Advertisement
Published: March 17th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Post Secondary Agriculture Student Organization Competition
Now you know why it is called PAS
This last week I was able to attend PAS, in Dallas Texas. This is the national competition for PAS chapters in the US. For more information on PAS you can go to their site at www.nationalpas.org
At first I didn't even want to go. So much is going on at school and in life that I didn't want to worry about it. My advisor talked me into it though. I felt like since I am the Ag/Hort club president and was able to go on the leadership trip in the fall that I had to go to set an example.
First we had our state competition, which was kinda a joke because there was a really bad snow storm and we couldn't go to walla walla to compete. We held our own competition here and then compaired the scores via phone calls and the internet. I didn't do very well but I still qualified to go to nationals.
I didn't really do much to prepare for PAS. I had a lot of school projects, work study projects, and PLANET to think
about. PLANET is the next competition we are going to next week. As the president I have to make sure that everyone is on track to go, organize paper work and work with the advisors to make sure that everything is ready. So when we left I hadn't studied at all.
I have been to Texas a couple times before and I have always really liked it. It is a lot warmer in Dallas than in Spokane, but not too hot yet. There was eight students and two advisors going and luckily I get along with them all. Texas and PAS is really into their livestock and western wear. Our group didn't really fit in that well being from the Pacific Northwest. The conference was held at the Westin Hotel in north Dallas. They had really nice beds but none of the amenities I have come to expect. No fridge (exept a mini-bar) and no microwave. The food for the conference dinners was always a salad followed by some meat covered in some sort of gravy over mashed potatoes and a vegi on the side with iced tea to drink. It got old after a while.
While in
Texas we got to eat some good Texas BBQ at the Salt Grass Steak House(??). We got on busses and headed over to Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky tonk. While there I learned a little line dance, ate bbq brisket, and browsed the gift shop. A lot of movies have been filmed there, including parts of Pure Country with George Strait, which is one of my favorite moves. Billy Bob's has dance floors, a gift shop, bull riding real and mechanical, arcade games, slot machines, pool tables, and the opportunity to sit on a stuffed bull and get your picture. They have also had an impressive amount of famous people pass through their doors.
I was also able to go to the cowgirl hall of fame. This is a museum dedicated to cowgirls past and present. We were also able to browse some of the shops at the Fort Worth Stock Yards. It is amazing how beautiful some of the western wear is. There is a fine line between footwear and art when it comes to real cowboy boots. I even thought about picking me up a cowboy hat, but didn't, knowing it would just sit on
a shelf once it got home. We also went to the Dallas aquarium. It is very beautiful but try to avoid spring break! It was very busy and I found myself waiting in a lot of lines to move to the next display. The dislplays were great though. Most of the animals aren't typical aquarium animals at all but still facinating. My favorites were the three-toed sloth, the flamingos, turtles, monkeys, and the manatee. They also have beautiful tanks of fish representing various parts of the world. I would definitely recommend this site for people who love animals and people with children. We ate some fantastic Tex-mex at a place near the waterfront called cadillacs. It was some of the best food I've had in a long time.
As for my competitions, I competed in four things. College bowl, horticulture landscape specialty, horticulture landscape specialty team project, and horticulture job interview. I didn't feel that confident about any of the things I did. We went in and did our best though. Historically our school has done really well at this competition. When it came time to find out who won, I was hopefull but didn't expect much. I actually
made quite a killing. I won second place in the job interview, and first place in the team and individual specialty competitions. This was against about 12 other schools. I ended up winning money too which is nice.
On our last day we went to the Dallas arboretum. It is so beautiful. The color display is so amazing. There are hundreds of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths all in bloom. It is good to get there early though so you can enjoy the tranquility of the ponds, flower beds and statuary without tons of people everywhere. The food is expensive though so pack a lunch. I would recommend this to anyone who finds themselves in Dallas.
All in all this was a great trip. I did better than I expected. Sometimes it is not about how smart you are but how stupid everyone else is. I am enjoying being able to travel more. It helps ease the transition. After being to the Philippines flying to Dallas is cake!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.104s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 15; qc: 51; dbt: 0.055s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb