By Claire Burnett, The Current Co-Editor-in-Chief
River Hill’s largest club, the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), will travel to the Windy City in June to attend and compete in the National Leadership Conference (NLC). Home to various attractions like “The Bean” and deep-dish pizza, Chicago also offers a spacious conference center where students and professionals from all over the country will come together to compete and learn about various subjects.
FBLA offers various events for students to compete in, such as Accounting, Supply Chain Management, and Business Law, just to name a few. Within the wide variety of events, there are different ways the competition is carried out, like taking a test, doing a presentation, or participating in a mock interview.
Students first compete at the Regional Leadership Conference against other students from all over the Howard County region. After placing in the top five at the regional level, competitors move on to the State Leadership Conference, where they must place in the top four in order to advance to the national conference. Then, at the National Leadership Conference, thousands of competitors from all over the country compete for prizes such as scholarships and prize money.
With River Hill’s large FBLA chapter and an abundance of determined students, nearly 100 River Hill students qualified to go to Chicago for the NLC. Sophomore Shruti Vadlakonda reflected on how she is “really excited about NLC! It’s going to be my first ever out of state school field trip and the thought of going with friends will be great!”
During the four day conference, students will be able to participate in a variety of activities, including their competitive event and a wide range of workshops. Events that include a presentation, demonstration, or interview take place in front of a panel of judges, who are professionals on the topic and offer feedback to the students.
More details on the workshops will be provided closer to the date of the conference, but FBLA’s conferences are never anything short of an immensely educating experience. Sophomore Aysegul Yildiz commented “This will be a very valuable experience for me in the long run because I will gain some very important skills and get a head start on how this kind of event and work environment will actually go when I start working.” Sophomore Chloe Son has similar feelings, stating “I thought that it would be a good opportunity and it would be fun to go and see all of the events, as well as challenge myself”
In addition to competing and attending workshops, students will get the chance to explore Chicago and all it has to offer. Aysegul added “I’m also very excited to visit Chicago and see the city. I hope to go to the world’s largest Starbucks while I’m there!” Along with the world’s largest Starbucks, Chicago is home to The Art Institute of Chicago; Cloud Gate, also known as “The Bean”; Wrigley Field; and The Magnificent Mile.
To sum up her emotions, Aysegul mentioned “I have so many feelings but the best word I can find is excited!” The general consensus among competitors is a feeling of excitement, yet some are nervous for the actual competition. With less than a month to go before the conference, River Hill will continue to make preparations for the event.