Cinco Ranch FBLA Sweep the Competition at State Conference

Stunning sunrise captured by Rebecca Jung, a junior at CRHS

 

The calming, tranquil waters and beautiful sunsets of Galveston—these are the sights that welcomed Cinco Ranch High School’s Future Business Leaders of America(FBLA) chapter as they traveled to attend and compete in this year’s FBLA State Leadership Conference on April 10 to 12.

Every year, Texas FBLA hosts their annual State Leadership Conference, and for the past three years, it has taken place at the sophisticated Galveston Convention Center, as well as its surrounding hotels: The Hilton and The San Luis Resorts, and the Holiday Inn. This conference was no different; the 49-student-strong Cinco FBLA Chapter staked their claim to the luxurious San Luis Resort, and for the next two days, they would be strapped to the business world, attending numerous workshops, conferences, and most importantly, competing in their respective events.

Down to Business

The FBLA States Opening Ceremony

 

If there was anything worth taking away from this FBLA State trip, it’s most certainly the valuable information that students had the opportunity to gather at the various workshops hosted by assorted business professionals. From college advice to finding your true passion, the Texas FBLA State officers had curated a special list of speakers to help these students with certain aspects of their business career. “It was honestly a really helpful experience,” one of the Cinco students reported, “especially the college workshop. That one was eye-opening because the person who spoke was an actual college admissions officer.” Sure enough, this was a common sentiment among the students, more specifically the college-stress-ridden juniors.

To accommodate the busy day of the competitors, these optional workshops were sprinkled throughout the schedule and hosted at specific time blocks, meaning students would pick and choose their own itineraries. “There was a lot of freedom,” states another student, “I liked the independence of being able to decide my own schedule and where I wanted to go.”

Competition Success

Janice Zhang places third in Visual Design

 

While the conference was full of workshops and plenty of fun, the most exhilarating part must’ve been the competition. Each student that attended the conference had their own competition event, of which they engaged with students of other schools across the state in battles of intellect, creativity, and innovation. For most students, months of thorough preparation culminated in their final performance at this conference. Throughout the day and amongst the workshop time blocks, competition events were hosted in various locations either in the Convention Center or the resorts. At last, by Friday morning at the closing ceremony, all competition events had reached their conclusions along with the top 5 rankings of their competitors.

Out of the 49 members in attendance from Cinco, 27 of them had placed in the top 5 of one or more events, being called to the Convention Center stage to accept their award. That’s a whopping 55% placement rate! It seems that the competitors from Cinco Ranch had really outdone themselves this year.

Next Up Nationals!

Cinco Ranch High School’s FBLA Chapter, on the Galveston Convention Center Stage

 

Naturally, the next step after a state competition is Nationals! In late June, the FBLA National Leadership Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, where students can compete with those from other states across the country and even internationally! The qualifications for Nationals are simple: place top 4 in your respective event at the State Conference. Of the 27 students who placed in their events at State this year, 22 of them qualify to compete at the highly regarded National Leadership Conference! Not only did they dominate the competition at the SLC, but now they’ve been offered the opportunity to sweep the stakes at the national level. Surely when June rolls around, we can expect the students to soar to even greater heights!