He has worn a blue corduroy jacket with the offices of Vice President, Chapter President, Northwest District Vice President and State President stitched under his name in yellow thread. At the close of the 2005 National FFA Convention in Louisville, Ky., Travis Jett was presented a fresh, crisp blue corduroy jacket with yet another office stitched underneath his name. This one read, 2005-06 National FFA President.

Travis is the seventh Oklahoman to serve as national FFA president, which means Oklahoma has produced more national FFA presidents than any other state. Serving on a team of six, Jett will travel more than 100,000 miles to approximately 40 states meeting with FFA members, agriculture teachers and FFA supporters, as well as top business, government and education leaders. He will also participate in an international experience tour to Japan.

The title of national FFA president will take Travis around the world and back, but he will always be grateful for his hometown roots. As national president, Travis will emphasize the significance of FFA at the chapter level because this is the heart of the organization and where premier leadership, personal growth and career success are achieved.

Growing up in the Oklahoma panhandle and working on his family’s wheat and cattle operation in Slapout, Okla., Travis learned the significance of agriculture at a young age. As an eighth-grade member of the Laverne FFA chapter, Travis proudly wore the blue and gold simply because it was a family tradition; he never imagined he would one day serve as national FFA president. His supervised agricultural experience project was in beef entrepreneurship and beef placement. Travis was also involved in extemporaneous speaking and showing livestock.

Travis vividly recalls his first trip to the state FFA convention when he heard State President Josh Brecheen’s retiring address entitled “Born to Be.” That speech spoke directly to Travis and as he listened, he realized that he had a place in agriculture and the FFA.

After serving the Oklahoma FFA as the 2003-04 Northwest District Vice President, Travis was elected to serve as the 2004-05 State FFA President. Seven years after hearing Josh Brecheen speak, Travis recalled the experiences in his own retiring address. “I remember being inspired beyond belief by the 1999 state FFA president’s retiring address. In that brief time, my life was changed. For the first time, the events of my life made sense.”

Travis went on to say in that address, “We each have the responsibility to end up not just somewhere – but somewhere on purpose.” Travis lives by these words. He is now taking a year off from his course work at Oklahoma State University, where he is a junior majoring in agricultural economics/pre-law. Ultimately, Travis says, he would like to practice law and carry on another family tradition as a fourth-generation rancher in Slapout, Okla.

As Travis closed his last speech as state president, he said, “I realized that I was born to be exactly who I am. Since then I have come to realize that there is a responsibility that goes with the blessing.”

The responsibility, passion, talent and hard work that this FFA Champion demonstrates, makes us proud to call him our own.