INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Marching toward a century of the annual event for Purdue University Ag alumni, Saturday’s Fish Fry at the Indiana State Fairgrounds continued a Boilermaker tradition that began in the 1920s as a chicken-and-noodle dinner.
A Purdue Alumnus article last year detailed how the yearly meal has evolved through the decades from roasts and even circus acts into the opportunity to fellowship while hearing from professional speakers during the often three-hour gathering. Dr. W. Dwight Armstrong, CEO of the National FFA Organization, keynoted last weekend’s Fish Fry in front of more than 1,300 diners.
Armstrong’s theme was occasionally poignant and often humorous as he charted the advance of daily technology through his lifetime alongside his education and career choices. It was a talk the FFA chief, now in his 60s, aimed chiefly at Purdue students and young alumni near the beginning of their professional lives.
Besides advice to work hard and to recognize that "God blesses you far more than you ever deserve," he advised young people that each will meet a few people throughout their life who help and shape them into who they ultimately become.
"I would like to challenge you to make sure to take this next week, to reach out to those people who made a difference in your life" with a note or email thanking them, he added. He also called on older alumni to become those influencers, to give back through such means as scholarships or mentoring.
From the perspective of someone who has been an ag teacher and in private business, as well as leading FFA for the last five years, he notes agribusinesses are seeking "globally minded" young people to hire, who are willing to travel. Armstrong didn’t go overseas until he was 31, and said two things he wishes he could go back and do differently would be to take more international experiences earlier, when possible ("even if it’s only a weekend"), and to become proficient in a second language.
He also advised young people to always surround themselves with people "better than you" since this means you can do better work and achieve more in a shorter time. In putting together a team for a project in his first teaching job, he noted by picking the right people, "I wasn’t the leader of that team, but I was the gel that made it work."
In respecting technology, Armstrong cautioned young people to post wisely on social media platforms and be mindful of their reach and longevity. "I’m convinced that you can never, never delete anything (from the internet)," he said. (In showing the extent of innovations in his lifetime, he wryly noted his most meaningful FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience project as a boy was installing the first flush toilet in his family home.)
This year’s Fish Fry also featured brief remarks from two Indiana governors – current Gov. Mike Pence and his predecessor, now Purdue’s president, Mitch Daniels. Daniels touted Purdue Ag’s accomplishments and noted applications so far this year are up 17 percent over last year.
"I’ve said for many years that Indiana, since our establishment as a state almost 200 years ago, we do two things well: we make things, and we grow things," said Pence, adding he is amazed by how well the university is recognized around the world. "We think now is the time for agriculture, in the state."
Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue, reported on investments in campus plant sciences and animal ag facilities and renewed a recent, repeated call for more students to go into the study of plant sciences, as these are the researchers needed in agribusiness’ future.
This would add to what Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann called Indiana’s attractiveness to agribusinesses in having ideal logistics, supply chain and workforce for them to locate here – or as she described the state, "a Silicon Valley of ag and food processing innovation."
