FBLA through Covid was a game-changer. Learning to compete with Business credentials in the time of Covid definitely could be viewed as a positive. Cherokee Trail’s FBLA Vice President said, “…our officer team allowed FBLA members to push themselves to extend their capabilities beyond what is comfortable because, to be honest, being a member was not an easy task this year. The most involved members will see that stretching themselves thin this year in high school will allow them to push their limits and persevere in their future. If it were easy, everyone would do it, so props to the FBLA Officer Team and FBLA Members who took the extra steps this year,” Landon Ungerman (11).
The effort made by the team to work around Covid was not easy, as expressed in Ungerman’s statement. The FBLA members showed their excellence and persevering traits through the acts of being able to have many qualified for State and staying engaged with the club by completing the Ultimate Leadership guide.
“The Ultimate Leadership Guides are new this year. While traditionally, members would fill out a lettering sheet at the end of the year, we wanted a way for members to be involved to the extent of their choosing outside of meetings. It was a challenge to put together a variety of activities that were safe to do in a virtual setting and relatively accessible for all members,” states Ava Trahan (12). FBLA hit a tall hurdle there; they needed to find ways to get everyone involved. The team wanted everyone to stay involved but grow. If there was any point to make someone improve as a person or club member, this was the time to make this happen.
“As an FBLA member, learning how to re-incorporate and alter some of my favorite aspects from previous years in a virtual setting has helped me be more creative. As a person and problem solver, I’ve worked to embrace the change of this year by looking towards new opportunities; for example, organizing guest speakers has been easier because videos can be pre-recorded and aired instead of live,” says Trahan. This shows when you’re faced with a challenge, find ways to get over it, and instead of letting it beat you down, improve, adapt, and progress through it. Sadly, it’s Trahan’s last year being a part of Cherokee Trail’s FBLA team, but she still got to experience these troubling times as a member to learn new skills and grow as a person so when she graduates, she can take these skills and be the best person she can be.
On the other hand, first-year students didn’t get to have the experience to work off but had to go straight into working around the struggle. “Seeing as it has been my first year in high school, nevertheless…FBLA has been quite a challenge…”says (9). “I’ll be part of the one group of FBLA members that were able to see what FBLA could be when it was put in an awkward position and then get to experience the amazing community, opportunities, and FBLA affairs.”
Though this year was a struggle, it shows that new members may be willing to come back through hard work and a fantastic community of problem solvers. The “Funky Year,” as Indukuri put it, doesn’t cause an issue, but rather it made the team take advantage of the time to grow/improve, but also make them more hyped to return next year to see what it’s really about. FBLA is a regular club and a community of practical problem solving and overcoming people ready to be the best.