From March 2-4 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, members of West’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter will compete at the State Leadership Conference (SLC). Individuals of the school’s organization earned invitations to the State competition by qualifying at the Regional Leadership Conference (RLC), hosted at West on Jan. 14.

“BPA is a club here at West that allows students with interests in business, administration, finance or technology to showcase their interests,” senior Amy Opara said. “BPA chapters compete against other chapters, regions and states in competitions that test their knowledge and skills in those topics.”

West’s BPA chapter is advised by teachers Kelley Wonsmos and Catherine Humphrey. However, the club operates largely under the leadership of the student officer team.

“As a club, we meet together once or twice a month,” Opara said, “but the main emphasis is on preparing outside of school for the individual events we compete in at Regionals.”

Last month at RLC, West qualified for the State competition in 29 individual events and five team events. The Regional competition lasted all day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and ended with an awards ceremony in West’s competition gym.

“Once all events have been completed for the day, numerous judges score the individual events and team events, then calculate the ranking of each student in the events,” Opara said. “At the awards ceremony, the top four students in each individual event and the top two teams in each team event qualify for State.”
Senior Alexis Ren qualified for SLC by placing first in Fundamental Word Processing Skills.

“In my event, you basically format different kinds of documents according to style guidelines, like say for example, a letter, memo or email,” Ren said. “I have a friend that did this event in the previous year and he gave me some pointers about how to approach it.”

BPA members are not limited to just participating in only one event. At RLC, most students competed in their individual event in the morning and their team event in the afternoon, as was the case with senior Peter Huang.
“Unfortunately, I was not able to qualify for State in my primary, cherished and loved event of Extemporaneous Speaking, which I practice for several hours every day,” Huang said. “However, I qualified for State in my team event, Parliamentary Procedure. We debate three prompts and three motions in a parliamentarian format in a corporate setting.”
The stakes are high going into SLC as students can qualify for the National Leadership Conference (NLC) hosted this year in Orlando, Florida from May 10-14.

“Having qualified for State for both my individual and team events, I think my greatest hope is to just stay calm and complete my events to the best of my ability,” Opara said. “My individual event is a timed event so I’m hoping that I can complete it a bit faster than I did at Regionals, though I still hope to maintain the same level of quality I need in order to do well.”
Senior and president of West’s BPA chapter Katherine Chen previously competed at SLC last year, hosted in Corpus Christi in March 2016.
“There’s the stress of preparing for competition and the anxiousness you get while waiting for your name to be called during the awards ceremony, but the overall experience is one to remember,” Chen said. “You get to talk to company representatives, network with business professionals, get to test your knowledge with optional tests and win special awards.”

Although the club is mainly competition-based, the club’s officer team has also organized a multitude of other events including guest speaker lectures, a student Q&A panel and Chen’s personal favorite, a Shark Tank-inspired competition.

“There were over a hundred attendees, so we split them into teams of six and gave them 15 minutes to create a product out of a set of Legos,” Chen said. “Afterwards, they took turns pitching their ideas to us. I can’t remember what the winning team’s invention was, but nevertheless, it was incredible to see all of the students’ creative and entrepreneurial sides shine through.”

Through acting as the aspiring entrepreneur-contestants on a reality television show and competing at Regional and State Leadership Conferences, the members of West’s BPA chapter are given the chance to explore the disciplines of business.

“For students like me who are interested in the business field but are not sure exactly what to specialize in, BPA is a great opportunity to find your niche,” Chen said. “Even for students who are leaning towards another career field, BPA is a great opportunity to develop leadership skills, become a more active citizen and gain insight into the real world.”

While their success can be quantified through awards from Regional, State and National competitions, the club members agree that the true value of BPA lies in the friendships made in the process.

“With incredible advisors, amazing friends and awesome teammates, my time as a member of BPA these past two years has been nothing short of absolutely amazing,” Opara said.