Klamath Falls, Oregon – Six Mazama students traded their familiar classrooms for a national stage in San Antonio, joining thousands of young leaders for a week built around competition, connection and big ideas.
Amiah Gibson, Jalynn Monk, Arabella McNair, Olivia Crowder, Emma Olliffe and Holden Snyder represented Mazama at the FBLA National Leadership Conference, where more than 16,000 students gathered from across the United States, U.S. territories and Canada.
The conference gave the Mazama delegation an opportunity to test their skills alongside students from around the country. Participants competed in FBLA events, attended leadership workshops and met peers who share similar interests in business, education and professional growth.
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The experience was also about building relationships beyond formal conference sessions. Students networked with other attendees and took part in one of the event’s most popular traditions: exchanging state pins. The activity offered a simple but memorable way to meet students from different places and collect reminders of the people and communities represented at the national gathering.
Outside the conference, the group explored several of San Antonio’s best-known destinations. Their visit included time along the River Walk, at the Alamo and inside Historic Market Square, along with stops at other local attractions. Those outings added culture, history and sightseeing to an already busy week of leadership development.
For the six Mazama students, the trip combined serious learning with experiences that could not be recreated in a regular classroom. It placed them among thousands of ambitious students, exposed them to new perspectives and gave them memories shaped by both competition and discovery.
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The national trip was made possible through support from local businesses, organizations, families and community members. Sponsors included Thai Orchid, the Kiwanis Club of Klamath Falls, Taqueria Jalisciense and Abby’s Pizza. Mazama’s FBLA families and other supporters also helped make the opportunity possible.
Their contributions did more than help fund travel to Texas. They invested in six students who carried Mazama’s name onto a national platform and returned with fresh knowledge, stronger leadership experience and new connections.
The conference may have lasted only one week, but its impact could reach much further. For Gibson, Monk, McNair, Crowder, Olliffe and Snyder, going national became a chance to learn what leadership looks like beyond their own community, and to show that Mazama students belong on that stage.
