Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members participated in the annual Leadership Development Institute (LDI) conference at the DoubleTree hotel in Anaheim Saturday, Oct. 22. 

LDI is a conference offered to all California FBLA members. Students got the opportunity to connect with members from other schools and attend discussions to learn about leadership. 

“We were able to go around and learn different kinds of etiquette, especially at the dining table. We would sit down and learn the etiquette of how you eat during business meetings and business dinners,” sophomore Carissa Yu said. 

LDI also included several workshops, one of which was where students built a rocket within five minutes using playdough, cups and tape. They would then pitch it to the section officers and demonstrate their product. 

“I think it was a beneficial experience because it’s gotten me closer to other members. Before, it was harder for us to connect since general meetings were very brief,” public relations officer senior Winston Chang said. 

Students also took practice objective tests for topics such as Accounting, Personal Finance, Business Communications, Economics and Public Speaking. These tests help students prepare for the official FBLA objective exams. 

“I plan on [trying] for Economics. It’s an interesting topic because you can go [deeper] into understanding how the economy works. You hear terms such as inflation and it makes you wonder why it is inflating and the science behind it,” Chang said.

The next FBLA event is the Inland Section Leadership Conference, which will be held in February.

“I was able to bond [more] with the FBLA kids here at Walnut as well as with some people I knew from other schools through LDI and we were able to meet a lot of new people and meet a lot of new friends,” Yu said.