COLONY — For the longest time, Blaine King tried to deny he wanted anything to do with agriculture.
Though he grew up on a farm, it wasn’t for him.
Mind you, he came to this conclusion as a middle-schooler.
“I was determined not to like it,” he said. “It wasn’t my passion.”
Part of that obstinance comes from growing up in a farming community like Colony.
“You have kind of a desire to try different things. You want to do your own thing,” he said.
But then as an eighth-grader he had a choice: Either enroll in choir or take an ag class.
“I was dead set I was not going to enjoy that ag class. I was not going to enjoy FFA. I was going to do something completely different.”
But the more King learned about FFA through the ag class, the more intrigued he became.
“It piqued my interest,” he admitted.
Even so, he was guarded in his enthusiasm, telling himself he was only “exploring,” the program “to get a little taste.”
Today, King credits joining FFA “as one of the most important choices I’ve made.”
Now a senior at Crest High School, King will attend Kansas State University next fall to study agriculture communications.
“It’s funny how all the pieces have fallen into place,” he marvels. Going from swearing off all-things ag to wanting to tell the world about it.
King, 18, is the son of Kenton and Denise King. Kenton works in the shipping department of Monarch Cement while Denise is a USDA farm service agent at the office in Garnett.
“So Mom’s job is ag-related. But I’m going to go my own way with it,” he said.
