It is an undeniable fact that more club proposals get rejected than accepted at the end of each year— Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and Robotics Club were no exception. Yet, this rejection did not deter Kyle Bae (12) and Erin Ko (12), co-presidents of FBLA, and Justin Han (12), president of the Robotics Club, from starting unofficial clubs to pursue their interests.
FBLA serves to teach members the basics of business so that they can become better leaders in the future. According to Erin and Kyle, members will listen to lectures given by the club presidents and engage in mock panels that allow members to familiarize themselves with various business concepts.
“FBLA used to be an official club at SIS two years ago, but it got cut under the leadership of a few irresponsible seniors,” Kyle said. “Because Erin and I are interested in learning more about business, we could not let go of this opportunity. Therefore, we decided to take our first steps toward legitimizing the club once again.”
Members of FBLA will be given opportunities to showcase their business knowledge and skills in various competitions, such as the KAIAC Business Competition and the Case Study Competition. The KAIAC Business Competition involves the submission of business plans from different school that hold membership in KAIAC.
“Besides winning competitions, one of our major goals is to allow students to interact with each other,” Erin said. “Through experience, I have come to realize that business is a field that cannot develop through individual effort, but rather through collaboration—I hope the members will [realize the same] during their time in FBLA.”
Meanwhile, the Robotics Club is led by Justin, who teaches members how to design and program simple robots through hands-on experience. The Robotics Club had its first meeting on Sept. 18, and will continue to meet after school on Thursdays.
“There is no club in SIS that [is dedicated] to students who are interested in mechanical engineering or robotics,” Justin said. “The Robotics Club will provide activities for such students who want to get involved in and explore the possibilities of the field of robotics and mechanics.”
According to Justin, his club will start off with building six units of Mindstorms, a type of robotic kit, in which students will learn to program a Lego product that receives signals from sensors to accomplish various tasks. The club will then proceed with lessons on Arduino, another type of robotic kit, that will involve the use of more advanced materials to build their robots.
“Because my father is a robotics scientist, I have been exposed to the world of engineering from a very young age, and my interest in the field has been continuously increasing over the past couple of years,” said John Kim (11), member of the Robotics Club. “I decided to join the club because I hope to further pursue my passion and attain more knowledge about the mechanisms of robots.”