Every year in the middle of February, the Senior Beta Club travels down to Columbus Ohio for the State Beta Convention. Typically, they would travel down on Wednesday afternoon and stay till Friday. Their competitions would take place all day Thursday with the awards handed out on Friday morning. 

This year they were presented with a challenge. A lot of Beta members were confused about how it was going to occur, Lakeview senior and former Ohio State Beta President Jeffrey Jiang said, “I was concerned on how it was going to happen. My main concern was, will it still be enjoyable enough for the participants.”

Since the Covid-19 pandemic is still occurring almost 9 months later, they were forced to go virtual with the convention.

Things will look a lot different this year. The convention will begin on February 19th and commence on April 1st. A regular 1-day convention is now a 41-day convention – but online. When I spoke to some Beta members about their thoughts on the announcement, I was greeted with a mutual response: Disappointed and Upset. 

The first person I spoke to was Jiang. He was devastated, “It’s my senior year and my last convention and now I won’t be able to enjoy the competitions one last time or see good friends at another State Beta Convention.” It is a devastating decision for all, but it’s what needs to happen to ensure the health and safety of Beta members.

Senior Beta member and Lakeview junior Zach Sulc was also upset, “When I heard that Sr. Beta Convention was online, I was kind of bummed because it’s a great opportunity being able to battle against the best in competitions and learn new things, but due to the circumstances we’re going to have to improvise.”

I had also asked Sulc if the decision was a good idea. He said, “With the pandemic, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Sulc also knows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, “However we will come back better than ever next year.” 

Lakeview Sr. Beta Advisor Angela Sarko will be posting information about registering for the online convention to the Beta Google Classroom. Look for details to be posted in the beginning of January.

Betas will continue to prepare for this upcoming Beta Convention and then the next one. They are already pumped for the convention in 2022.