By Lana Hy

Copy Editor

  On Saturday, members of Gabrielino High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club competed in the Gold Coast Section Leadership Conference (GCSLC) at South Pasadena High School, winning 14 different titles in various events and qualifying 15 students to the State Leadership Conference at the Ontario Convention Center in April. 

  Seniors Alex Lau, Quyen Le, Jocelyn Tan, Terry Tang, Carter Vuong, and junior Vi-Linh Vu won third place in their respective events. Lau and Vuong placed in Hospitality Management, Le and Tan won in Entrepreneurship, Tang placed in Management Decision Making, and Vu won in Business Communications. 

  Juniors Curtis Chen, Kevin He, and Willey Zhou placed fourth in Sports and Entertainment Management while junior Kim-Linh Vu won fifth place in Business Calculations. 

  Seniors John Kurniawan, Leah Ma, Kenneth Yao, and juniors Bridget Phu and Kelly Tsai placed sixth in their respective events. Kurniawan placed in Personal Finance, Ma and Yao won in Global Business, Phu placed in Business Communication, and Tsai won in Marketing.

  “It felt good knowing that I was able to place in Marketing as an individual, considering that it’s typically a team event of three people,” stated Tsai, FBLA Vice President. “It gives me a leeway to know that I have a definite event to compete in at State.”

  He placed seventh in Securities and Investment and Kurniawan won seventh place in Insurance and Risk Management. Ma placed eighth in Agribusiness and junior Nicholas Quach earned tenth place in Business Calculations. 

  While individuals took months to prepare for competition, seniors faced the pressure of their last GCSLC.

  “It was bittersweet knowing that this was going to be my last Section,” said Tang, FBLA President. “Throughout the years, I have had many great memories from competitions in FBLA whether that be at Section, State, or Nationals and this conference was no different.”

  In addition to competing, members attended workshops where they learned about networking, internships, and personal financial literacy. Students also participated in business related activities like conducting mock Shark Tank presentations and playing Monopoly. 

  Study sessions and practices known as Max Reviews were held throughout February leading up to the day of GCSLC to ensure every individual was ready to compete in their respective events. 

  “The best part of Section [was] getting to know the other competitors, both from our own school and from other schools within Gold Coast,” said Tsai. “The team really felt united when we were all cheering for everyone in our school who got awards, on top of collaborating with each other in activities and team-building workshops.”