In April, Hempfield High School junior Ryan Malesic won seventh place at the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) state competition in Hershey. Malesic's ranking qualified him to participate in the national competition, which will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from June 26 to July 1.

To secure a place in the state competition, students must complete two tests: the first test qualifies the student to attend the event, and the second qualifies him or her to compete. The tests assess one's knowledge of general business practices, financial documents and income statements. When completing the entrance exam, Malesic was quizzed on his understanding of office dynamics, human resources management and different types of forms used by a manager. The exam also tested his ability to solve problems with generating revenue and balancing a company budget.

At the state competition, Malesic was assigned a prompt for a business management problem. After receiving the prompt, he had 20 minutes to read it and develop a solution, which he then presented to a panel of five judges. The judges asked follow-up questions and scored Malesic on the effectiveness of his solution. "In my management plan, I focused on guiding people to their own goals instead of telling them where to go," Malesic said. "My goal as a manager is to help them stay on task and get where they need to go, but not to micromanage."

The national competition will be similar to the state competition, and Malesic has already begun preparing for it. Although he will still need to navigate a business management problem, Malesic is focusing on categories in which he could have scored higher during his last presentation.

Malesic joined Hempfield High School's FBLA club during his freshman year, although he did not start participating in competitions and conferences until this year. He credits events like pitch competitions, where students have to market an original business idea, with improving his people skills and public speaking ability. "It's so much fun, and you learn a lot," Malesic added. "You get to know a lot of people as you're all presenting ideas."

In Malesic's entrepreneurship class, he developed an idea for a product called AnyCase: a gadget that combines a wallet and phone case into one accessory. Malesic and his group members presented AnyCase at the last pitch competition, and he plans to turn it into an official business in the future. After graduating from high school, Malesic plans to pursue business or finance in college.