FBLA competition was one heck of a ride! Preparation for it was quite excruciating. We spent many days editing and producing music as well as a video for our digital video production event. We placed first within our area!
It’s funny because I was embarrassed for a little while. Someone had found our video and it got sent to people at our school, as well as many neighboring schools where we knew people. People began screen shooting our video and called it “cringe worthy” as well as various other rude comments. I’m not going to lie, I requested for it to be taken down after that but it wasn’t. Within a days time period I realized our hard work was nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe other people joked about it, but who cares. They didn’t understand the amount of effort and immense amount of time put into our song lyric and overall production. I guess you can say my resilience is pretty extreme. My bounce back with a new attitude allowed me to once again enjoy our efforts and look forward to the trip. I began to have a more positive mind set towards the situation and realized that the people who were talking poorly about it were the ones with a problem. They had sought out this video because our team had not shared it with anyone and didn’t want anyone to see it until maybe our college years, so if they had the time to spread it about and speak poorly about us that was their problem. They obviously have nothing better to do with their time, which is sad on their part.
Now let’s get more into the trip in February! I personally enjoy hanging out with small groups of people, and preferably even just one other person who more than likely happens to be Vina 95% of the time… and sometimes I even like to hang out by myself. But, there were at least over 30 students on this trip with us so we created a smaller group of 6 people whom we preferred. Over the three day span we were able to spend practically all of our time together and were pretty much inseparable. The first day during opening ceremony everyone was bored. There was this extremely preppy speaker who’s speech seemed drawn out and forced, people who weren’t even sitting next to me were texting me asking if they could leave. As president, I still don’t have the power of a sponsor.. so all I could do was tell them to stick in there. But long story short my group of friends left first and my whole row was gone which was extremely obvious! It set a bad example and within a 15 minute span most of our section was gone and those kids went to different schools! I was sitting right next to our sponsor and didn’t have the balls to leave.. so there I sat, alone and bored texting my friends while they were down in the lobby chilling. The speech was painful but at least the next day we’d be free from that room without getting the life sucked out of us. We went to an amazing Korean restaurant, skipped out on a night party held for our students (which mind you was extremely awkward, crowded, and strange) and instead opted to go back to the hotel room and sing karaoke until security came and told us people were complaining, and stayed up until 2am watching Kung Fu Panda 3 when we knew good and well we had to be up early as heck the next morning.
As president of FBLA I also had other duties which separated me from fun activities that I wanted to participate in. I had to be a voting delegate one night and ended up missing out on an outing to get amazing crepes. The voting kept going wrong because they didn’t set up the technology properly and I felt trapped in that same room where the speech had killed my spirit and soul the night before. 😦 Since I missed dinner with my group I had to go out with another voting delegate. Initially we were with a group but they wanted to go get wings, but it was a Friday during lent season so I couldn’t! I decided I wanted sushi and one of the other officers was kind enough to go with me! She found a place that was suppose to be casual and near by according to yelp, but to our surprise the walk took over 12 minutes! Mind you, it was night time and freakishly dark. Along the way we ran into fields of homeless people and one old scary man muttered to us that we must have been angels or something. After that I told her we needed to walk faster to get away from him, but when we got closer to the sushi place we encountered another strange man who came up close to me only inches from my face and kept speaking in gibberish. We went into the sushi restaurant to find that it was extremely pricey. My other officer asked if I wanted to leave, but given the obstacles it took for us to get there, I wanted to stay put.. Throughout the meal I noticed the workers staring at our table, so I glared back at them… but they still had the audacity to stare. Mind you, this sushi place was pretty small and dim lit made for date nights. It was kind of weird. Since we were scared we called a cab to come and get us but it took them over 20 minutes to come and we waited outside where another strange but cute and non homeless guy who worked in the sushi restaurant tried to talk to me and offer me a ride. I kept telling him I was 16 and with our high school for a school event in hope of him going away but it didn’t work. On top of that another guy waiting for a cab kept trying to make small talk about work and the city which neither of us girls cared about. Once the cab pulled up I hoped in as swiftly as possible because I was not in the mood for anymore weirdos.
Our cab driver was extremely kind even though the ride back was only about two minutes it costed 10$ and we tipped. That’s when I met up my group to check out the party which ended up being a total flop. The whole time the sushi thing occurred I kept dropping my location to Vina and telling her if I died she’d know why… LOL. Long story short, never go out in a small group at night when you’re underage… or even older.
Despite the crazy events, some less fortunate than others, the trip as a whole was extremely fun. I missed my little brother the most, but being away from home allowed me to realize that I would be okay when I go off to college to live on my own in a few months. Although the night before closing ceremony I slept in a bed of 5 people with no space and practically got hypothermia. I was crammed against the headboard and Vina! Sleeping like a dead rabbit with my body straight as a worm and my paws up as a shivered from lack of comforter seems laughable, but it’s still too soon. The trauma will follow me for a while… LOL Kidding. It was really uncomfortable and cold though. Despite my lack of sleep, my makeup and outfits were poppin’ throughout the trip so that’s something to be thankful for. Although heels really do suck, they completed my business attire to make it more.. well, me! The blisters on my feet were insane but I’m thankful for it leveling me out in pictures when I stood next to other people.
Being my last year in FBLA, this year was definitely my favorite. Next stop… NATIONALS IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. We didn’t place as high as we wanted to in our event, but life goes on and we are definitely ready to explore Georgia!
To anyone out there that happens to be in high school, I suggest that you go ahead and join clubs and compete in competitions with your friends… or even on your own! Through these organizations I have met new people and learned skills past the academics. The life skills and independence I have gained by attending these things will allow me to be better prepared for my future and can help you too!
Until Next Post xoxo,
Khirstyn-Lien
khirstyn 