By Elizabeth Campos

Staff Writer
From April 12-15, Gabrielino’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club competed at the State Leadership Conference (SLC) at the Ontario Convention Center, winning 14 different titles in varied events and  qualifying eight students to the National tournament on June 28 in Baltimore, Maryland.

The State Conference marks a time of electing state officers, tending to state business, engaging in leadership and career development training, and commencing the statewide competition, which determines which individuals or teams will represent California in the national competition in 33 different events.

Preparation for SCL began in December, where members took time to work and improve upon their presentation from constructive criticism of their peers. Sophomores Casey Lee and Jiin Lee won first place in the category of Publication Design. The event of Publication Design required the team to create a portfolio for a new “fresh food” home delivery service that would open in a community of about 250,000 residents. The main goal being to best advertise and develop their business.

“Jiin and I were very excited because we were very proud of our work and wanted to showcase it,” stated sophomore Casey Lee, “This was our second [state tournament] and we were really excited to get back into [the] competition experience.”

Performing events Gabrielino students participated in such as Impromptu Speaking, E-Business, and Emerging Business Issues began at 9 am and ran until 7pm, while testing events ran from 10:30 am through 11:30 am. Students took pictures during their free time commemorating their accomplishments of their hard work.

Senior FBLA President Benjamin Vo, explained, “I always look forward to State because I love seeing everyone’s hard work pay off. We all worked really hard to prepare.”

Study session and practices known as Max Reviews, were held every week leading up until the day of competition in hopes of perfecting performances by the time of SCL.

While teams took months preparing their presentations and studying for their respective events, seniors faced the pressure of their last State competition.

“It was my last State Leadership Conference and I really wanted to end it off with a bang,” stated senior Vice President Bianca Lee. “FBLA was one of the things I was really committed to throughout high school, so SLC made me really nostalgic and made me look back on these years of FBLA.”