For a third year in a row for Ridgeview, the Virtual Enterprise program traveled out to New York to compete in Nationals. While the business plan team left in the top 20, the finance team left with 2nd place.
Miguel Garcia, the Virtual Enterprise teacher, just marked his fourth year at Nationals with the business and finance team leading them but before that, he helped them to second and fifth in the state. According to Garcia, you don’t know what is being judged when you are at the competition. He explains, “That’s what makes VE really hard, we prepare our teams to defend their business plan from all angles.” After finding out both of the teams qualified in January and March, Garcia breaks down how he helped prepare both teams for the competition. He explains, “I prepared our teams for competition by surrounding them with the best possible, and also putting them under more pressure leading up to the competitions.” Garcia makes it known of his admiration and pride for the teams and how they did. He expresses, “No matter the results, I know how hard our kids work and how dedicated they are to this program. In terms of trophies, having a team place second in the state and the other get fifth in the state with both making the top 20 in the country is a huge deal.” In terms of next year and the plan to take on nationals again, Garcia says, “We are going to take these results as a message to work harder, get sharper, and be unbeatable next year. We will be wiser, more experienced, and hungry to win.”
Damian Hernandez, a junior in Virtual Enterprise, helped lead the finance team of Sansa (one of the companies) to a second place national title. This was not only his first time going to nationals but his first year in the program. Explaining how they qualified to attend nationals, Hernandez states, “ To qualify for nationals, we had to rank in the top seven in the state and we placed fifth.” When leading up to competition time, the finance team took action to better understand their learning. Hernandez explains, “To prepare for the competition, we have multiple meetings with our advisor Ed Taylor to help grow our knowledge on finance/accounting. My team also were all returners so they helped mentor and guide me along the way.” While many different departments and businesses compete at nationals every year, each has different judges. Hernandez explains how the finance team was judged by saying, “We are ranked and judged by our understanding of the company’s finances. Each competition round is presented in front of a panel of two to five judges.” Continuing to his final year of being a part of the program, Hernandez has hopes for next year’s outcome. He expresses, “With the experiences gained and our newly added mentor, Bill Demmin, I believe we can take first place next year.”
Alayna Trevino, a freshman in Virtual Enterprise and a part of their HR department, traveled to New York with her classmates. Same as Hernandez, this was Trevino’s first time at Nationals and first year in the program. Even though this was Trevino’s rookie year, she helped as much as she could to the business team leading up to the competition. She states, “The business plan team prepared by making sure our business was strong, they had lots and lots of practice presenting and things of that nature.” Trevino mostly went along with her classmates to help support them since it’s her rookie year but learned many things that she will use next year when hopefully attending her second national competition. Reflecting on the experience she says, “My favorite moment from the competition was seeing our teams work together and build that bond, the experience and memories I got to make with our teams were exciting and unforgettable.”
