Eight members from the Montgomery County High School Future Business Leaders of America group attended the National Fall Leadership Conference on Nov. 8-9 in Columbus, Ohio.

Even though it was a short trip, it turned out to be a successful one for Avery Leu, Atlanta Kobusch, Sara Meyer, Anna Klekamp, Brenna Ludy, Dakota Marion, Lily Helm and Elizabeth Naumann.

“It was a good way to meet new people who are part of FBLA,” said Leu, who is a senior. “I felt like we really connected with others. We just learned a whole bunch more than there is to FBLA, at least I did.”

During the conference, all attendees got an opportunity to improve their business skills, develop professionally through breakout sessions and showcase their knowledge through competitive events.

“There’s so much more into it than future business leaders,” Meyer said.

Kobusch said she was thrilled to get the chance to go to the national conference in her senior year at MCHS.

“This year, the conference was incredible, especially experiencing it before we leave and being able to travel out of state with all of our friends and stay there,” Kobusch said. “We logged the whole thing. I think we definitely made it a lot more fun.”

Leu said one of the best highlights of her trip to Ohio was learning about competitive events.

“We had to do this thing where we mixed up partners,” Leu said. “So I was with a girl from California. We had only 10 minutes to work together and create a speech on entrepreneurship. We had to talk about that and connect it back to FBLA. I really learned how to turn my brain on quickly when it comes to that kind of stuff.”

The MCHS group participated in a conference that was attended by many students from all over the country.

“It was cool to meet the other people because the girls we were with were on it and knew exactly what to do,” Kobusch said. “They’ve done that specific event several times. They definitely taught us some skills that we should know about doing these competitive events.”

The conference was held at the Hyatt Regency and Greater Columbus Convention Center. Students stayed at the Residence Inn in Columbus. The trip cost about $3,000.

“That’s not too bad for 10 of us to be flying there and back and staying at the hotel for two nights,” Kobusch said.