One day I came across my FFA jacket from high school. My parents had purchased me a jacket every year I was in high school, but somehow this is the only one I have left. I took time to look at the jacket, to notice the detail in the FFA emblem on the back of the jacket and how it proudly proclaimed that I was from Liberty-Eylau High School in the great state of Texas. I looked at the engraving on the front: Randy Hancock, Vice President, 1972 – 73. A ton of memories began to flood my mind. The years I spent in high school were so far away, yet it seemed like yesterday.

It was September, 1970 when all 95 pounds of me walked into Mr. Speer’s freshman agriculture class. Having grown up on a farm this was an easy class choice for me and besides that, all the boys were supposed to be in Ag and/or athletics. At what was a fairly large 4A high school in northeast Texas, about the only thing athletics offered me was a trip to the hospital. I realized I would have to make my mark in something besides athletics.

I was surprised as I began to learn about the FFA organization. There were tons of outside the classroom activities in which to participate, and the leadership opportunities seemed unlimited. That year I was elected Parliamentarian of our freshmen chapter. I got to attend all the district, area, and state conventions, and I participated in just about every contest throughout the year.

When the next year came, I was in Ag II, and my teacher was William Little. I don’t think Mr. Little had any idea of the impact that he was going to have on my life. He loved his job and it showed every single day. Mr. Little must have hauled me and many others thousands of miles as we attended and participated in one event after another. Just watching him enjoy what he was doing got me to thinking, that maybe, just maybe, I could someday do that too. However, no one in my family had ever graduated from high school, much less gone to college, so how could I even think of such a thing. But the dream was there, and Mr. Little didn’t know it – but he was keeping the dream alive!

I served as Secretary my sophomore year and participated in every FFA activity possible. My junior year, I was elected Vice-President, and this was the year that things began to happen that I never really expected. Mr. Little had seen something in me that made him believe I could be somebody. We discussed my future and I told him that I would love to be a teacher – like him. He told me about the college he had attended, East Texas State University. It was about 125 miles from home and had a great agriculture program. He encouraged me to consider attending there, and of course I threw out all the excuses – no money, my parents could never afford it, they wouldn’t let me go, they wouldn’t understand the need for a college education, etc. He told me he would work on those things and see what he could do. I believed him, but I still doubted I could ever really chase my dream.

The spring of my junior year, Mr. Little loaded me up in his car and we made a trip to Commerce, Texas, home of East Texas State University. We toured the facilities and met several members of the faculty. He introduced me to the head of the Agriculture Department, Dr. Buck Hughes. He then told Dr. Hughes that I was the young man he had told him about. He told him how he believed I would do a great job at the college farm and that it was the only way I would be able to attend school. Dr. Hughes gave me an application and told me to take it home, fill it out and mail it back. This was for a scholarship job – living and working on the college farm – doing chores and in turn they paid for all my school. He couldn’t promise anything, but he told me I would be considered.

When I got home and finally go up the courage to talk to my parents, my mom told me she had already talked to Mr. Little and that he had convinced her that this was the right thing for me to do. She, of course, had convinced my dad. I filled out the paperwork with Mr. Little’s help and mailed it back. Meanwhile I entered my senior year and was elected President. In February, I received a letter from the college stating that they were going to have an opening at the college farm. It was at the chicken barn, and I had been selected to fill the position, if I was still interested. I can remember to this day calling Mr. Little, and I honestly think he was more excited than I was. The day after I graduated from high school, I headed off to college to live and work on the college farm, with the chickens, and to become an ag teacher. My dreams were coming true - dreams my parents could never even dream were coming true for me. And I owed so much of that to one man.

I don’t guess I could ever express enough to Mr. Little how much inspiration he was to me. I realize now, perhaps more than ever why I am in the education business. It is the opportunity to make a difference for the students – it is for the opportunity to be a William Little. And in doing that, I can leave a legacy of dedication and compassion alive and well for many generations to come.