Jacy Schafer, who serves as the deputy chief of staff for North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, credits her time in FFA for shaping her career and confidence. She fondly remembers her first livestock judging contest when her advisor reassured her nerves. Pete Hetle was the advisor for the Grant County FFA Chapter. “He looked at me and asked if I was nervous and I said ‘oh yeah, the butterflies are really flying this morning.’ He looked back at me and said, ‘good, that means you care’. That’s something that’s stuck with me as I’ve gone about my career.” Schafer believes FFA helped her develop essential skills, especially in decision-making and communication. “You have to make extremely quick decisions under a time clock when judging livestock, then explain your reasoning to a judge,” she said. “That skill has helped me immensely in my career.”
