FFA Officer Victoria Maloch Sets Precedent While Following Traditional Path

Magnolia’s Victoria Maloch, grooming her prize bull, will be the first female from Arkansas to serve as national FFA officer as she takes the organization’s national secretary post.

Victoria Maloch’s blue FFA jacket now features some additional lettering.

“National Secretary.”

The Magnolia native has been chosen to serve on the Future Farmers of America national leadership team. She is the first female from Arkansas to serve as a national FFA officer.

She joins FFA members from Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, New Mexico and Kentucky on the panel.

She said the process of earning a place on the panel has been a rewarding one.

“While I do serve as a voice for the students on the board of directors, in FFA, our role/position is described as a national officer on the national officer team,” she said. “The process is a very extensive set of rounds looking at identified competencies and other qualities that have been identified as those that a good national officer would posses.”

Earning her place included rounds of competition — interviews, speeches, tests — and those responsible for selecting the officers focused on eight categories: communication, being a team player, areas of knowledge, personal organization, character, passion for success, influence, and critical thinking. Candidates must also have their American FFA degree and be at least one year out of high school.

Regarding the influence qualification, Maloch’s sphere includes the political world. Her father is state Sen. Bruce Maloch, who represents District 12.

She will serve a one-year term, which ends Oct. 31.

Maloch said she followed in the footsteps of older siblings who were part of the organization.

“My older brother and sister were already in FFA when I was in elementary school. So, for the longest I thought school was elementary school, middle school and then FFA,” she said. “They were always involved in so many FFA activities that I didn’t realize they were also in high school. When it came time for me to sign up for classes, signing up for agriculture classes with my FFA advisor just seemed like the natural choice.”

She comes to the FFA naturally, having been raised on a registered Brangus ranch.

“I grew up showing cattle, cutting hay and everything else that goes along with farm life. It was really my time in my agriculture classes and FFA that helped me recognize this as a passion of mine and highlighted how I can use my strengths to advocate on behalf of agriculture,” she said.

Maloch’s future plans include working in agriculture on the policy side, perhaps as a lobbyist. She intends to pursue an agriculture law degree at the University of Arkansas. FFA offers young people a chance to learn and intrapersonal opportunities that serve them well, Maloch said.

“One of my favorite things about FFA is that there are so many opportunities and choices that it truly is for anyone and everyone,” she said. “No matter what your interests or career goals are, FFA lets you explore those things and develop yourself along the way.

“FFA develops your potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. With our federal charter and status as an intercurricular part of education, FFA is unique from every other career and technical student organization. These unique qualities continue to help us grow out membership, and currently we are the largest student-led organization in the country with 610,240 members.”

Maloch said that agriculture is increasingly important as the global population grows. She noted that the industry is continually adding new career opportunities.

“With the growing population and greater demand for food, careers in agriculture are going to be the area in which students in my generation can find successful job opportunities,” she said.

Maloch has reached the end of the line as a student with the organization, but she explained that FFA offers possibilities beyond high school.

“As far as student roles, national office is the pinnacle of positions or roles to hold in FFA. However, there are plenty of roles as a leadership conference facilitator or job opportunities at National FFA that I could apply for,” she said.

Duties of the officers include traveling the country, according to the FFA website: “National officers commit to a year of service to the National FFA Organization. Each travels more than 100,000 national and international miles to interact with business and industry leaders, thousands of FFA members and teachers, corporate sponsors, government and education officials, state FFA leaders, the general public and more. The team will lead personal growth and leadership training conferences for FFA members throughout the country and help set policies that will guide the future of FFA and promote agricultural literacy.”