PEA Places At Business Competition

The Exeter Business Club (EBC) competed and found great success at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) nationals in Atlanta, Ga. this June. Senior Melissa Lu placed third in Business Law and upper Tim Han placed fourth in Public Speaking.

Though founded in Fall 2014, EBC is already a Gold Seal Chapter in N.H., an honor awarded to the top three chapters of each state. The award is based on a point system which takes into account membership, community service involvement, competition attendance and victories. EBC ranked third overall.

According to Lu, becoming a Gold Seal Chapter is her proudest EBC achievement, even over the time she won her own personal award. “It evidences how far we’ve come in just two years, and what we’ve achieved together as a club,” she said. “It acknowledges all the hard work everyone has put in, and that feeling is so rewarding.”

“The biggest lesson we want club members to take away is is the tie between business and community. It’s a tie we can’t forget.”

Members of the club qualified for the national competition in March at the FBLA state competition in Manchester when 26 of EBC’s 34 students placed top four in their respective competition.

FBLA nationals were held over a period of four days with about 13,000 competitors. The different varieties of competitions ranged from computer programming, public speaking, business law and accounting. Some of these events were knowledge based, others involved role play and some measured skills such as speaking on the spot.  Some were held as team events or entire chapter events, whereas others measured individual aptitude.

When Exeter students were not competing, they attended workshops held by famous speakers such as David Novak, Chairman & CEO of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, which owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. During their down time, students in EBC explored the city, visiting the Atlanta Aquarium and Atlanta’s famous Coca Cola Factory.

Despite finding the competition somewhat stressful, upper Katie Lee felt grateful for the experience she had during her first school trip. “I’d never been to Atlanta before,” she said. “It was an enjoyable experience just being able to explore the city.”

EBC prepared for the competition throughout the year by collecting and providing study resources from online and hosting several FBLA preparation meetings. In addition, they hosted an in-house to simulate the real competition. Lu explained that this was an effective way to get the club ready for nationals. “I thought the in-house was a really great move,” she said. “It concretely showed our club members where they were at, what they needed to work on and where they stood in possibly placing.”

Lu competed in Business Law, which tested her expertise in areas such as contract law and tort law. She attributed her success to the interest she has in learning about laws. “It’s something I would’ve done on my own any way, so it made preparing for the competition not so much of a task, but something that came along with a subject I was interested in learning about already,” she said. “In this way, the competition didn’t feel so much like a contest, but a fun experience that challenged me to explore a topic of interest.”

Han competed in the public speaking category for ninth and tenth graders, and was required to prepare a speech for the judges. In his nationally ranked speech, he spoke about the importance of encouraging and nurturing talent to enable success. According to EBC, Han’s natural talent and ease shone through on the stage. “You can see when Tim speaks he loves it,” Lu said. “He’s in his element. He is a great speaker.” For Han, it was the support of his fellow Exonians that ultimately led to his success. He explained that his roommates spent much time critiquing and helping him improve his speech prior to his competition. When he looked up to begin his speech, he was glad to see all 13 of his teammates, EBC advisor and admissions officer Porter Hayes and additional New Hampshire friends. “I couldn’t have done it without a great group of friends supporting me,” he said. “It felt awesome when I was giving my speech at finals. I’m grateful for their support.”

Upper Emily Green too found the feedback she received from EBC to be effective, explaining that the support “definitely boosted [her] confidence.” Hayes, who chaperoned the students in Atlanta, credited the EBC co-heads and members for their dedication to preparing themselves for competition. For him, watching Han present his speech was a highlight since every Exeter student attended to support Han.

He also found the awards presentation that recognized Han and Lu was exciting. Since Han had to depart early from Atlanta, the group chose a representative to stand in place of Han if he placed in the top ten. When Han’s name was called, upper Jack Baker stood in for him on stage. “It was pretty funny, seeing Jack up on stage in front of over 15,000 kids,” Hayes said.

Upper Jackson Parell competed in Sales Presentation, a 10 minute pitch of a product to a panel of three judges. To prepare, he collected materials for his pitch and rehearsed his speech. At the competition, the product Parell was selling broke halfway through his presentation. He said that the mishap “did not look too good in front of the judges.”

Despite this, Parell enjoyed FBLA nationals, and explained that the connections he made with Exonians and other students from around the United States made the competition a “truly rewarding experience.” Other EBC members shared Parell’s sentiment, commending the camaraderie at the competition. Senior Harrison Wladis and uppers Thomas Stucke and Aash Bhuva felt confident for nationals after they placed first in Sports and Entertainment Management in the state competition. Their event challenged the group to take a situational problem and present a stance or resolution after 20 minutes of preparation. “Even though we didn’t place, I’m really proud of at least making it to nationals,” Wladis said.

Bhuva agreed with Wladis, adding that he felt pride for his fellow Exonians. “Overall, we were happy with our performance, but [we] know there is always room to improve,” he said. Now entering their third year, EBC members plan to hold more events in addition to attending competitions. Lu explained that for her, the club’s focus is on much more than competition. She stressed the real world applications of business and its potential to be used for good. “We want to emphasize that business is not just about money or investing,” she said. “We forget that business, if we will it, is a tool to improve communities.” She continued, explained that businesses can provide significant services to humanity. “Businesses actually have a huge potential to constructively improve society with private internal revenue,” she said.

In accordance, many of EBC’s activities for the coming year will revolve around social innovation. The club hopes to collaborate with ESSO to develop this idea. Ultimately, the club is aiming to host a series of workshops and invite New Hampshire FBLA to compete in the Phillips Exeter Academy Social Innovation Think Tank (PEASITT) this spring. PEASITT will challenge teams to come up with and present realistic and innovative solutions to various social problems.

“The competition prompt would seek innovative ideas to combat poverty and improve the quality of life for impoverished and underserved communities,” Hayes said.

Despite EBC’s considerable success competing, Lu hopes more that the club will continue to explore business in progress’s name. “The biggest lesson we want club members to take away is is the tie between business and community,” she said. “It’s a tie we can’t forget.”