Bailey Bird and Chance Burnett, juniors at Eastern Kentucky University, earned awards in competitive events at the Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference this summer. Burnett took fourth place in insurance concepts, and Bird took ninth in organizational behavior and leadership.
The annual National Leadership Conference, held this year in San Antonio, Texas, brings together collegiate PBL members from across the country. Members participate in professional development, networking and competitive events in the form of objective tests, presentations, team events and more. Bird’s and Burnett’s events took the form of an objective test.
“Hours and hours of studying went into preparation for these competitions,” said Burnett, a business management major from Versailles. “I feel honored to receive these awards, especially at Nationals, where Bailey Bird and I were able to stand on the national stage.”
Bird, a psychology major also from Versailles, shared Burnett’s excitement. “Winning the award was a confidence booster for me,” she said.
After graduating from Eastern, Bird plans to attend graduate school for industrial and organizational psychology. She said the award showed her that she has the business acumen to be a competitive applicant to such a program. “Being able to place in a competition geared towards business-related majors made me feel like I could accomplish other professional goals in the future. I am very appreciative of my teammates from PBL who encouraged me to test my limits and try things outside of my comfort zone.”
Burnett plans to earn a master’s of business administration in management after graduating from EKU.
Eastern students also brought home many awards from the State Leadership Conference, held earlier this year on EKU’s campus. State winners include Burnett and Bird, Casie McBurney, Caitlyn Klaas, Elizabeth Tramontin, Mason Northcutt, Lucas Brewer, Haley Gillespie, Will Davis, Jacob Collins, Shanoah Shelton, Quinton Lyvers and Kyle Best.