Sixty-four high school seniors from all across the country descended on the Wabash College campus Sunday, marking the 41st consecutive year of the Opportunities to Learn About Business Program. OLAB is the oldest, fastest, most entertaining, and best program of its kind in the United States.
OLAB Director Jim Amidon said that selecting students for this year’s program was particularly tough, but that he was thrilled with the final results.
“We had far more applications for OLAB this year than at any point during my tenure as director,” Amidon said. “As a result, we selected the most diverse OLAB student body in the 41-year history of the program — and it’s the largest group in two decades.”
Amidon said that the Internet has resulted in students from all over the country applying for the one-of-a-kind program. Students in OLAB this year come from Indiana, Texas, California, Illinois, Tennessee, Connecticut, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and even Spain.
“It’s terrific that we have 30 students from outside Indiana,” said Amidon. “This program used to be limited to students from Indiana, but we’re now internationally known and respected.”
The OLAB schedule in 2013 is once again fast-paced and full of fun. “Labbies,” as participants are known, started immediately with a workshop led by Wabash Rhetoric Professor Todd McDorman, before diving headlong into production led by OLAB Game-Master Greg Shaheen and Economics Professor Humberto “Bert” Barreto. Students will hear from a variety of guest speakers throughout the week — lecturing on all aspects of business, from business ethics to marketing.
By Tuesday, the students will split into 13 companies competing in the difficult consumer electronics market. Each team has to design, market, and sell handheld devices — and must differentiate from the competition in order to do so. Participants in OLAB will study effective group decision making, speech making, accounting, marketing, advertising, and they will even negotiate a labor agreement — or at least they’ll try.
“It’s a very full week,” said Amidon. “We try to instill in the students from day one that they need to pay attention, get involved, have fun, and think both critically and creatively. Those are the keys to success and fun at OLAB.”
The Goodrich Trust continues to be the anchoring sponsor of the OLAB program.
“I can’t tell you how excited everyone associated with the OLAB program is about this year’s group. From the diversity of the class to the wealth of experience our faculty and counselors bring to the program, this will be a great year,” said Amidon.
Graduation is set for Saturday, July 13 at 2:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center.
This year’s participants include: Carlton Anker of Carmel, IN; Nick Beeson of Carmel, IN; Adam Berman of San Antonio, TX; Laura Sistach Bosch of Barcelona, Spain; Kristin Bronson of Penn Valley, CA; Dana Cornish of Bolingbrook, IL; Baylee Crum of Frankfort, IN; Sam Cunningham of Lafayette, IN; Emily Dickey of Germantown, TN; Garrett Emerick of Crawfordsville, IN; Olivia Fiasconaro of Cheshire, CT; Thomas Gardner of Indianapolis, IN; Taylor George of Fishers, IN; Andrew Good of Indianapolis, IN; Marcelo González of San Juan, TX; Kevin Griffen of Brownsburg, IN; Luke Gunderman of Carmel, IN; Daniel Hamrin of Lexington, KY; Jack Harvey-Camillone of Chicago, IL; Lauren Hawkes of Hunting Valley, OH; Kelsey Helstrom of Noblesville, IN; Meredith Hess of Claremont, CA; Jacob Huff of Jasonville, IN; Jack Hughes of Franklin, IN; Cory Hutchison of Crawfordsville, IN; Lucy Johnston of Zionsville, IN; Shashwat Kala of Waterford, CT; Chelsea Klassa of Novi, MI; Megan Klassa of Novi, MI; Isaac Lamb of Pendleton, IN; Jenny Ly of Indianapolis, IN; Stephen Malburg of Columbus, IN; Isak Massman of Antioch, IL; Nicholas Medrano of Plantation, FL; Ryan Mensah of Evanston, IL; Anna Merino of Eads, TN; Nolan Morse of Crawfordsville, IN; Kevin Murphy of Elmwood Park, IL; Chineme Obiefune of Ellicott City, MD; Kevin O’Brien of Crawfordsville, IN; Matthew Paluszny of Carmel, IN; Caroline Payne of Carmel, IN; Luke Peduto of Indianapolis, IN; Spencer Price of Holland, MI; Ben Puckett of Sharpsville, IN; Brian Pulawski of Zionsville, IN; Brady Quackenbush of Fishers, IN; Michael Quiroz of Waukegan, IL; Parker Redelman of Carmel, IN; Emma Servies of Crawfordsville, IN; Scott Sharp of Davie, FL; Sarah Stackhouse of Riverview, FL; Daniel Straka of Munster, IN; Patrick Stratton of Crown Point, IN; Sam Surgalski of Traverse City, MI; Stephanie Timm of Indianapolis, IN; Michael Tornaritis of Edwardsville, IL; Kayla Turgeon of Durham, NC; Sara Vanderkolk of Columbus, IN; Christine Wang of Carmel, IN; Christopher White of Westfield, IN; Amy Wu of North Potomac, MD; Yosita Yeerong of San Diego, CA; and Sean Yuan of Houston, TX.