On the evening of April 8, teams of MVHS students took to the stage at the FBLA states conference a total of 28 times. Each time a team stepped up in front of the crowd, they shook hands with the state officer team, made up of students acting as regional representatives for chapters across the state, and received awards for placing in the top 10 in their respective competitions. That very night, the competitions officer team, consisting of juniors Grace Zhou, Forest Yang and Theresa Lee, senior Rohan Chitale and sophomore Ananya Krishnapura, stepped up to accept the 29th award as MVFBLA was crowned the third best chapter in the state of California. After a long weekend of competitions, meetings and adventures around the city of Sacramento, MVFBLA members were relieved and excited to reclaim their spot as one of the state’s premier chapters.

Over the past few years, MVFBLA has been steadily climbing in state rankings. Having placed fifth at the state conference last year, this year’s third place finish marked greater progress for the chapter.

“We want to continue doing well competitively,” junior and executive Vice President William Hsu said. “[We want to] continue recruiting more members and having them join our FBLA family.”

Yet the conference meant a lot more to members than just competing. Hsu discussed how conferences go beyond the stress of competitions and help promote a family-style environment in the club.

“I think the idea of the FBLA family is something that we really pride ourselves on, that we really want to make sure everyone feels included, and make it more than just about competing,” Hsu said. “I feel like that’s something that really differentiates us from other organizations on campus.”

Playing versions of popular group games like Mafia and Paranoia, eating meals in the middle of a hotel hallway and cheering on their chapter at the awards ceremony had the MVFBLA team bonding throughout the conference.

“There’s a lot of socials that we do have during the conference, so that’s really a good time for everyone in the chapter to bond and get to know each other,” sophomore Secretary-Treasurer Barry Qi said. “And also, the stressful experiences you have with your team [are] very memorable, because it’s something that you probably will never be able to experience elsewhere.”

The state conference served as a platform for members to interact and develop greater bonds within the chapter. Members like freshman Pratya Poosala even felt that their favorite memories came primarily from spending time with other members.

“[Playing games contrasted] from the stress of competing and trying to do well,” Hsu said. “It was really fun to try to get to know everyone. We’ve bonded a lot and developed a lot of inside jokes about peanut butter and such.”

Poosala, Qi and Hsu will all be moving on to the National conference that will be held in Anaheim from June 29 to July 2. Hsu and the rest of the chapter want to continue MVFBLA’s uphill climb and carry their momentum forward to the national conference. Yet, most of all, the chapter looks to preserve its family atmosphere amid all of its success.

“I think the biggest takeaway is the fact that there are so many people and officers that care about you,” Poosala said. “And I think that it’s important that we have this environment where everyone can trust each other and help each other.”