For many FFA members, earning the American FFA Degree represents the culmination of years of hard work, leadership, and dedication to agriculture. For 2023 Lakeview High School graduate Emilee Bullock, however, the honor represents something even greater—a reminder that where a student begins does not have to determine where they end up.
Bullock, a former member of the Lakeview FFA Chapter, received the American FFA Degree during the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana. The degree is the highest honor bestowed upon an FFA member and recognizes members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to their supervised agricultural experience, leadership, community involvement, and FFA career.
Today, Bullock is a student at Louisiana State University pursuing a degree in agricultural education, preparing for a career that will allow her to provide other students with many of the same opportunities that helped shape her own life.
Her journey into agriculture, however, did not begin with years of experience raising livestock or working on a farm.
“When I first started high school, I honestly did not understand much about the agricultural industry,” Bullock said. “I didn’t realize how many different sectors made up agriculture or how many factors could affect a farmer or producer.”
As she became involved in agricultural education and FFA at Lakeview, that began to change.
Bullock found her place in agriculture through agricultural communications. Without the financial resources to pursue a more traditional supervised agricultural experience, or SAE, involving livestock or a large agricultural project, she chose not to allow those circumstances to limit her involvement.
Instead, she created an agricultural communications SAE designed to help bridge the gap between agricultural producers and consumers.
Bullock began a social media platform where she shared agricultural information and helped educate consumers about where their food and agricultural products come from. The project eventually led to an agricultural communications internship with Louisiana FFA, where she created content for events and competitions and helped promote FFA programs and opportunities.
Her work also led to one of the highest accomplishments of her FFA career. Bullock earned first place in Louisiana in the Agricultural Communications Proficiency Award, advancing to compete at the national level. The proficiency award program recognizes FFA members who develop specialized skills and experience through their supervised agricultural experiences.
“My SAE taught me that an agricultural project does not have to be large or expensive to make an impact,” Bullock said. “I never had a huge social media following, but every follow, like or person who learned something from one of my posts represented another consumer gaining a better understanding of agriculture.”
Her SAE earned recognition at the state and national levels, but its greatest impact may have been helping Bullock discover the direction she wanted her life to take.
That calling became even clearer through Geaux Teach Ag, an FFA competition that allowed Bullock to step into the role of an agriculture teacher.
She won first place in the Area II competition and advanced to the state level. At first, Bullock thought the banner and recognition would be what she remembered most.
She was wrong.
“I had the opportunity to teach my lesson to students over and over until they knew it well enough to turn around and teach it themselves,” she said. “For the first time, I truly felt like I was doing something important.”
For Bullock, that moment carried a significance much greater than winning a competition.
“Coming from a small town and a childhood that some people may not be able to imagine, that experience meant much more to me than winning,” she said. “I realized I wasn’t just proving something to myself. I was proving something to every student who may have come from a similar background.”
The lesson she took from the experience was simple but powerful: Where you start does not have to determine where you end up.
As Bullock’s involvement in FFA grew, so did her leadership responsibilities. She went on to serve two years as the Louisiana FFA State Reporter, an experience she credits with teaching her discipline, accountability, problem-solving and, most importantly, servant leadership.
“A title doesn’t make someone a leader,” Bullock said. “Being a servant leader means putting other people’s needs before your own, helping others succeed and being willing to do the work even when you aren’t the person receiving the recognition.”
Those lessons continue to influence her today.
While attending LSU full time, Bullock works two jobs, including serving as the Louisiana FFA State Officer Coordinator and working at a floral shop. She credits FFA and her SAE with developing the time-management, communication, organization and record-keeping skills she now relies on daily.
Her experiences also helped her recognize the influence an agriculture teacher can have far beyond the walls of a classroom.
Bullock credits her former Lakeview agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, Sarah Mallette, as one of the greatest influences on her decision to pursue agricultural education.
“Mrs. Mallette has a way of seeing something in each and every one of her students that they may not yet see in themselves,” Bullock said. “She pushed me, believed in me and taught me that life has so much good to offer.”
Bullock said the lessons she learned through agricultural education extended far beyond agriculture.
“She was not only my agriculture teacher; she became someone who helped shape the person I am today,” Bullock said. “She instilled values in me that go far beyond agriculture and FFA, and so much of the leader and future agriculture teacher I hope to become comes from the lessons she taught me.”
Now, just a few years after graduating from Lakeview in 2023, Bullock is preparing to stand on the other side of the agriculture classroom.
“I want to become the kind of teacher who sees potential in a student before they see it in themselves,” she said. “I want to give every student the opportunity to discover what they are capable of, regardless of where they come from or what resources they have.”
That desire is a major reason she chose to pursue agricultural education at LSU.
“I want to give students the same feeling that Mrs. Mallette gave me—that they belong, that they are capable of more than they realize, and that agriculture has a place for them,” Bullock said.
Her American FFA Degree marks one of the highest achievements of her FFA career, but Bullock’s story has never been solely about banners, titles or awards.
“When I look back on my FFA experience, I don’t think the greatest impact came from the banners, titles or awards,” she said. “It came from the people, the lessons and the moments that made me realize I could use what I had been through to make a difference in someone else’s life.”
From a Lakeview FFA member searching for her place in agriculture to now studying at LSU to lead an agriculture classroom of her own, Bullock’s journey has come full circle.
And someday, a student may walk into her classroom unsure of where they belong or what they are capable of.
Bullock hopes to be the teacher who helps them find out.