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A Moment with Matt: Never Too Old to Learn

by Joe Mask | Published March 29, 2016

By Matt Woolfolk

Two weeks ago, I accompanied three of our Junior Beefmaster Breeders Association (JBBA) Board members to Kansas City for the Youth Beef Industry Congress (YBIC), a two-day event for young leaders across the entire beef cattle industry. Participants were able to tour industry-leading companies, participate in professional and leadership development seminars and network with other young people with similar interests and passion for beef cattle. The JBBA representatives Wacey Horton, Coby Pritchett and Raleigh Scherer were a fine representation of our organization and carried themselves in a manner that would make any Beefmaster breeder proud. As we ate breakfast in the airport before returning home, I asked the guys what they had learned from their weekend. Each of them told me several solid answers, including some things they hope to bring home and implement into making JBBA even stronger. What they may not have realized is that they could have asked me the same “What did you learn?” question and gotten a long list of answers. I’m going to share a few of my takeaway lessons from my first endeavor as a chaperone of other people’s children.

  1. Traveling with teenagers is entertaining. Imagine how shocked I was when I came down to the hotel lobby ahead of schedule on the morning we were flying to Kansas City, only to find all three of my travel crew sitting there ready to travel. I was really impressed, until Coby admitted they were early because they thought we were leaving at 7:15, not 7:45. The boys surprised me once again when I find out on the way to the airport that two of the three had never flown before! The flight delay and bumpy landing had them a little anxious coming into Kansas City, but they survived. However, thanks to that flight delay, we had to skip lunch in order to get to the hotel on time. Needless to say, the boys did a great job of guilt tripping their chaperone about missing a meal. Lesson learned: ALWAYS find a way to feed teenage boys.
  2. Adults enjoy can enjoy youth events, too. While all the junior board members were learning how to prepare a cover letter or how to make a sales call, their advisers and chaperones were in the conference center lobby, tending to business on our phones and emails, but also getting to know each other and gathering ideas from each other. I met some really great people from other associations and we had a good time, whether it was watching buzzer beating NCAA basketball on an iPhone or attempting to show the kids how to be good bowlers. It wasn’t just a networking event for the junior board members.
  3. It’s all about balance. The kids got to hear a lunchtime address from Jack Ward, CEO of the American Hereford Association. During his talk, Mr. Ward shared what he considered the most important piece of advice he ever received.  He told the kids, “It’s important to find the balance between work, family, and faith”. Whether the kids caught it or not, this little piece of advice certainly caught the attention of the adults in the back of the room. Lots of us, myself included, don’t always keep this balance in line. It was a nice, gentle reminder to keep priorities in line and remember the important things.

Our trip to YBIC was a huge success. All four of us enjoyed ourselves, stayed out of trouble and returned home safely. Those are the three goals of any trip for a chaperone! I’m already looking forward to taking an even larger delegation to the next YBIC in 2018.  I’ll be taking volunteers for additional chaperones!

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