This year’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) national competition took place from April 26-30 in Anaheim, California. Around 20 students from Hinsdale Central traveled to the convention center to participate.

The competition consisted of six overall events, in which there are 60 sub events that students partake in.

The six main events are finance, business administration, management information systems,  digital communication and design, management, marketing and communication and health administration. 

“It is a great opportunity to represent the individual skills you have been working on all year,” said Samir Keswani, junior. 

Competitors participated in a wide range of assessments such as standard multiple choice, evaluation tests, and presentational events.  

“You are allowed to bring in materials/resources to the test,” said Sheza Shafi, junior. “This really framed my studying to creating study guides for my events rather than trying to memorize so much material I had not been taught.”

Students competed in the same two to three events they have been practicing with all year, however nationals took a deeper dive into each topic, requiring a bit more preparation than usual.

“BPA is a great way to practice useful and impactful skills for the future, and competitions as such provide an opportunity for club members to really hone in on and practice those skills,” said Ken Shum, BPA sponsor. 

Students interested in joining or learning more about Business Professionals of America can click here for more information.