Every year, applications for being a FBLA Officer come around during the end of semester two. To prepare students for this intensive role, executive officers created a program for the freshman. The FBLA Junior Officer positions were given to a few freshman members who exemplified the standard needed to be an officer. Similar to a trial run of being an officer for rising sophomores, it allows eight students to learn and train under the FBLA presidents and executive officers. This year, the list of officers included Megan Kim, Nethra Peddu, Aayush Keskar, Anay Shah, Chloe Durr, Sai Vikhyath Belda, Sashya Kumar and Siruni Pulijala. For these members, this opportunity allows them to experience how being an actual officer would be like, offering input and suggestions.
As one of the select few chosen to be a junior officer, Megan Kim has grown as a leader throughout this school year. She joined FBLA in Middle School and has now been a part of the club for two years. While she did not compete last year, this year she presented at State for her FBLA High school competition, “Introduction to Social Media Strategy”. For her, being a part of the junior team has allowed her to ask questions and receive advice on her competition, something she greatly attributed to her success.
“Being a junior officer has really helped me with my competitions, and being able to talk to upperclassmen allowed me to be more prepared for SLC (State Leadership Conference),” Kim stated.
The process to get to this point was challenging, as applicants had to try out and submit a résumé, video presentation, and answer written response questions. Following this, all junior officers selected still had to submit deliverables to the executives, as a segue into the beginning of the program.
“Once I became a freshman officer, we had to share our contact information to the executives and presidents,” Kim recalled. “Then, they would assign us things to complete by a certain deadline.”
After becoming an officer, these eight freshmen received training, explored leadership and were encouraged to help other members. One of the first few things introduced was the FBLA Business Achievement Award (BAA) Contributor Level course, which is a leadership course intended for members to better their understanding of things like communication styles, accountability, goal setting and facilitating productive meetings. As part of this program, members were also encouraged to attend and participate in chapter meetings. Megan Kim talked about how this role helped her to grow as a member in FBLA, networking and connecting with other members and professionals.
“I’ve learned so much in business fundamentals, and I worked and networked with so many people,” Kim stated. “It was easier to communicate and ask questions with upperclassmen and executive friends.”
Most importantly, the FBLA Junior Officer positions mean these members are at the top of the list to be considered for the actual committee officer positions. These students have a better chance of making it into the leadership positions offered by the Lambert FBLA chapter. Lambert is excited to see how they continue their FBLA journeys, as they navigate the ups and downs of being part of such a large club.
