Cruikshank Encourages Texas FFA Members to Embrace the Hard Choice
Thursday, July 16, 2026 | Author: Emma Crabtree, Decatur FFA
In the Fifth General Session of the 98th Annual Texas FFA Convention, National FFA Western Region Vice President Jael Cruikshank delivered an impactful speech to commemorate her final stop as a national officer.
Cruikshank opened her speech by reflecting on moments throughout her life when she made questionable, and admittedly easy, decisions when faced with challenges.
“A lot of us choose the easy option without even realizing it in life,” Cruikshank said. “But I also believe that by choosing that easy option, it will cost us a lot more than we think it will in the long run.”
Cruikshank continued with an analogy about Taco Bell, explaining how it might satisfy her in the moment but would make her feel terrible if she ate it every day. She used the comparison to illustrate that taking the easy path in life doesn't satisfy us the same way hard work and overcoming challenges do.
“By choosing the harder option, we become reliable and serve others better in our future,” she said. “A challenging life costs something now, but builds something later.”
Cruikshank also reflected on how today we live in one of the easiest times in history. She explained that because we are surrounded by convenience, it's easy to let insignificant moments define who we become.
“If we’re not careful, comfort slowly changes the people we’re becoming,” Cruikshank said. “At some point we need to stop asking what’s easiest or what makes our lives better, and we need to start asking who it's for.”
To close her speech, Cruikshank emphasized that discomfort with purpose is meaningful and that is exactly what a mission is.
“A mission is something worth being uncomfortable for,” Cruikshank said. “We each need to find something in our lives worth fighting for.”
She left members with one final question to consider: What shapes you? Your comfort or your mission?
“I still work every day to overcome the easy choice of comfort, and while that choice isn’t easy, that mission makes that choice worth it,” Cruikshank said. “Let’s each find something in our lives that is worth being uncomfortable for because when we do, we won’t live an easier life, we'll live a meaningful one.”
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