Two Iowa State University students hobnobbed in Washington D.C. when they attended the 1997 Future Farmers of America Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. this past summer.

Lisa Ahrens, a sophomore in agronomy, and Matt Chizek, a freshman in agricultural education, are both serving on the Iowa FFA Association. Ahrens serves as the president and Chizek as the secretary.

When in Washington, Ahrens and Chizek met with Iowa Senator Charles Grassley (R).

“It’s a pleasure to meet with young leaders who are so knowledgeable and interested in our representative government,” Grassley said. “I’m so glad to see young Iowans pursuing careers in agriculture.”

Ahrens said she and Chizek were able to sit with Grassley during a Congressional breakfast and met with him individually for an additional 15 minutes or so in the afternoon.

“I thought he was very willing to meet us,” she said. “I was impressed that he took the time for us.”

She said he was coming out of a Congressional meeting in the afternoon when he met with them.

“We talked about agriculture and the benefits of FFA to its members,” Ahrens said.

Some of the benefits she mentioned are developing leadership, communication skills, learning to work as a team, and preparing for success in a career.

Ahrens said her favorite part of the trip was getting to know other FFA representatives from around the nation.

During the conference, they also participated in personal development and leadership training and learned about U.S. heritage by visiting monuments and memorials.

Ahrens said she has been to Washington D.C. before and had already seen the monuments and memorials.

However, she said she enjoyed a boat cruise on the Potomac River, from which she “could see the view of the city from off of the river, and it was gorgeous.”

Ahrens said national membership in FFA is around 450,000 members, and Iowa membership is approximately 11,300.