PEA Business Club Competes In FBLA National Tournament

The Exeter Business Club (EBC) excelled at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) nationals, which took place in Anaheim, California around the end of this past June. Seniors Tim Han and Katie Lee both placed 8th in Public Speaking 2 and Health Care Administration, respectively, while uppers Elizabeth Yang and Katie Yang were finalists in Business Ethics.

“The best part of the competition wasn’t actually the competing itself — the convention had so many workshops, speakers and people from all over the country to meet.”

In March, members of the club participated in the FBLA state competition, in which a record number of 25 Exonians qualified for the national competition. Out of these 25 Exonians, 15 members traveled to California this summer and found great success.

Lee commented on the consistent record Exeter has had at Nationals. “For the past three years we had two students place in the top 10 nationally. However, this past summer, Exeter performed particularly well, because we had a total of four kids reach the final round in their respective competitions,” she said.

The FBLA is a student organization which prepares students for a career in business by organizing workshops as well as competitions such as those attended by EBC. Through participating, Exonians had the chance to challenge themselves in a workforce-simulated competitive environment.

This national competition lasted four days with a variety of programs ranging from business law to computer programming. Some of these events, such as Health Care Administration, consisted of written tests which required students to memorize facts and theories, while others involved improvised speeches. This broad range of activities included both team events and categories that measured individual skills.

Han explained that his event, Public Speaking, was enjoyable because he could incorporate different stories and examples in his speech, since the event was really more of a “free-format.” “The public speaking event is just one speaker, one room, the type of speech is different, it could be motivational or informational,” he said. Han added that because the event was free-form, it allowed “individuals to open up.” He was also able to practice public speaking skills honed through his experience with Exeter’s Debate club and Model United Nations.

The diverse nature of the competition’s categories meant that everyone had a different way of getting ready for it. “Public speaking, performance, presentation and objective tests—preparation varies from category to category,” said Han. Uppers Elizabeth Yang and Katie Yang, for example, prepared a business ethics presentation together about the ethics of social media screening on job applicants.

Elizabeth Yang noted that there wasn’t much preparation needed before nationals, since they only had to make slight adjustments to what they had presented in March. Similarly, Han said that the New Hampshire State competition was a fairly good indicator of success at nationals.

While competing in the competition was itself a noteworthy experience, members who traveled to nationals found that the whole convention was filled with so many more memorable memories. “The best part of the competition wasn’t actually the competing itself — the convention had so many workshops, speakers and people from all over the country to meet,” Elizabeth Yang said. She recalled that a favorite workshop called “Networking in Action,” in which a Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) recruiting manager spoke about how to build relationships with other people in order to expand the opportunities for one’s career. For Han, it was the experience of networking and seeing students from Exeter as well as other schools in New Hampshire do well that made the event so special.

When Exeter students weren’t competing, during their down time, they bonded at pizza restaurants and also visited Disneyland, which was in the vicinity of their hotel in Anaheim. Members explained that the location of the competition also made the experience a lot better, along with the beautiful weather. “FBLA was set in Hilton Anaheim this year and I found that very appealing,” upper Weldon Chan said. “The hotel itself was very big, and the layout of the venue allowed competitions to run smoothly and some to be spectated.”