you did. 1019 00:53:55,086 --> 00:54:01,621 You taught me to use my imagination, to take risks, to 1020 00:54:02,563 --> 00:54:03,885 use a nominal group technique. 1021 00:54:03,885 --> 00:54:09,083 There are a lot of takeaways at 18 years of age that I've been 1022 00:54:09,123 --> 00:54:14,032 able to carry with me through a career, and you've also done the 1023 00:54:14,032 --> 00:54:16,123 same thing at the universities that you've been at. 1024 00:54:16,123 --> 00:54:20,199 You've done that not just for me but for a lot of kids, and 1025 00:54:20,260 --> 00:54:25,726 you've helped create some pretty strong programs that you know 1026 00:54:25,806 --> 00:54:29,248 one of the things that we say around our shop a lot, and 1027 00:54:29,289 --> 00:54:32,952 you've probably heard me say it, but we always say that the 1028 00:54:33,072 --> 00:54:36,675 essence of leadership is to plant trees under whose shade 1029 00:54:36,695 --> 00:54:37,556 you may never sit. 1030 00:54:37,556 --> 00:54:39,224 That's so true. 1031 00:54:39,224 --> 00:54:44,228 That's so true, and I just want to say that you've planted some 1032 00:54:44,228 --> 00:54:45,271 incredible oaks. 1033 00:54:45,271 --> 00:54:47,965 Thank you. 1034 00:54:47,965 --> 00:54:52,251 Those oaks are also springing and planting oaks. 1035 00:54:53,302 --> 00:54:54,327 Speaker 3: You know I think about it. 1036 00:54:54,327 --> 00:54:58,568 I opened the doors to opportunities and gave you and 1037 00:54:58,688 --> 00:55:02,414 other people a little nudge and kind of sent you on your way. 1038 00:55:02,414 --> 00:55:05,509 That's how I looked at my career. 1039 00:55:05,509 --> 00:55:10,250 I could open quite a few doors, but it's up to the individual 1040 00:55:10,309 --> 00:55:11,373 to make something happen. 1041 00:55:11,960 --> 00:55:15,646 Speaker 2: So just to piggyback on that, because, again, I just 1042 00:55:15,686 --> 00:55:18,268 spoke to a leadership group the other day and this is exactly 1043 00:55:18,309 --> 00:55:18,909 what I told them. 1044 00:55:18,909 --> 00:55:24,759 I said the adult's job, our job as adults, is to make more and 1045 00:55:24,798 --> 00:55:27,184 bigger doors of opportunities for those that follow us. 1046 00:55:27,184 --> 00:55:30,179 And then I look at the young people and I said your 1047 00:55:30,240 --> 00:55:32,284 responsibility is to determine the outcome. 1048 00:55:32,284 --> 00:55:36,701 Yep, yep, exactly, our job is to get you to the door. 1049 00:55:36,701 --> 00:55:40,322 We're going to try to nudge you , get you through it, but you've 1050 00:55:40,322 --> 00:55:41,708 got to determine the outcome. 1051 00:55:41,708 --> 00:55:46,871 And that's why podcasts like this, experts like Dr Paulson, 1052 00:55:47,260 --> 00:55:50,865 that's why these things are so important, because they're seeds 1053 00:55:50,865 --> 00:55:54,166 of greatness and if you'll listen to what they say and 1054 00:55:54,206 --> 00:55:57,965 plant those and nurture them, you might just grow a better 1055 00:55:58,025 --> 00:55:58,367 future. 1056 00:55:58,860 --> 00:56:00,286 Speaker 3: And take that initiative. 1057 00:56:00,286 --> 00:56:02,686 The initiative fits in there too, yep. 1058 00:56:03,228 --> 00:56:05,322 Speaker 2: All right, you know you get one fun question, so you 1059 00:56:05,322 --> 00:56:08,166 know I'm going to ask you what's the best concert you ever 1060 00:56:08,166 --> 00:56:08,568 been to? 1061 00:56:09,521 --> 00:56:12,248 Speaker 3: Well, without a doubt it's probably the first one I 1062 00:56:12,309 --> 00:56:16,884 went to and I would guess in the early 80s, probably 83 or 80. 1063 00:56:16,884 --> 00:56:21,668 No, no, no, back in the 60s, 62 or 63. 1064 00:56:21,668 --> 00:56:24,952 Peter Paul and Mary in Moorhead , minnesota. 1065 00:56:24,952 --> 00:56:29,637 Wow, yeah, wow, some of the beautiful early music. 1066 00:56:29,637 --> 00:56:34,128 Yes, Another kind of fun concert I went to is I took a 1067 00:56:34,208 --> 00:56:37,840 year off, a summer off, and I hitchhiked in Europe and I 1068 00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:42,351 happened to hear that Jimmy Soul was playing. 1069 00:56:42,351 --> 00:56:45,610 Do you know what his famous, his one famous song was? 1070 00:56:46,539 --> 00:56:48,728 Speaker 1: If you want to be happy for the rest of your life. 1071 00:56:50,320 --> 00:56:54,065 Speaker 3: Make an ugly woman, your wife, look at you, go 1072 00:56:54,579 --> 00:56:57,681 Tongue in cheek, type of thing but it was a popular one, and it 1073 00:56:57,681 --> 00:57:00,429 was a small concert at a local establishment. 1074 00:57:00,429 --> 00:57:03,608 But the one I really liked, and I still like, is Peter Paul, 1075 00:57:03,628 --> 00:57:05,211 mary, that's awesome. 1076 00:57:05,211 --> 00:57:09,148 I've been to some great Jimmy Buffett concerts but I'm not a 1077 00:57:09,208 --> 00:57:09,811 big fan. 1078 00:57:09,811 --> 00:57:10,552 I know you are. 1079 00:57:10,552 --> 00:57:11,945 I'm a diehard Jimmy. 