From Perkins, Oklahoma, to the national stage

By Jill Meador May 2026

From a quiet living room in Perkins to stages across the country, Trey Myers is living a moment few ever reach.

In the corner of the living room a Brittany Spaniel snores lightly, and a sense of quiet slowness rests on the Myers family home in Perkins, Oklahoma. The change of scenery for the National FFA president is just what he needs to refuel after a trip to Japan.

The Myers, who are members of Central Rural Electric Cooperative, have called Perkins home for 16 years, and now Perkins is home to Oklahoma FFA’s ninth national president.

“I have missed my hometown tremendously,” says Trey Myers, the 2025-2026 National FFA president. “When I’m home its typically only for a couple days now, and I wish I could enjoy Perkins a little bit longer every time.”

Myers, who is an Oklahoma State University student studying applied exercise science, is taking the two 2026 semesters off while he serves in the blue jacket.

“During the presidency, I’ll mainly live in Indianapolis and also spend a lot of time on the road,” he says. “Living 10 hours from home has been quite the change, but I’m extremely blessed for this opportunity.”

The hardest transition is not only missing a place, but also the people because their lives continue to move on, he adds.

“I was at Oklahoma FFA Alumni Camp when I was selected as Oklahoma’s candidate for national office,” Myers says. “The nomination wasn’t sitting right with me, so I called Ryan Best, who was one of my mentors and coaches when I was a state officer.”

Myers and Best sat down in a coffee shop in Stillwater to discuss the nomination and Myers had full intentions to pull his nomination spot.

“I remember the exact table we were sitting at, and I expected the conversation to last about half an hour,” Myers says. “I was going to say ‘Hey, thanks for the opportunity, but this isn’t going to work out for me,’ and it turned into a three-hour long conversation.”

The conversation was the turning point for Myers and his journey to national office.

“After I had shared basically my entire life story with Ryan,” he says, “I told him I wanted to drop out. He turned to me and said ‘Trey, consider sharing the story you just told me with FFA members all across the country,’ and if that conversation hadn’t happened, I don’t think I’d be sitting in this spot today.”

Oklahoma!

For any candidate, the week of National FFA Convention leading up to the moment they call the new officer’s names is an emotional rollercoaster, he says. Everything happened in the blink of an eye during the last session of convention.

“Thad gave his retiring address and the next thing we know the Chicago Bulls theme song comes on, and I’m pretty sure I blacked out because of how nervous I was,” Myers says. “I watched as both the Central Region Vice President and Secretary offices were filled, which were the two other offices I could have gotten.

“At this point, president was nowhere in my mind, and I was thinking what a great run it has been,” he says. “Then, Oklahoma gets called for president, and I seriously blacked out.”

Myers and the other candidates were informed not to run if their name was called, but when the moment came all he could do was sprint.

“I nearly wiped out on the slick floor,” he says, “and then I accidently headbutted Jael Cruickshank when I embraced my new teammates on stage.

“Once backstage, Skylar, our coach, handed me an iPad and said ‘here’s the words you have to say on stage,’ and I just kind of sat there thinking ‘what is happening?’” he adds. “We also got to embrace our families briefly, and getting to hug Ryan was a moment I’ll cherish.”

A couple weeks after the election, Myers returned to Perkins before his move to Indianapolis. During the brief trip, he went to the annual pork chop dinner, a fundraiser for the Perkins FFA chapter.

“Going there in official dress and a new jacket that says ‘president’ on it was surreal,” Myers says. “Because on that Saturday night in Indianapolis when your name gets called, this community doesn’t get the credit but they’re the ones who actually made it happen.”

Rural communities are unlike anything else because of their resiliency, grit, service and dedication to the people around them, which is something he feels today’s world is losing sight of, he adds.

Small Group 19

“One of my personal mission statements has been ‘to bring small group 19 to people all across the country,’” Myers says. “Small group 19 was the group I was assigned at Alumni Camp before my junior year of high school.”

On the first day of camp Myers met 12 complete strangers and by the last day of camp they had created a special bond. He walked away from camp with the realization of how FFA was an outlet and a sense of connection for members all across the state.

“If we look at the world we live in today, we live in the most connected yet disconnected society ever to exist in human history,” he says. “So, my mission is to bring that feeling of connection to FFA members because that is what we are missing, just a connection with other people.”

He recalls a quote that says, “about the only thing that’s certain in life is to hit adversity.” It is so easy to use isolation as a resolution during times of adversity, but it just makes the adversity more difficult, he adds.

“Rural communities prove this,” he says. “When life gets tough for one person, the whole community comes together to help them when they fall.”

He has never met a stranger, says Kelley Myers, Trey’s mother.

“As a kid we would lose him all the time,” she says. “One time we were at a baseball tournament, and we found him at the front gate selling t-shirts with two high school kids. He has truly never met a stranger, and that’s how I know he’s right where he’s supposed to be.”

It doesn’t matter if he has a jacket on or not, he is one of the most humble people, she adds.

“When Trey was nominated for election, he was fearful of going through with it because he didn’t want the spotlight to be on him,” says Steve Myers, Trey’s father. “Which just continues to speak to his humility.”

“This entire community was pulling for him because to know him is to love him, and rural Perkins is pretty proud of him,” Kelley Myers says.