Bloomingdale High School (BSHS) junior Alex Fisher has big plans for his future and over the summer he came closer to make his dreams a reality. Fisher, a Bloomingdale resident, attended the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) national competition in Baltimore and came home with a top 10 finish.
Students qualify for the FBLA national finals by placing in the top two at a district competition and the top four at the state level. During nationals, Fisher competed in the Sports and Entertainment Management category as an individual, the only student not working as part of a team. In Baltimore, he completed an online test in which he scored in the top 15, which qualified him to move onto the presentation portion where he was given 20 minutes to prepare a business plan on a specific topic covering a number of different categories. After the 20 minutes, he gave a seven minute presentation to a panel of judges who were free to ask questions at the end.
“It was a great experience,” said Fisher, who is planning to study mathematics in college. “What was extremely gratifying was talking to sponsors from other schools and the other finalists who acknowledged how difficult it was to take on this subject as a single participant and not a team. This meant a lot to me.”
Students from throughout the United States, China, Puerto Rico and Haiti participated in the national competition. FBLA currently has approximately 250,000 members in the United States alone.
According to Fisher, the FBLA chapter at BSHS is a small but active group, always looking for new members.
“Any student is a good fit for FBLA,” he said. “You just have to be willing to spend a little time doing research and attend a few meetings at school.”
Fisher believes that the group helps students develop presentation skills and learn how to research, something he feels will be beneficial in college.
“If you want to learn and practice presentations and get more comfortable talking in front of people, this is a perfect fit,” said Fisher. “All the adults I have spoken to in the real business world are extremely impressed with the students that are part of FBLA because they appreciate how hard it is to just speak in front of people and prepare something. Being able to think on your feet is important and a trait we often overlook, but it is used everyday in real-life scenarios.”He plans to attend the competition again next year and has set his goal as a third place finish.
BSHS is located at 1700 E. Bloomingdale Ave. and can be reached at 744-8018. For information on FBLA, visit www.fbla-pbl.org.
