Nashville has been a destination location for hundreds of thousands of people. The nightlife, the scenery, country music - there are so many attractions to one of the hottest cities in America. While the trio of Jay Wu, Allison Stabler and Jacky Silva would have loved to hit the town and do all the social media stuff, all three were all business, literally, as they were part of the Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference.
The three West Noble students - Wu and Silva both juniors and Stabler a freshman - each had unique paths to reach the Nashville showcase. Both Wu and Stabler were competing among the BPA platform in their respective events while Silva was sent primarily as a BPA delegate representing the state of Indiana. Below is a breakdown of their performances as well as insights from each of them.
The West Noble BPA also had some exciting news to share as Silva received a TORCH Award and the West Noble chapter received Honorable Mention in the BPA Cares Membership Explosion category. West Noble participates in the BPA Cares Program, where students write letters of encouragement to residents at Avalon Village.
Jay Wu
Banking & Finance: 41st out of 85
Financial Math & Analysis: 12th out of 330
Wu's subjects were focused on the banking industry and how money is incorporated into the economy and banking systems. The financial side was basic math concepts like stocks, profit and loss, taxes and how they work.
“We really didn't have much to do other than study and get ready for the tests. That was my focus. A lot of the Financial Math and Analysis was actually new to me, I don't know much about it. I was kind of shocked that I did so well. I think a lot of it, however, was basic knowledge and stuff you should know. I have seen some of it in my practice units, and it just came to me pretty easily.”
Allison Stabler
Graphic Design Promotion: 7th out of 12 in her section
The idea was to create a logo for the 60th anniversary of BPA, and put it on a windbreaker, a stress ball and different variations of material. Judging was done by section with one judge.
“It was really cool to see all the stuff there, with as much as we could, and the town is a lot bigger than I thought. More people than I thought. It was a really good experience. This has made me a lot more interested in the business side of things. Design, that was a good start, but I want to see what other events I can do to tie in the business side.”
Jacky Silva
Voting Delegate for Indiana
Open Events: Health Administrative Concepts & Marketing, Human Resource Concepts
As a delegate, Silva was chosen to be one of the Indiana representatives done through a short speech and physical campaigns. In Nashville, she represented BPA as an overall group with other students from around the country.
“When we heard the names of the people who qualified for Nationals, in recent years (West Noble) didn't really have anyone make it. Last year we had one (Xavier Viera), and this year we have two with Jay and Allison. I kept thinking, I really am glad and proud that we had two people go and represent West Noble.
“For BPA, being a Region 2 president, I feel like that helps me be a natural leader, but representing the state at a national conference, that's so much bigger. You represent so many people. That's an honor I take serious. It makes me also see that there are so many things outside of Ligonier, Indiana, but it also shows that people from Ligonier can do this.”