JA Business Week; it was not what I thought it would be.
The first day I was excited because I was ready to be on a college campus for a few days. Despite the hot sun, all the Junior Achievement staff greeted us with a smile. I really liked how the program allowed us to choose our roommates. This made me more excited. Every morning, after a delicious breakfast, everyone would meet in the auditorium to discuss the days’ worth of activities. Beforehand, each company would cheer their team’s chant and it would pump everyone up with energy for the rest of the day. Then we would spread out to our classrooms and work hard on our final project.
My group was Group A and we were first years. This means that it was the first year we all had participated in the JA Business Week program. As the days went by we took field trips to Jamba Juice, we went to a hotel to learn good eating manners, and we had a dance. I think that even though it was a few days, it definitely felt longer because of all the things we did. During our free time, we would play volleyball, soccer and tag at night.
You may wonder why the program is called Business Week if I haven’t explained any boring times we had. Well, let me tell you that business here was always fun. While we worked on a process to create our new name of our Jamba Juice blend, we learned social skills with clients at Jamba Juice. We learned how to make a good marketing campaign. We learned presentation skills. For girls, we learned how to dress professionally. My favorite piece of advice was “always keep a pair of nude flats and heels in your closet.”
Business is part of the universal language. It is essential for everyone to know. So I am very thankful for having the opportunity to be able to attend JA Business Week. I encourage all high school students to take this opportunity.
-Perla Bustillos, JA Business Week Student
