Senior Kaden Hamming has qualified for national finals three of his four years in high school. He’s offering his teammates some advice as they head to the largest competition. “Just take advantage of all the opportunities we are going to have. Meet new people, make some connections and just have fun. Do your best to win, too. You’ve come so far.”
Hamming will be joined in the trip by juniors Ryan Skidmore and Evan Liu, along with three freshmen - Raegen Chapman, Carmen Reynolds and Katelyn Chase. None of them have ever qualified for the national finals and are excited about the opportunity.
Hamming’s first national experience was a virtual event because of the pandemic. Then, he attended the national event in Dallas and now is excited for his third trip to the finals. He will compete in digital media production and fundamental accounting.
“I’ve always done digital media production and then I’ve added a different second event that’s always been different every year,” he said.
Hamming said BPA has really helped him recognize what he wants to do in the future. He will be attending Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan next year. “I know I want to do something in business. BPA helped me meet new people and make a lot of connections.”
Liu said those connections he’s already built through BPA are important. While doing a research survey for a class project, he called on some of the students he met through competition at the state BPA finals. “I just want to have fun and meet a lot of new people. I think that will be the biggest thing for me,” he said of the upcoming national contest.
Liu, who will compete in the fundamental word processing contest, said he’s been going over practice tests used in national finals in previous years. “I’m trying to be prepared as well as I can be.”
Chapman said she’s also been trying to prepare for her competition in basic office systems and procedures and fundamental word processing. "I’ve been reviewing a lot of old notes and just getting myself prepared. I just want to have a good experience,” she said.
Skidmore will also compete in basic office systems and procedures. “I’m excited for the experience and just the chance to meet new people.”
Competing in prepared speech has been a good experience for Chase. “BPA has made me more comfortable talking with other people,” she said.
Reynolds admitted she didn’t really know a lot about BPA before she joined, but said it has been a good extracurricular activity. She will compete in the category of business law and ethics. “I was surprised at how large the state contest was so I can’t imagine the nationals.”
All of the BPA finalists are also involved in sports and other activities in high school. Hamming and Reynolds have opted to miss the opening ceremonies at the national finals so they can compete in their conference track meet. They’ll meet up with the rest of the team before the start of competition.
Keith Hamming has been the BPA advisor for 26 years and said he’s extremely proud of this group of students. “They’ve worked really hard and done very well this year,” he said. “I feel like BPA gives kids a connection to real-world workforces in general. I think it gives them a chance to explore different categories, meet and build networks with professionals, and it builds their confidence,” he said.