Taking Care of Business

Industrious freshmen making their mark early with new RSO

Still just a freshman in the music industry management program, Kelly Teska is the president of a new RSO, looking to steer the program to a big future.

Last fall, Teska shadowed a graduating senior on campus who had just restarted a new RSO, a Ferris chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA). BPA is a national career-technical student organization pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields.

“Being in BPA helps me develop leadership skills which are critical to be successful in today’s workforce,” Teska said. It has also given me the opportunity to test my business skills in real world situations and competitions, particularly in accounting and business presentations

Teska took over this spring semester and is thrilled for the future of BPA. As the president of BPA, Teska in pursuing her dream of working for an accounting firm that specializes in the music industry.

“Obviously, our biggest goal right now is getting new members. We are really working hard to get this RSO up and running, and so far it has been pretty successful,” Teska said. “We’ve been going around to classrooms and sort of pitching the RSO to the students and letting them know about our informational meetings coming up. We’ve actually had quite a few responses about interest in joining BPA, so that’s awesome.”

Teska was also joined by music industry management freshman Josh Olszewski. Olszewski, the community service coordinator for BPA, spoke on how once membership increases, the organization will focus on community service and entering competitions around the state.

“Since the RSO is Business Professionals of America, we do focus a lot on professional development and being in a professional setting. A lot of people may think it’s just for business majors, but it’s definitely more than that,” Olszewski said. “The competitions we will attend will have categories from accounting, to graphic design, to speeches, to computer sciences, to marketing and so many other things. We really have quite the diverse group of students involved.”

Teska is excited for the future of BPA and is confident the organization will be quick to get on track.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before we have enough members to start competing. Ultimately, the goal is to get students involved,” Teska said. “It really shows people that you aren’t just sitting around doing nothing. You’re being active and really trying to make a difference. If we can get people involved and start competing in competitions and maybe make it to states or even nationals, I think that would be huge for not only this RSO, but for Ferris in general.”

The first big project BPA wants to get involved with is Walk for Warmth. The event, scheduled for March 1, will raise money to keep families in Mecosta County warm.

For more information about the Business Professionals of America, e-mail ferrisbpa@nullgmail.com. They will be meeting on Tuesday, February 18, in FLITE 135 at 6 p.m.