I attended the 91st National FFA Convention & Expo last week. It was my first FFA event. Try as I might, I have no memory of FFA when I was in high school, although a quick post on Turkey Run’s Alumni Facebook page did confirm there was an FFA chapter there.

I was absolutely floored by the magnitude of this convention. While there are educational aspects of the event as well as competitions, it was the trade show and the shopping mall that seemed to draw the most interest (although Garth Brooks in a private concert and a visit by President Donald Trump did indeed draw crowds).

An estimated 67,000 FFA members were in Indianapolis for the event. The area around the Indiana Convention Center was a sea of blue jackets when I arrived on the first day. I spent 20 minutes just looking for an open parking garage, and then navigating the twisting maze of hotel walkways connecting most of downtown Indianapolis to the Convention Center.

I took a series of photos on my cell phone to ensure I could find my way back to the correct parking garage at the end of the day. I stood in line for about 20 minutes to get into the center, as everyone had to go through metal detectors.

The trade show was massive. There were companies such as John Deere and Case that had displays hoping to ensure future brand loyalty. There were pickup trucks galore. But the vast majority of the booths were not related to farming in the traditional sense.

There appeared to be more than 100 colleges, universities and trade schools set up, touting everything from agricultural programs to tech fields related to ag. Many of the booths were showcasing advancements in science and technology.

There were also booths devoted to animal sciences such as veterinary medicine, but also to the use of technology in animal health. At the Merck booth, visitors could see a demonstration of how a stethoscope with Bluetooth technology could relay information on a cow’s lung health to a computer, where someone could instantly make a decision as to whether the cow was healthy enough for transport or if medication was needed.

A young woman got to practice artificially inseminating a cow by using a realistic synthetic animal while she was being coached on the nuances of the technique.

Virtual reality and computers were everywhere. I saw another young lady practicing her welding skills via virtual reality. A young man tried his hand at operating a back hoe using a computer program.

There was Danny the horse and Daisy the cow and an unnamed Malaysian freshwater prawn. As always, live animals draw a crowd even among young people who have grown up on a farm. Danny had a crowd of young women around him offering him hay and lots of scratches.

The prawn didn’t get as much interaction, but for anyone unsure about where their future would take them after high school, Hocking College in Ohio wanted to tout its Fish Management & Aquaculture Sciences program. The prawn was lucky, though – his fellows were harvested in early October. They are part of the real-world learning students at the college get to experience as they raise the prawns and then harvest them.

One booth had a surefire way to draw young people in: It offered a charging station, then encouraged those waiting for their devices to power up to write letters to people serving in the military. There was a constant crowd in the booth, as the students made sure their electronic devices were in working order.

Another huge part of the expo was the section dubbed “The Shopping Mall.” If anyone was in need of a cowboy hat, work boots, a leather belt or any type of clothing with “FFA” emblazoned on it, it could be found here. I have been to numerous national conventions for auctioneers as well as horror and comic conventions, and nothing I’ve seen compared to this shopping area. Where else can you find pig-shaped earrings?

Had my 17-year-old self been present, I would have been drooling over the vast array of horse-inspired jewelry. I bought seven pairs of socks printed with various dog-related graphics. I was just glad there weren’t more dog items.

I wish I could go back in time and have a talk with my younger self and encourage her to join FFA. It looks like a truly amazing organization.