Pressure a privilege
I recently received an invitation to speak at the local community college’s orientation to agribusiness and industry class.
Now, I’m not a public speaker at all. Being in front of a crowd is not my favorite thing, but this time I felt compelled to do it. Instead of hesitating and not taking the opportunity, I accepted.
The Friday before I was to speak, I asked the instructor what topics I needed to address and if I needed any slides. No slides—thankfully—but she made me think about some of the stories I’ve written, people I’ve interviewed and events I’ve gotten to attend over the years as part of the Journal team.
When I arrived at the building, she asked me if I’d found the classroom OK. I had, but I was desperately trying to remember which room I had class in as a high school student taking dual credit college classes. Even though the building looked different, I could tell those students were much like the ones that were in my classes once upon a time. There were the bonafide ag kids wearing Wranglers and boots. There was the rodeo cowgirl next to the shy one. There was a student in the back listening to everything I said, nodding along the way, and another looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.
As I thought about stories I’ve written and people I’ve interviewed it led me to think about a couple of things. First, how much the editorial process has changed since I started at the Journal in 2003. Sure, we still brainstorm, read emails, find events to attend, and do research. But the manner we do it is so much different. I still like to write things down. I make lists and write out my questions before I go to a source or do an interview. We all have a process.
I described some memorable interviews. When asked what my favorite, I talked about when I interviewed my niece Karli while she was in her tenure as a Kansas FFA officer. I knew her and to hear about her accomplishments and how her confidence grew as an officer was impressive. She’s turned into quite the young lady, and I couldn’t be more proud. Same goes for her sister Ella, who is the 2026-27 Kansas FFA Sentinel. Accomplishments don’t go unnoticed by Aunt Kylene.
I was recently impressed by all the kids at the Kansas Junior Livestock Show in Hutchinson, and their many accomplishments, including my own. After mine were done showing goats on Saturday morning, we stayed for the Kansas Livestock Foundation club calf sale. While waiting for the sale to start organizers hosted a scholarship recognition for those youth who’d won one. My niece Ella was one of the dozen kids selected.
After that selection, they went on to pick the supreme females in each specie—beef, swine, sheep, and goats. I was most impressed by the swine judge, Will Taylor, from Iowa State University. He expressed to the exhibitors in the ring just how important it is to be grateful.
“It’s very simple. Be grateful,” he said. “But more importantly, from your perspective, I hope you understand what you have and the people that you have that support you, the people that work the ring, that are on the boards in here and work the scale, and the announcers. Everybody that did something to make this happen, be grateful to them. Say thank you.”
But for Taylor, there’s no one more important or special than the parents and those who help the exhibitors. He went on to talk about other points for exhibitors to remember; one phrase in particular he credited his wife for.
“Pressure is a privilege. The pressure to be in a grand drive is a privilege,” he said. “The pressure for the heartbeat that I feel in my chest right now of just being excited-that’s a privilege. You guys have given me the privilege to be here and work with you, and you have the pressure to perform.”
Taylor said if parents are hard on exhibitors, it’s because they care. Parents naturally want their kids to do better, and for him, it’s a privilege to have them there. I couldn’t agree more.
“Appreciate that and lean into pressure and lean into that in a high level,” Taylor said.
In a show setting and a grand drive one especially, Taylor said that even though he was critical of every gilt in the swine final drive, each criticism can be an opportunity too.
“Each outcome we have in life is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to do better. It’s an opportunity to do something differently, and it’s an opportunity to expand,” he said. “So just remember, criticism is an opportunity.”
He cautioned though, if worth is defined by what happens in the show ring, a change needs to happen.
“We need to recenter because I would tell you that our worth in life should be determined by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said.
There are many things that have worth to us as humans, and whether or not we succeed is mostly on us. If we have parents or others around us who genuinely care and want us to do better and be better, we’re ahead of the game.
I ran across a quote on the day I was writing this, and it just fits. “The real victory is you returning to the starting line. You’ve already won. Now go have fun.”
Returning to the classroom where I essentially started my college career to chat with students about agricultural communications was a win. And even though I might have rambled some, it was still (kinda) fun.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
