Alex Wise thought he was joining a group but he ended up gaining a second family.

It was 2021 and Wise was a 14-year-old freshman at Baker High School.

He decided, almost on a whim, to participate in Baker’s Future Farmers of America chapter.

He enrolled in an introduction to agriculture class. His teacher was the chapter’s adviser, Bibiana Gifft.

Wise realized rather quickly that he had made a mistake.

Not in joining FFA.

His error, he says now with a laugh, was not joining when he first eligible, at age 12 while in middle school.

“I feel in love with it,” Wise said of FFA. “Mrs. Gifft really believed in me from the start. That’s been a really big thing.”

But not as big as what happened to Wise last month.

During the annual state FFA convention in Redmond, he was elected by his peers from across Oregon as state president for 2025-26.

Wise, 18, is one of six state officers.

During his one-year term, which continues through the end of the state convention in March 2026, Wise will devote much of his time to his presidential duties.

This is no small commitment.

The schedule is so daunting — Wise and the other five state officers will visit each of Oregon’s 121 FFA chapters — that he will postpone his plan to enlist in the U.S. Navy after he graduates from BHS in June.

“We are on the road for the vast majority of the upcoming year,” Wise said during an interview on Monday, April 21, in the classroom of Baker’s second FFA adviser, Nicole Merchant.

The hectic itinerary started almost immediately.

Just three days after hearing his name announced as state president, Wise drove 350 miles from Baker City to Salem to testify before the Oregon Legislature.

He urged lawmakers to not cut spending on career development training in schools.

Wise will be leaving soon for a six-day trip. Later in the year he’ll travel to the national FFA convention in Indiana and to Washington, D.C.

Confidence grows

Wise said that four years ago, when he joined FFA, he would have trembled with fear at the prospect of speaking in public before any group.

The idea of lobbying legislators — well, that was all but inconceivable.

But after four years of FFA meetings and competitions, Wise said he feels comfortable, and confident, when addressing an audience.

“FFA will put you out of your comfort zone, but your confidence grows,” he said. “I’m a lot more happy to speak in front of crowds.”

Wise said public speaking is just one of the skills he has honed during his years with FFA. He said it’s a “common misperception” that the organization deals solely with agriculture-related topics such as raising livestock or growing crops.

One of Wise’s favorite competitions — he finished first in the event at this year’s state convention — is job interview.

Competitors have to compile a resumé, write a cover letter and undergo a realistic interview with a judge who serves as the prospective employer.

“It’s really great experience talking to adults in a professional setting,” Wise said.

He also competes in ag sales, an event that requires students to deal with unhappy customers.

Running for state office

Although Wise quickly came to love FFA after joining as a freshman, he said it wasn’t until his junior year that he seriously contemplated running for one of the six state officer positions.

He credits his two advisors, Gifft and Merchant, for urging him to consider becoming a candidate.

“They really encouraged me,” Wise said.

As his senior year started last fall, he said he “took it a lot more seriously.”

He understood how immense the potential commitment was, that he might have to delay his plan to join the Navy.

Even becoming a candidate is a major undertaking.

Wise wrote a letter, introducing himself and “why you’re passionate about FFA,” that was sent to every FFA chapter in Oregon.

He filled out an application.

As one of 35 candidates for the six offices — students don’t seen a specific position when they apply — Wise said his experience at this year’s state convention was much different than in 2024.

He spent much of the four-day event with the other state officer candidates.

There were many interviews.

A nomination committee trimmed the list of candidates from 35 to 15.

“That one was scary,” Wise said with a smile. “There was a lot of stress involved. I put my trust in God.”

A second cut narrows the list to 10, and the committee recommends which office each is best suited for — president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, reporter and sentinel.

Two members from each chapter — 242 people — vote on the final selections.

Then Wise heard his name announced.

As president.

He emphasizes, though, that titles “don’t mean a lot” for himself and the five other officers.

“We all think of ourselves as equals, as a team,” Wise said.

Remembering the trauma of 2024

Wise is one of 14 Baker FFA students who were riding on a bus that was hit by an alleged drunken driver in Redmond on March 22, 2024, during the state convention.

Four students, Wise not among them, sustained serious injuries.

It was a frightening experience, Wise said, one “I wouldn’t wish upon anybody.”

He said his first bus ride after the crash was “pretty rough,” but he said he has overcome that initial fear.

As one of 11 students who were on the bus last year and who returned to the state convention this year, Wise said he “thought about it, of course, especially as we drove past” the site of the crash.

But he credits the very thing that attracted him to FFA after he joined — the sense of family and camaraderie — with helping him recover, mentally, from the traumatic experience in 2024.

“There was so much support and love from our chapter, our families, our community,” Wise said.

As a candidate for state office, he also noted that he scarcely had time to ponder his memories from a year ago during this year’s convention.

“It was not the first thing I thought about,” he said.

Looking back — and ahead

Wise chuckles when he contemplates how he would have reacted, as that 14-year-old freshman, had someone told him what would happen over the next four years.

Especially his election as state president.

“My freshman self would be absolutely amazed about where I am right now, and how much I’ve grown,” he said. “I know I will make mistakes, but I think what’s important is that you learn from your mistakes and grow. That’s how I’ve gotten where I am.”

Wise said he still plans to enlist in the Navy after his tenure as state president ends.

His ultimate goal is to be a pilot.

But he’s also interested in working as an aircraft mechanic.

Wise concedes, though, that his experience as state president could change his outlook and indeed the trajectory of his life.

“I expect it will change my perspective — I know it will,” he said. “I know the person I am today and the person I will be are totally different. I’m really excited and honored for this upcoming year. It’s been a huge blessing from God.”

About one thing, though, Wise is certain.

The legacy of his years in FFA will persist.

In the decades to come, when he can perhaps chuckle at his youthful smile when he was elected as president, Wise is confident that the people he has met, his fellow Baker chapter members and the five state officers he will travel so many thousands of miles with, will remain prominent in his life.

“I think of our chapter as a family — absolutely there’s no better way to put it,” he said. “I’ve made such close friends, and I know they will be that 30 years down the road. It’s not like anything I’ve seen before.

“It’s truly like another family.”