Students from the Naveen Jindal School of Management achieved notable success recently at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Conference.
In 2023, Jindal School students placed in eight events. This year, 15 students finished in the top 10. The conference was held June 24-27 in Orlando, Florida.
“It was terrific how this group came together to show so much talent,” said Dr. Kathryn Lookadoo, associate professor of instruction in the Jindal School’s Business Communications Program and faculty advisor for the UTD chapter of FBLA. “They have become close through the process and they have pushed each other on. We had our share of first-time attendees who placed well.”
One of those was Gabriel Parra-Montesdeoca, who placed first in Foundations of Selling and fourth in Impromptu Speaking. For Foundations of Selling, it was a test of around 100 questions.
“I felt good going into it but I didn’t expect to win,” said Parra-Montesdeoca, who will be a junior in the fall and is majoring in business administration. “It’s very encouraging to me.”
When it came to Impromptu Speaking, he did speech and debate in high school and has continued to gain confidence in his communications skills.
“I was given 10 minutes to prepare a five-minute speech and it was fun to have the challenge,” Parra-Montesdeoca said. “In the first round, the topic was corporate responsibility and for the finals it was three qualities entrepreneurs should have.
Sofia Hurmuzlu was another first-time attendee who scored high, taking home second in Organizational Behavior and Leadership.
“In the fall of 2023, I took Kathryn Lookadoo’s 4300 BComm class and, in the spring, I took an organizational behavior class with Alex Lee, and the concepts they both taught me really helped me be prepared,” said Hurmuzlu, who is a junior majoring in healthcare management.
Hurmuzlu, at first, was not sure if this kind of competition was right for her, but her family convinced her to give it a shot.
“It’s turned out to honestly be a great confidence boost,” Hurmuzlu said. “I really believe in myself that if I work hard I can get it done. And seeing how everyone else was so motivated and passionate about what they were doing, it also motivated me as well.”
Hari Tunga, the university’s FBLA chapter treasurer, finished first in the Foundations of Marketing category and second in the accounting case competition.
“I had taken an intro to marketing class a year ago with business honors professor Rita Egeland and it really prompted me to gain a love of marketing and explore those objective tests,” he said. “The notes from class were also a big help.”
For the accounting case competition, the challenge was to figure out whether an ailing rural day care center should remain open.
“It was hard to do related research on rural day care centers but I did urban day care center research and modified it for rural,” said Tunga, who is a rising junior and is majoring in healthcare management and molecular biology.
Gaining this experience — the trip was partly financially supported by Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Caruth Chair and Jindal School dean — was also an opportunity for students to learn from experts and network. A standout to Tunga was a keynote speech of Gorick Ng, career advisor and author of the book The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right.
“There were thoughts on how to interact with others when making first impressions and I learned about the importance of asking questions but also making connections,” Tunga said. “Healthcare management can be a niche field and engaging with others, from executives, to doctors, to nurses, will help me become a better healthcare management leader.”
Many students also had a chance to explore Orlando. Parra-Montesdeoca even found time to go to Universal Studios with team members.
“We really bonded over this competition,” Parra-Montesdeoca said. “Many of the students I didn’t know that well before this, but we became much closer. I learned and I competed but I also learned from the others and grew from that — that’s very valuable.”
After the trip Lookadoo was still admittedly recovering her voice from the excitement.
“A lot of cheering at the awards ceremony,” she said. “I love advising this organization because we just get students who are very enthusiastic and want to succeed. They can be first-time attendees and they can be early on in their time at school and do well. I think you will see the students continue to grow in their confidence — that’s a big takeaway we want them to have.”
