GALVESTON, TX (Covering Katy News)—The calming, tranquil waters and beautiful sunsets of Galveston welcomed Cinco Ranch High School's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter as they traveled to Galveston to attend and compete in this year's FBLA State Leadership Conference April 10-12.
The conference promotes leadership development through networking opportunities, motivational sessions, competitions, and career-planning workshops.
For the third year, the event was held at the Galveston Island Convention Center and nearby hotels, the Hilton, San Luis Resorts, and Holiday Inn.
The 49-student Cinco FBLA Chapter stayed at the luxurious San Luis Resort. They were strapped to the business world for the next two days, attending numerous workshops and conferences and, most importantly, competing in their respective events.
If anything was worth taking away from this FBLA State Leadership Conference trip, it was the valuable information students gathered at the various workshops hosted by business professionals.
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Victoria Do
Janice Zhang places third in Visual Design.
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Victoria Do
A photo of Galveston beach taken during the conference.
From college advice to finding your true passion, the Texas FBLA State officers provided a strong list of speakers to help students with numerous aspects of their business careers.
"It was honestly a really helpful experience, especially the college workshop," said junior Alejandra Lugo. "That one was eye-opening because the person who spoke was an actual college admissions officer."
Several students felt the same about the conference, especially juniors who were already stressing about college.
Optional workshops were offered during the conference, and students were allowed to pick and choose the ones that were best for them.
"There was a lot of freedom," said sophomore Heather Tan. "I liked the independence of being able to decide my own schedule and where I wanted to go."
While the conference offered many workshops and lots of fun, the most exhilarating part was the competition. Students from across Texas competed in competitions of intellect, creativity, and innovation.
For most students, months of thorough preparation culminated in their final performance at the conference.
Of the 49 members from Cinco Ranch High School in attendance, 27 placed in the top five of one or more events. That's an impressive 55 percent placement rate!
The next step is the FBLA National Leadership Conference, which will be held in late June in Orlando. Cinco Ranch students will compete with students from across the country and the world at this conference.
Of the 27 students who placed, 22 qualified to compete at the National Leadership Conference.
After dominating the competition at the SLC, they have the opportunity to sweep at the national level. When June rolls around, we can expect the students to soar to even greater heights.
This article was written by Cinco Ranch High School student Victoria Do.