The North Park Student Newspaper Since 2023
“Started from the bottom now we here”; DECA students shine at ICDC!
GENERAL NEWS
Udantika A. & Japji S.
6/11/20261 min read
From April 24th to April 30th, 43 students travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, to represent the school at DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC). From regionals to provincials and ultimately internationals, our school’s students proved themselves to be among some of the strongest DECA competitors in the world, evident with not just their medals and glass, but their newfound sense of confidence and determination that will support their future endeavors. From regionals to the international stage, this is the journey of our school's DECA success.
On the first day of competition, all chapters from every state and country attending participated in the opening ceremonies to mark the start of the conference. There, our students had their first opportunity to interact with other competitors from all the other participating states and countries to partake in the long held tradition of pin trading. Our competitors then spent the next few days competing, delivering presentations, roleplaying, crushing their written exams, and studying hard to ensure they performed at their absolute best. When the competitions wrapped up, the group had a chapter dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate their hard work at ICDC. During the last day of their stay in Atlanta, the students visited the world-renowned Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola to mark the end of their trip with memories they won’t forget.
Despite the excitement of being in Atlanta and enjoying pre- and post-competition events, let’s not forget that students were there to compete and they carried through triumphantly. ICDC is no joke, and it’s not easy to get there so you just know that students had spent weeks and months practicing their roleplays, mastering their PIs, completing practice exams and preparing for their writtens.
Praanjal Patel and Devin Embir who competed together in Virtual Business Category stated that “DECA this year was truly a rollercoaster for us, filled with a lot of late nights, early mornings and everything in between.