Pandemic reflections: Stories of National FFA student leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Theresa Seibel, James Madison UniversityFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Date of Graduation

12-17-2022

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7083-8736

Publish

yes

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)

Department

School of Nursing

Advisor(s)

Christina Lam

Erika Metzler Sawin

Blaze Currie

Abstract

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt by most every individual in the world, and the effects of the pandemic will have implications for years to come. Even still, it becomes necessary to capture the work and impacts of this life experience of those who lived and led during such a time. The National FFA Organization, with its student leadership, continued to deliver its mission of the organization during the pandemic. This project aimed to develop a digital narrative to contribute to the historical record of FFA officers’ experiences in the National FFA Organization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals who served as an officer (must have served as either a State or National FFA Officer) during the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 academic years. Participants self-identified as interested in participating in this project via a survey advertised on social media platforms. Individuals were intentionally selected to collect a variety of experiences and stories.

Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted on Zoom and recorded, and transcripts were reviewed for emerging themes. A final digital narrative was created based on the synthesis of themes across all interviews. Emergent themes included (1) initial sense of detachment and lack of relevancy to leaders (2) initial impacts and thoughts (3) emotional impacts (4) operational impacts (5) loss of a dream (6) coping and (7) lessons learned. The final digital narrative was uploaded to YouTube for public access. Further discussion questions and areas for future investigation were identified within each theme.

Recommended Citation

Seibel, Theresa, "Pandemic reflections: Stories of National FFA student leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic" (2022). Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current. 154.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors202029/154