A Bay area 12th grade is playing a big role in a national organization. Max Michel may seem like your regular high school senior, but he recently ran for a pretty important position with the Future Business Leaders of America.
- Max Michel elected president of Future Business Leaders of America
- Michel overcame a setback he had as a freshman
- Michel will now lead more than 250,000 people
"It's very tense because it's a very quiet room. Everyone pulls out their phones to do online voting and you can feel the intensity in the room," Michel said.
Michel really is a go-getter, and after a setback that would have made most people never want to step on a public speaking stage again, Michel came back better than ever and is now leading more than 250,000 people across the nation as the President of the National Future Business Leaders of America--the largest career student organization in the world.
"My freshman year of high school I gave a speech in front of 500 people asking to be their district historian but I forgot my speech on stage, and it was really embarrassing. After that I thought it was just over, I though my fun in FBLA was just done," he said.
Luckily, Michel didn't give up. Now, he'll lead more than 250,000 business leaders with members coming from middle and high schools across the country, and business professionals.
After coming back from training, Michel said his main goal in FBLA is to encourage other students to go after their dreams, work hard, and never give up.
"I want to see more stories like that from Freshman forgetting their speeches, to having the opportunity to speak in front of 13,000 people," Michel said.
As president, Michel wants to do more to include FBLA's international chapters and he wants to work with lawmakers to provide funding to support career and technical education.