After months of preparation, members of the school’s DECA chapter earned the opportunity to represent Maryland at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Held from Apr. 26 to 30 in Orlando, Florida, the conference gathered more than 25,000 high school DECA students from around the world to compete, learn and grow as emerging professionals.
ICDC is DECA’s largest and most prestigious event, featuring competitive events in marketing, finance, hospitality and business management. For students, the experience went far beyond just competing. “ICDC was a really great experience, especially as a sophomore. I learned a lot about independence from being able to travel alone for the week, and it was a really fun experience for me and my friends. Getting to compete and participate in an event with people from around the world also taught me a lot about different cultures,” sophomore Sanaya Dixit said.
Beyond competition, students attended workshops, networked with DECA members from across the globe and had time to explore nearby attractions like Disney World and Universal Studios. One of the most anticipated traditions is pin trading, which takes place before the opening ceremony. “Each state has their own respective pin, and you trade with other states to try and get as many as you can. Sometimes, people trade pins for hats or merchandise from their state bags. Maryland doesn’t get anything special like how Texas had cowboy hats. Arkansas got construction worker DECA jackets, so people were trading for those. A lot of people tried to trade for my state officer pin with a few other things, but I couldn’t trade that,” Maryland DECA Vice President of Public Relations Maria Thomas said.
Following the opening ceremony, the competition began. “The next day, that’s exams and written presentations. Then Monday, we had role-play events. Also, Monday was when we had all the workshops. Some are required, some are invite-only, but they’re fun and you learn different skills depending on the workshop,” Thomas said.
Monday night was DECA Night, which took place at Universal Studios. “They close down Universal just for DECA students. You stay after hours. It’s so fun. You get to meet people from different countries and states, and you learn new things and just have fun with your friends. My favorite parts had to be the workshop that I went to with the state officers and then also DECA Night. Our hotel was also nice because it connected to Disney Springs, which is downtown Disney, and the pool was fun to go to with friends,” Thomas said.
Tuesday featured the recognition ceremony, where top performers were announced. This ceremony honors individuals who achieve top 10 scores in role-play, exams, or presentations. For anyone in the top 20 scores overall, that means they’re a finalist, and they compete again for a chance at placing in the top 10, which is internationally recognized.“We got to show the skills we’ve developed, but we also learned a lot about what we need to improve,” Maryland DECA Central Region Vice President Jackson Lou said.
