This article was written by Olivia Lloyd, class of 2019.
The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) team walked away from the state convention with seven students qualifying for national competition. The state FBLA organization hosted the state competition in Orlando March 22-24.
Students competed in categories ranging from Business Calculations to Entrepreneurship and could compete in teams or individually depending on the category. The top four winners in each category qualify for the June national competition in San Antonio.
A team consisting of juniors Jackson Arnberg and Barak Huang placed fourth in the Global Business category. “I grew up in a family business, so I was always surrounded by certain work ethics and concepts that led to things like successful corporations,” Huang said. “In order to grasp a greater understanding of these concepts, I decided to join FBLA, and through FBLA I was able to learn more about the concepts and theories about business.”
After placing in the top five for their scores on the written test, the two partners moved on to the final round. They received a scenario and had 20 minutes to prepare a seven-minute case presentation. After both rounds of the competition, the duo emerged in fourth place.
A three-person team, consisting of juniors George Grossman, Samuel Platovsky and Volodymyr Zhuravsky, won fourth place in Entrepreneurship. Going in, I didn’t know what to expect, and the biggest takeaway from it was that you have to be very confident in what you are doing,” Platovsky said. “Don’t let anyone try and influence you to do something else. Stick to what you know and follow your instincts and you will be alright.”
First place winner junior Sean Kim won his category Introduction to Business Procedures. “FBLA is a growing organization with many opportunities to gain state and national recognition,” Kim said. “[For the national competition] I’m going study from Quizlet and take a bunch of practice tests.”
Senior Lauren Gillet has been part of FBLA for two years, and though she did not qualify for nationals, she still got something out of the experience. “I got to meet students from all over Florida who had similar interests to me, and even from my own teammates I got to see how business ideas and plans form and presentations come together,” she said. “There was so much collaboration and teamwork and though it was a competition, everyone was there was first and foremost to learn and gain experience.”
Despite how the competition was over spring break, the students put in the effort to succeed during the various tests and oral presentations. Following the stress of the competition, they then got to celebrate its end by going to the Orlando theme parks.
List of winners:
Srihari Gotluru: third place Business Law
Barak Huang and Jackson Arnberg: fourth place Global Business
Sean Kim: first place Introduction to Business Procedures
George Grossman, Samuel Platovsky and Volodymyr Zhuravsky: fourth place Entrepreneurship
