Members of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club attended the New Jersey State Leadership Conference held at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City from March 9 to 11.
To start the conference, an opening ceremony was held to welcome over 5,000 students from across the state. Then, over the next two days, members participated in various competitive events and workshops.
Presentation-based competitive events, including Broadcast Journalism, Supply Chain Management and Website Coding and Development, occurred throughout the conference. Students who performed well in the initial presentation could then move on to the Finals. Students who participated in non-presentation events had already competed several weeks earlier.
Workshops immersed students into a variety of topics, including retirement planning, public speaking and career planning. There were also many booths set up around the convention center, which provided information on various business-related topics such as college business programs. On March 10, candidates for FBLA state officer positions campaigned, informing the public about their plans for the national organization.
During the final two days of the conference, two separate award ceremonies were held. Those who placed in the top 10 of their events were recognized:
- Anika Patel (Public Service Announcement)
- Diya Mohan (Public Service Announcement)
- Aris Diagelakis (Sports and Entertainment)
- Greg Wronski (Sports and Entertainment)
- Rithvik Krish (Event Planning)
- Daksh Bansal (Event Planning)
- Viktor Sychev (Entrepreneurship)
- Roshni Kabra (Intro to Business Presentation)
- Sanika Jaiswal (Intro to Business Presentation)
- Ayna Phukan (Visual Design)
- Sonia Patel (Visual Design)
- Bela Nekram (Visual Design)
- Nate John (Graphic Design)
- Corbin Jimenez (Graphic Design)
- Jack Lee (Graphic Design)
- Tife Jagun (Hospitality and Event Management)
- Nishika Lal (Hospitality and Event Management)
- Kousani Bhowmik (Hospitality and Event Management)
- Arshiya Aggarwal (Business Management)
- Angie Wang (Business Management)
- Parvathy Regi (Business Ethics)
- Varnika Kirthi (Business Ethics)
- Victoria Wang (Career Portfolio)
- Anvay Ajmera (Website Coding and Development)
- Shamar Radakrishnan (Cybersecurity)
- Shree Bobate (Technology Support and Services)
- Mythili Madhusoodanan (Job Interview)
- Dhruv Malkan (Technology Support and Services)
- Jadon Kim (Public Speaking)
- Arnav Nagesh (Technology Support and Services)
- Aarav Gupta (Human Resource Management)
- Maya Patel (Intro to FBLA)
- Sri Kakarla (Personal Finance)
- Showrya Verma (Securities and Investments)
- Ridhwan Sharma (Insurance and Risk Management)
- Darsh Gaur (Intro to Business Procedures)
- Bhanu Pogadadanda (Intro to Business Procedures)
- Amrit Poleboyina (Intro to Supply Chain Management)
- Rishi Khanna (Intro to Parliamentary Procedure)
- Charles Wang (Business Communications)
- Dhruv Rakhade (Agribusiness)
- Darsh Bajpai (Data Analysis)
- Vedaang Verma (Future Business Educator)
- Arav Jain (Data Analysis)
- Tharun Naguleswaran (Data Analysis)
- Gayatri Krishnan (Impromptu Speaking)
- Kush Dave (Data Analysis)
- Harish Ramakrishnan (Data Analysis)
- Rishabh Sankar (Data Analysis)
Additionally, Bridgewater-Raritan High School juniors Anvay Ajmera and Victoria Wang were elected as State Officers as Webmaster and North Central Region Vice President, respectively.
FBLA competitor Vedaang Verma shared his thoughts regarding the conference.
“It is a great opportunity to meet new people and improve your business skills,” he said.
Overall, the conference was an exciting experience for FBLA members, who gained valuable knowledge and insights throughout the event.
