Staff writer
Jacob Jirak of Ramona competed in a national Future Business Leaders of America contest June 25 to 29 at Anaheim, Calif., and came away with a first-place finish in personal finance.
The 16-year-old student got to the national level by placing first at a regional contest and again at the state convention.
The whole experience was an exciting ending to his sophomore year at Centre High School.
Jacob said he had not intended to compete at any level but decided at the last minute to participate in the regional contest, with no expectation of placing.
His surprising, first-place finish inspired him to get serious and aspire to greater heights.
“My teacher, Mrs. Beye, and I talked about going to California, but we seriously didn’t think we would make it,” Jacob said.
He had learned basic things such as check writing and preparing job resumes in Beye’s personal finance class at Centre High School.
She gave him books to study that dealt with more advanced subjects such as investing, budgeting, and retirement planning.
“I recorded questions and answers and played the tape back while I slept,” he said. “I think it helped.”
After his first-place finish at state, he studied intently another two weeks before going to the national contest.
There, he and approximately 100 other contestants took a computerized test of 100 questions.
“I felt I had 90 percent right including a few guesses, but wasn’t sure how I did because I was competing with many contestants from specialized schools,” he said.
Jacob was thrilled to hear his name called at the awards ceremony. He went on stage to receive $750 cash and a trophy.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “I never realized there was so much excitement in the FBLA. I met many different people. Everyone was sociable. It not only was fun, but an experience I could learn a lot from.”
Jacob is the son of Steve and Vickie Jirak. He will be working for Jirak Produce the rest of the summer. He plans to invest the money he earned and is thinking about competing in economics his junior year.