1080 00:57:11,965 --> 00:57:12,567 Speaker 2: Buffett fan. 1081 00:57:12,567 --> 00:57:16,525 You know Dr Paulson too real quick and we're going to wrap 1082 00:57:16,545 --> 00:57:16,885 this up. 1083 00:57:16,885 --> 00:57:19,911 But one of the things I admire about him too is this man 1084 00:57:19,990 --> 00:57:22,315 retires but he's not done serving. 1085 00:57:22,315 --> 00:57:25,686 That's why I said you know, when you look at successful 1086 00:57:25,726 --> 00:57:29,313 people, they've always got that word next in their vocabulary. 1087 00:57:29,313 --> 00:57:33,286 And this man right here now travels around the United States 1088 00:57:33,286 --> 00:57:38,369 volunteering his time at national parks, volunteering his 1089 00:57:38,369 --> 00:57:44,945 time at national parks, and so if y'all are traveling about 1090 00:57:44,965 --> 00:57:46,291 this summer or in the fall, or even in the winter or spring, 1091 00:57:46,311 --> 00:57:48,601 and you happen onto a national park, you never know, you might 1092 00:57:48,621 --> 00:57:55,443 just find this guy in there helping be a greeter, maybe a 1093 00:57:55,483 --> 00:57:58,210 trash picker, I don't know what all you do, Dr Paulson, but I 1094 00:57:58,250 --> 00:58:01,007 just want to say thank you for continuing your service. 1095 00:58:01,750 --> 00:58:03,956 Speaker 3: You know I consider I'm very versatile. 1096 00:58:03,956 --> 00:58:06,867 I've done everything from cleaning, greeting high school 1097 00:58:06,907 --> 00:58:11,902 kids to kindergarten kids and I even helped one school in Texas 1098 00:58:12,001 --> 00:58:15,871 where they based most of their curriculum on outdoor activities 1099 00:58:15,871 --> 00:58:20,059 at a state park and that was just great, like with the 1100 00:58:20,199 --> 00:58:24,331 camping, the hunting, the fishing, the management of park. 1101 00:58:24,331 --> 00:58:29,025 That was a great experience and that relates agriculture, to 1102 00:58:29,065 --> 00:58:32,215 communications, to natural resources, to education. 1103 00:58:32,215 --> 00:58:33,438 So it's great. 1104 00:58:33,438 --> 00:58:34,481 It's a great life. 1105 00:58:34,481 --> 00:58:35,844 I'm living the dream now. 1106 00:58:37,327 --> 00:58:39,253 Speaker 2: Dr Paulson, thank you for coming on today. 1107 00:58:39,253 --> 00:58:40,898 Thank you, aaron. 1108 00:58:40,898 --> 00:58:44,469 Thank you for being a mentor, and not just to me, but to so 1109 00:58:44,530 --> 00:58:46,101 many Folks. 1110 00:58:46,101 --> 00:58:48,630 That's what the Growing Our Future podcast is all about. 1111 00:58:48,630 --> 00:58:52,168 If you want to know what the future is, grow it. 1112 00:58:52,168 --> 00:58:56,307 You got to have people like this that plant seeds in the 1113 00:58:56,367 --> 00:58:57,351 minds of young people. 1114 00:58:57,351 --> 00:59:03,123 Find a mentor, aaron, and we need young people that are 1115 00:59:03,164 --> 00:59:06,789 willing to do exactly what you just said to listen, to be 1116 00:59:06,869 --> 00:59:09,635 mentored, to find somebody that can pour into you. 1117 00:59:09,635 --> 00:59:13,128 But if you'll do all these things, you'll grow a better 1118 00:59:13,168 --> 00:59:17,925 life, you'll grow a better career, we'll grow better homes, 1119 00:59:17,925 --> 00:59:21,603 we'll grow better homes, we'll grow better communities, we'll 1120 00:59:21,623 --> 00:59:24,570 grow better states and we'll grow a better country Exactly. 1121 00:59:24,690 --> 00:59:26,802 Maybe when it's all said and done, we'll grow a better world. 1122 00:59:26,802 --> 00:59:29,909 Dr Paulson, thank you for joining us. 1123 00:59:29,909 --> 00:59:33,485 To all of our guests, thank you for stopping by Again. 1124 00:59:33,485 --> 00:59:38,239 You can only spend time and you spent some of it with us, and 1125 00:59:38,260 --> 00:59:39,465 we just want to say thank you. 1126 00:59:39,465 --> 00:59:43,449 Until we meet again, everybody, go out, do something great for 1127 00:59:43,489 --> 00:59:44,231 somebody else. 1128 00:59:44,231 --> 00:59:48,125 You'll feel good about it and you never know, you just might 1129 00:59:48,144 --> 00:59:49,148 change the world doing it. 1130 00:59:49,148 --> 00:59:51,581 Until we meet again, everybody, be safe. 1131 00:59:51,581 --> 00:59:53,123 Thank you for joining us. 1132 00:59:53,123 --> 00:59:53,945 You bet. 1133 00:59:58,990 --> 01:00:00,974 Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the 1134 01:00:01,014 --> 01:00:02,576 Growing Our Future podcast. 1135 01:00:02,576 --> 01:00:09,784 This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose 1136 01:00:09,804 --> 01:00:11,150 mission is to strengthen agricultural science education 1137 01:00:11,170 --> 01:00:13,297 so students can develop their potential for personal growth, 1138 01:00:13,659 --> 01:00:16,619 career success and leadership in a global marketplace. 1139 01:00:16,619 --> 01:00:19,228 Learn more at mytexasffaorg.