Weidler places first at National Leadership Conference
July 22, 2019
David Weidler won first place in the marketing concepts category at the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas. FBLA-PBL is a career and business student organization headquartered in Virginia.
Weidler, a senior professional accounting, finance, and marketing major from Howard, S.D., is a competitive person by nature and was excited to learn he had earned first place.
“I put what I’ve learned in the classroom here [at DSU] to the test against people from Iowa [at the spring regional competition,] and then against people across the country at nationals,” he said.
This was Weidler’s third year competing at nationals. He competed in statistical analysis two years ago and macroeconomics and personal finance last year. He finds participating in competitions is beneficial, especially if it involves topics related to your major.
“You can use it as another tool to evaluate if you’re learning because you’re reapplying that knowledge in a different format,” Weidler said.
While Weidler enjoyed the competition and listening to the keynote speaker share tips on résumé building, he most enjoyed the recognition the DSU competitors received.
“Just seeing everyone with their accomplishments and get rewarded for their academic success is pretty nice,” he shared.
The six students are all members of the DSU PBL Business chapter. PBL stands for Phi Beta Lambda, but the group often refers to the club as professional business leaders. They competed in areas of business, information management, and computer programming.
Pictured (l-to-r): DSU award winners from left: Jacia Christiansen, Tavyn Hallan, AJ Schoenfelder, David Weidler, John Trout, and Kayla Mentele.
In addition to placing first in marketing concepts, Weidler also placed sixth in sports management and marketing. AJ Schoenfelder, of Parkston, S.D. placed eighth in programming concepts and ninth in information management; John Trout, of Prescott, Ariz. placed 10th in project management; Tavyn Hallan, of Madison, S.D. placed ninth in personal finance; and Jacia Christiansen, of Viborg, S.D. placed 10th in financial concepts.
Club advisor Dr. Yen-Ling Chang is proud of the success all the students who attended the national conference had.
An associate professor of finance in DSU’s College of Business and Information Systems, Chang said “Our DSU students indeed excelled in their academic field and shined on the national stage.”