Ryan Golden, a senior at Crest High School, describes himself as “extremely competitive.”
He’s an athlete who has played football, basketball and baseball all four years at Crest.
The summer before his freshman year, he decided to take a job hauling hay. He grew up as more of a city kid but thought it would help build strength.
“I’ve always liked the outdoors, hunting and fishing,” he said.
In fact, he was fishing at a pond when the property owner suggested he come work at his farm. In addition to hauling hay, he cleared brush and did general work around the farm. He now works for a different farmer, in addition to a summer job with Anderson County’s Rural Water District No. 5. And that’s all in addition to his lawn care business “so I stay pretty busy in the summers.”
His exposure to life on a farm encouraged him to join FFA as a freshman.
Though he enjoys competing as an athlete, he was a little nervous to enter FFA contests.
“It wasn’t anything I’d ever experienced before. I had a lot of expectations going into it. I think that’s what scared me the most,” he said. “I had to learn how to be disciplined and figure out what needs to be done. Because if you don’t get it right, everything can fall apart.”
He’s entered so many FFA contests over the years that he has a hard time remembering what all he’s done. He particularly enjoys poultry and livestock judging.
“I love it now,” he said about the contests. “It’s very fun and you meet a lot of kids from different schools.”
He’s also excited for the chapter’s future. Crest doesn’t have a very big senior class this year, but the sophomores are very talented, Golden said. He is the chapter’s president and enjoys mentoring the younger students.
“I just try to keep a good attitude and do all I can,” he said.
This past fall, he and other officers organized the annual Day on the Farm event for elementary students.
“We taught the kids a lot about what goes on in FFA and all the rewards you get from it and the different places you can go,” he said.
GOLDEN started a lawnscaping business for his Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program. He’s been working at it since his freshman year and hopes to complete at least 360 hours to earn his State FFA Degree, the highest degree a FFA member can earn at the state level. He has to keep track of his hours and expenses, and has learned a lot about entrepreneurship.
