By Noah Killeen, managing editor
Are you prepared for life after high school? Most high school students can’t confidently say they feel ready for what comes after graduation, but there are some new initiatives that are trying to ease the stress. With college counselors, accessible teachers, and engaged administrators, EFHS students can feel assured that they have access to resources that will help them with the transition. Despite this, it can be difficult for students to develop the fundamental soft skills they need for their journeys after being a student at EFHS, which is why Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is here to help.
FBLA is a nationwide organization with over 170,000 students that prepares students for any career they seek after high school. Don’t let the “business” in the name fool you: the organization doesn’t only help the next generation of entrepreneurs, managers, and CEOs. The competitive events that FBLA offers range from specializing in hospitality to computer programming. A competitive event can consist of designing a presentation individually to present to a judge, working with a team (or solo) to prepare a response to a selection of prompts, or completing a multiple-choice test on an area of interest. Through these events, students can sharpen needed soft skills like public speaking, collaboration skills, and creativity.
Competing isn’t the only benefit of joining FBLA: many students join the organization for the networking and career development that the events offer. At the events, the organization brings in business professionals and motivational speakers to give workshops to students, and you get to select the workshops that you want to attend (so you don’t have to go to presentations that don’t seem interesting to you). Many FBLA members find these workshops to be their favorite part of being in the organization; meanwhile, other members enjoy attending FBLA events to foster new connections. At every event, there is always time reserved to meet new people from across the state or country, and many members find that these connections remain impactful to them throughout their life.
If you are a student who is also interested in fostering new leadership skills, FBLA has a plethora of opportunities for you to serve the community. You can serve as a local officer for an EFHS chapter of FBLA (either Media, IT, or Business), where you work with others in planning events and meetings being hosted on campus. You could also serve on a State Council, which consists of leaders from across the state that work with the State Officers on new statewide initiatives and projects. After serving at the local level for a year, you could consider running for Arizona State Office, which provides you with the opportunity to work with the Arizona Department of Education and FBLA Arizona staff in leading the state chapter of FBLA.
If you are interested in joining the over 210 students at EFHS who are in FBLA, you could speak with Ms. Markou (IT), Mr. Pelka, or Ms. Markou (Media) for more information. The next event that EFHS FBLA will be attending is the Fall Leadership Extravanganza on November 9, so stop by at upcoming chapter meetings to hear more information on this opportunity!