CdM FBLA Southern Section Conference

On Saturday, the CdM Future Business Leaders of America chapter competed at the Southern Section Conference. One hundred eleven students represented the chapter in over 30 events in five different competition types: objective (multiple-choice tests), production, speaking, interview, and role play. 

Later during the day, a motivational speaker named Wes Rowlands inspired the chapter to follow their passions and give it their all. He explained his own story where he was raised by a single mother, and they were evicted from several homes. However, he is a rag-to-riches man as he now works on Wall Street.

CdM also competed in a Shark Tank-like event. Those who wanted to compete must devise a plan to deal with e-waste. E-waste is electronic products, such as cellphones and computers, that have reached the end of their life and are no longer useable. Teams must submit a creative idea, and the top 15 will get chosen to pitch their one-minute idea. Two teams represented CdM, and both had wild plans on how to deal with e-waste. One of the teams called Kip & Co. had the more practical idea of the two, and their plan was to insert a SIM card. The other CdM team called Project 'Murica planned to reuse e-waste as weapons to target terrorist groups such as ISIS. Despite their enthusiastic approaches to recycle e-waste, both CdM teams did not win the grand prize of a $25 gift card.

Finally, the awards were ready to be given out. CdM finished 5th place overall in the Southern Section with more than 25 individual medals in 18 events. The chapter won three 1st place medals in the following events: Introduction to Financial Math, Public Speaking 1, and Sports and Entertainment Management. Those who medaled were in the top 5 in their events and are eligible to compete in the state conference.

Business Law competitor and FBLA member Katie Gilliam defines FBLA as an important high school moment. "Before I joined, I was a naïve individual that had no idea how the world worked. Joining FBLA, I've learned about how to dress and behave for job interviews and how to basically succeed in life," she explained. 

FBLA is certainly an organization that everyone should join to learn how to run businesses and learn about that area. Becoming a part of the chapter will grant you the chance to learn how to professional at young age. Most importantly, winning these events look terrific on college applications, and joining the chapter satisfies the Academy of Global Studies requirement to participate on an academic team! Congratulations again FBLA for an incredible conference!