Last week from April 1st through the 3rd, multiple Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members attended the annual state conference at the Gaylord Rockies event center and blew the competition out of the water!
FBLA is known for its remarkable ability to teach students all about the fundamentals of business practices. Although this team competes on an academic level, the skills are broader than one can imagine.
Since the year 1937, FBLA has been helping prepare students for their future careers, growing more confidence in different avenues of business.
Base level skills that are utilized in business can apply to a myriad of other professions that FBLA members can use later on in life.
“I think that developing that skill is really invaluable and I see myself using it for really any field I choose in the future,” sophomore FBLA member Sara Zareva said.
While FBLA looks great on secondary education applications, it has true real-life application that all students agree are essential and helpful to them.
“I feel like FBLA is a great way to prepare for real world experiences no matter what you are interested in for the future,” junior FBLA member Kennedy Evers explained.
Competing at a large scale can help students prepare and develop communication skills, presentation confidence, and public speaking capabilities, which can help on both an academic and professional level.
“I think all professions have business aspects to them! It’s such a huge part of the American enterprise and culture that knowing even the basics of it can take you far,” Zareva exclaimed excitedly.
FBLA students have been preparing for the entire school year for the state competition, having monthly meetings and other competitions in order to be at their best for the state conference.
“There was only one other conference but it really did give me a good idea as to what FBLA is all about and what things I can talk about in my event that are related to our state leadership conference as a whole,” Zareva commented.
There are numerous different events for students to compete with, ranging from social media strategies, business communications, graphic design and more.
“The state competition was super fun and there was so much to do. I do a presentation event so anything I got to attend where I could practice before the competition was helpful,” Evers said.
The state competitions have had a history of garnering large numbers of participants, even over the COVID-19 pandemic, where they still competed with over 12,000 students.
“I think the perseverance of FBLA as a whole reflects the strength demonstrated by its student members at Air Academy,” junior Delaney Brandt said admirably.
The core of FBLA focuses on growing student’s strengths and confidences; closely intertwined with DECA, the business strands involved at Air Academy High School (AAHS) are growing stronger by the day.
Preparing students for their future in a way that is fun and competitive is a great demonstration of how Air Academy sends students out into the real world.
