By MAGGIE MEDVETZ – Not one, but two IHS students will be competing on the national level for Future Business Leaders of America; becoming the 11th and 12th IHS students to compete on such a level.

After a year of virtual competition, IHS students Carly and Ronald Wang will be competing against hundreds of other FBLA members in the National Leadership Conference (NLC).

Both Carly and Ronald qualified for the NLC by placing in the top 10 in the State Leadership Conference, which took place virtually in early 2021.

“I think Ronald and Carly have a great opportunity to be in the top 10 in the nation,” expressed FBLA advisor Mr. Eric Brocious.  “They would have beat out numerous students in Pennsylvania to get to compete at the national level. They will now be competing against hundreds of students across the country.”

In a traditional year, the NLC would have taken place in a major U.S. city; this year, that city would have been Anaheim California.  However, because of pandemic restrictions, the event will be virtual.  This doesn’t stop IHS competitors from being excited about competing. 

“It was so exciting to hear Mr. Brocious reveal to me that I’d placed high enough at states (second place) to move on to nationals for FBLA,” relayed junior Carly Wang.  “Ever since my sophomore year, when I joined FBLA, I’d been trying to get into nationals. It is something very important to me.”

While qualifying for such an event is very exciting, there is also a lot of pressure involved in moving up to the next level of competition.

“Qualifying, of course, feels gratifyingly assuring, yet the pressure and weight necessary can be overwhelming,” explained freshman, Ronald Wang. 

With Carly and Ronald Wang being only the 11th and 12th-grade students in IHS history to qualify for the NLC, many students may be interested in the techniques they used to reach this high level of competition.

“I think the thing that helped me the most in getting here was all of the time I spent studying and preparing for the tests,” continued Carly Wang.  “These tests are hard, but with endless amounts of practice tests and books for my event finished, I feel this is truly what helped me get to this level in FBLA competitions.”

Ronald Wang also shared, “A very focused and established approach helped me navigate my way through the competitions.”

Students should be proud and wish both Carly and Ronald luck in competing at the national level, which will be taking place this summer.  

[Photo courtesy of Sara Kane]

Photo caption: “FBLA advisor, Eric Brocious, and members, Hasan Ali, Kaden Duffee, Sara Kane, Branden Kanick, and Orlando Clark, at the 2019 National Leadership Conference.”