After months of practicing and competing in competitive events at the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district level, Coral Gables Senior High’s Future Business Leaders of America club once again returned to state competitions as students qualified and got to compete at the Hilton Orlando.

Before students got to go on a four-day trip to Orlando, FBLA members had been preparing their performances since October, when objective tests and performances, like presenting to judges, had begun. FBLA board members held a practice event the week before states and, finally, after months of preparing and succeeding in their district competitions in January, Gables’ FBLA now entered state competitions in hopes of making it to nationals this summer.

“It’s only my freshman year but I’m really happy that I was able to experience this. I look forward to being in FBLA and experiencing this more than once,” freshman Alec Medina said.

On Friday, Mar. 11, students boarded the buses from Gables at 9:00 a.m. and arrived at the hotel at 2:00 p.m. Later that same day, at around 5:45 p.m., members competed in their respective events like Accounting I, Business Management, Client Service and Human Resource Management. By 8:30 p.m., the State Leadership Conference kicked off with an opening general session introducing the Florida State Officers and giving a rundown of what the weekend would hold in store.

On the following morning, team competitions and objective tests continued as Gables’ Parliamentary Team, featuring Mariam Aguilar-Tantil, Samuel Sommer, William Hudson and Micaela Montero placed in third place. Additionally, Gabriella Mohammed and Ryan Costa placed fifth place in Public Speaking and Journalism, respectively.

Students had been preparing for months in different ways, such as looking at example case studies and taking practice tests. The Parliamentary Procedures held weekly Zoom meetings with State Parliamentarian Julie Palm to prepare for Orlando.

“Meetings were strenuous and time-consuming but at the end of the day it paid off. I’m very glad to have made that sacrifice,” junior Samuel Sommer said.

On the last day of their trip to Orlando, students were up at 9:00 a.m. sharp for a final General Session where keynote speaker Brandon Fleming preached the importance of hard work and the mission of FBLA. After the last General Session, with free time available, Gables FBLA took to Disney Springs to enjoy time off. Students enjoyed lunch and made sure to be back in time for the closing ceremony.

As students attended the closing ceremony at 8:30 p.m., state winners were announced and the Parliamentary Team was congratulated with third place honors and would compete at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago this summer.

On the final day of their trip, FBLA students reboarded their bus and headed back to Miami. Until this summer, qualified students will keep practicing in their categories to excel at their real-world business skills at a national level.