Vision Without Focus

Several weeks ago, before coming to Blacksburg to start my freshman year at Virginia Tech, one of my best friends from home asked me to attend a Friday night service with her at Grace Covenant Church (http://www.gcch.org/). I didn't have any other plans for the evening and so I decided to tag along with her.
The service was full of music and meditation, but the most interesting part of the evening was when the worship leader left the piano for a few minutes to give the message. Now normally when you think of sermons, you think of long, drawn-out monologues about fire and brimstone. However, that evening's message consisted of one simple question: What is vision without focus?

The speaker described his rationality behind this question like this: He could have the outlook and vision to drive to church on Sunday morning, but if he didn't put on his glasses to focus on where he was going, things would turn out horribly, horribly wrong... and he probably would not make it to church without causing mass chaos.

What is vision without focus? It's a question that I can apply to many facets of my life, particularly with my new adventure attending Virginia Tech.

Well, my main vision is majoring in Agricultural Sciences (http://www.admiss.vt.edu/majors/index.php?major=AGSC) . From the latter part of my high school years, and especially after deferring a year of college to be involved with the State FFA Officer Team (http://www.vaffa.org/), I have found that I am truly passionate about Agriculture Education.

Vision? Check.

However, it will take me an estimated five years of college to get to the point where I can go after my passion. So, how can I stay motivated until graduation? What is my focus?

When asking myself this question, I think of my favorite quote of all time by Dr. Rick Rigsby (http://www.rickrigsby.com/), "Make an impact, not just an impression."

I think this quote is special to me because it reminds me to not to just do something half-heartedly, but to do something with a purpose, with the "go big or go home," type of attitude. I can have that same approach to my vision of teaching agriculture. I will have the opportunity to influence a lot of young minds, but it will be up to me whether I leave an impression, or make an impact.

Why leave just an impression when I could make an impact?
Why have a vision if I'm not going to focus on it?

So as I continue throughout my first semester at Virginia Tech, and the years that come after this one, my focus will be to create a positive impact on the world around me now, so that I can make a difference in the lives of my future students... just like my agriculture teachers did for me.