A Strong Class with Strong Roots

Avery Davidson

Louisiana Farm Bureau

“That tree is like our class. It has strong roots.”

As soon as LSU Ag Leadership Class XVII member Robert Duncan uttered those words to classmate John David Guthrie, I knew I had to write this blog. 

Let’s set the scene: the class had just eaten lunch at Adventuras Arenal in the community of Bebedero right on the banks of the Bebedero River. A large, lazy gray and orange iguana clung to a tree overlooking the outdoor dining area where the class had just eaten arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), frijoles (beans), ensalada (salad) and lactoso y fruta (custard and fruit). As with all meals on this trip to Panama and Costa Rica, class members engaged in lively conversation and really showed the camaraderie that comes from three years of shared experiences. This was just another. 

A lazy iguana clings to the trunk of a tree at Adventuras Arenal while Class XVII eats lunch.

When the iguana grew bored watching the Louisianans eating Costa Rican cuisine, the class boarded a long blue and white boat with gray seats and what appears to be a slightly underpowered outboard motor. Thus began the wildlife adventure tour down the Bebedero River. 

I won’t go into too much detail about the trip itself because I know Neil Melancon is going to cover it in his blog. I’ll just say that no one was disappointed. 

It was near the point in the journey where it was time for the boat to turn around and truly test the horsepower of that outboard motor when Duncan said the quote above. 

A wild guava tree seems to defy gravity as its branches and trunk stretch out over the Bebedero River.

He said it when everyone in the class noticed a large wild guava tree growing away from the bank, its branches stretching above the river, almost parallel with the surface of the water. At the bank, its root system is exposed, again seeming to go into the earth and rock parallel with the water’s surface. The entire tree seemed to defy gravity, challenging the pull of the Earth to pull it down. But there it stood. 

“That tree is like our class. It has strong roots.”

The roots of the wild guava tree go deep into the earth and rock on the bank of the Bebedero River.

And you know what, Duncan is right. Class XVII has strong roots. It has 35 years of legacy as its base. It has 16 classes with involved alumni working with them to ensure each member succeeds in the program to be an advocate for agriculture; a true leader for Louisiana. This class has a program coordinator who watched his father change timid, humble folk into confident, compassionate and deeply rooted trailblazers in Dr. Robert Soileau, who does the same. I’d be remiss if I left out the mother hen who helped coordinate every event, including this trip, Class XVII has attended, Cheryl Duplechain. 

With such fertile soil, brilliant sunshine and a dose of adversity, Class XVII could only come out of this program with very strong roots.