A simple walk in the park with his dog provided Travis Brorsen the opportunity of a lifetime, but dedication, faith and the skills he learned in FFA earned national recognition for this Perry, Okla., native.

“Travis & Presley” lived in isolation from the outside world for six weeks as they and 11 other owner/canine pairs competed during the first season of “Greatest American Dog” on CBS. Brorsen then kept a tremendous secret for three months until the final episode aired, naming his brindle boxer the $250,000 champion.

“We happened to win, but we would have won either way because on the show I developed an amazing relationship with Presley,” Brorsen said. “The experience really put things into perspective for me. It made me realize to take every moment as a big deal.”

Brorsen said he knew little about dog training prior to being chosen for the show, but he did know about other animals from growing up on a farm and being in the FFA. As the grandson of 1951-52 Oklahoma FFA President Bart Brorsen, he “looked forward to FFA” and enrolled in agricultural education in the eighth grade. His activities included showing swine, but he said public speaking “set the stage … for everything.”

“Public speaking gave me confidence,” Brorsen said. “Extemporaneous speaking was fun because it made me think on my feet.”

That “quick-thinking” ability and confidence also served Brorsen well when he was president of his chapter’s parliamentary procedure team. Kurt Bolay, who taught Brorsen in agricultural education classes for three years, coached that team. Bolay said he remembers Brorsen as an exceptionally good student.

“Travis was a really good leader, getting all of the members involved in the activities we were doing,” Bolay said.

Brorsen’s other FFA activities included leadership conferences and Oklahoma FFA Alumni Leadership Camp, which was the site of his first audition – to be part of the flag ceremony at the camp banquet.

“It was a small first step toward a big goal,” he said. “And one of things I learned was to keep a positive attitude. I applied it to my life.”

Now the 1997-98 Oklahoma FFA reporter auditions as part of his acting career. He has appeared in commercials for Boeing, Honda, Zales Jewelry and Rooms to Go (with Cindy Crawford). His television performances include “JAG,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Bones,” “Over There” and “All of Us.”

“In my auditions, I have conversations to start a relationship with the person interviewing me, rather than being ‘just another actor,’” Brorsen said.

Brorsen started acting in theater productions while an agricultural communications major at Oklahoma State University, even earning a theater minor when he graduated in 2001. Not long after earning his degree, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream.

“Travis was a very self-driven young man,” Bolay said. “He set goals and knew how to accomplish them.”

Brorsen said after “Greatest American Dog,” several people joked about his being “at the right place at the right time.”

“But I had been trying to be in the right place for six years,” he said with a smile. “I had been preparing for that moment my whole life.

“Success is not luck,” Brorsen said. “It’s when preparation meets opportunity.”