April 17, 2019 News

Bright Bright Future

If you recognized this title from the Timbuk-3 hit song, you’re probably dating yourself. But your next thoughts are the times you’ve listened to that song and the memories that go along with it. Right? Events in our life and the songs that bring us back to those events are small time capsules of memories in our soul.

I was just recently reminded of the power of songs and the new meanings that can come from them.

On April 8th and 9th, 2019, over 2,500 high school students descended upon Green Bay, Wisconsin for the 2019 Future Business Leaders of America’s (FBLA) state competition. This year, I had the honor of judging several competitions.

Along with some of my fellow judges from Humana Insurance, Associated Bank and American Family Insurance, we graded groups and individual students relating to different aspects of business. Presenters were graded on multiple aspects of their presentation, including appearance and punctuality. Interactive questioning between the judges and students further clarified their presentations.

As I listened to the students, over the two-day event, I was impressed at the professionalism and amazed at the knowledge these students had gained. Great ideas, such as training people differently, “because they all learn differently,” to not so popular ideas, like publishing a public database of a pest extermination company, were shared.

Before leaving the final day of judging, I stayed around for the award ceremony. As the awards were given out, several of the teams I had graded actually qualified for nationals. I was proud of the hard work each team had completed.

A short time later, after getting into my car, the song, “Future’s So Bright, I’ve Gotta Wear Shades,” came on the radio. I immediately thought of each student competing in the event and the exciting opportunities ahead of them. To all of those students, from me to you, keep rocking those Ray Bans!