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FFA Spotlight: Michael Botkin
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MONTEREY - Michael Botkin, son of Jerry and Debbie Botkin of Blue Grass, is a junior at Highland High School and vice president of the Future Farmers of America chapter. He has taken a leading role in the HHS chapter. He believes living in "Virginia's Little Switzerland," with such spectacular scenery and where agriculture is the community background, gives the Highland County FFA chapter an edge over other chapters.
When asked about his favorite FFA activity, Botkin said, "I do not have a favorite FFA activity. I have and will always enjoy every FFA related activity I am involved or participate in, from chapter meetings, to local, area and state competitions and conferences, all the way to the state and national conventions.
"Furthermore, the FFA is the only organization that encompasses all the characteristics of an organization that I love to be involved with, from the dedicated advisors, the outstanding members, to community's loyalty and support. There is no other student based organization in the world that has this much diversity, and because of that I will always be a proud supporter of the FFA organization."
Botkin has competed at the state level in computer applications, at the area level in parliamentary procedure, and at the state level, plans on competing in the envirothon and the farm business management contests. In addition, he represented the chapter as delegate to the State FFA Convention, along with Sean Duff. These contests and dealing with the FFA membership in general have taught Botkin many life skills, and he has learned what hard work truly means and what it allows people to accomplish with their lives. The FFA has helped him realize the importance American agriculture has on the community, nation and world, he says.
Botkin's supervised agricultural experience is threefold. His entrepreneurship is his Suffolk sheep operation, which he hopes to show nationwide sometime in the future. He also has a placement activity in which he works on his grandparents' sugar orchard, Puffenbarger's Sugar Orchard, where he does numerous chores. His third SAE involves agriculture education; he works with Steve Heavner devel- oping presentations, spreadsheets, and helping organize various FFA events. He has taken his involvement in FFA to the next level.
Botkin rates his opportunity to serve as the vice president of the Highland FFA chapter as the highlight of his FFA career. He is a junior, has been a member of the FFA for six years and is looking forward to his senior year.
After high school he plans on attending the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech, majoring in architecture and finance. Upon graduation, he hopes to either work with an architecture firm that specializes in agricultural and commercial structures or with an agricultural financial institution that aids farmers who struggle financially.
His favorite motivational quote is, "Life is a forest. You have to know what trees to saw down and which ones to leave standing."
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