Four members of FBLA, juniors Alex Li, Samhita Tamanna, Miriam Chung, and senior Megan Kalafut, qualified to Nationals this past weekend. To qualify for Nationals, held June 29-July 2 in Atlanta, Georgia, FBLA participants had to place in top three of their event, which they have been preparing for since before January.

“For all the events, FBLA has a competency sheet that basically lists off the general skills and knowledge that tests for each event,” Li said. “So using this sheet, I usually go online and look up definitions and formulas for what’s on the list.”

This will be Li’s second time qualifying to Nationals, and although he did not place last year, he is looking forward to going back.

“[Nationals] was one of the best experiences of my life. Making it again this year means that I have another chance,” Li said. “But more importantly, it means that I get to compete against and connect with the best students in the country. It’s really nice being able to get to know people who come from a different background of a different part of the country.”

Competing in a partner event, Tamanna and Chung won first place in their Business Ethics event, which argued the topic of animal testing. Tamanna and Chung have been researching, preparing, and practicing their presentation since before the new year.

“It means a lot knowing that we made it to Nationals,” Tamanna said. It shows that all of our hard work paid off.”  

Li says that he is still in contact with many people he met last year, and is hoping to make new friends this summer.

“I have met future Harvard students, app developers, entrepreneurs, singer/songwriters, and just people who are passionate about some aspect of business,” Li said. “The biggest thing about Nationals is that everyone there is motivated and passionate about what they do.”