Twenty five competitors from the Algonquin chapter of DECA traveled to Orlando to participate in the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) from April 22 to April 25, with a total of five members taking home a Top 20 Global title.

The conference, which took place in the Orlando Convention Center, had over 20,000 participants including competitors, advisers, judges and alumni. Students from Germany, Spain, Puerto Rico and Canada were represented, among other nations and territories. Juniors Sophia Luna, Sindhu Veerameneni and Riyana Patel earned seventh place overall for their group project on Sports and Entertainment Marketing, while junior Eric Sun placed fourth in Principles of Finance and sophomore Ally O’Hearn placed in the top 20 in the Professional Selling category.

The trip was chaperoned by DECA advisers Lauren Hesemeyer and Tricia Riley, as well as Health & Fitness teacher Kristen Morcone. According to Hesemeyer, whose first ICDC experience occurred in Atlanta last year, the results of this year’s competition surpassed her expectations.

“I think the competition went really well,” Hesemeyer said. “Last year, we took 18 kids and only one of them made it on the stage to compete in the final round. This year, we had three groups get called up on stage. In each category [there are] 186-237 kids, and this is Internationals, so the fact that we had some top 20 qualifiers was insane.”

Because of the scale of the event, Hesemeyer says, competitors must be prepared for more advanced topics to appear in the multiple choice and roleplay sections.

“[Large-scale competitions] are significantly more challenging,” Hesemeyer said. “Even some of our four-year DECA members who have made it to ICDC a few times can attest… they have to acquire a deeper understanding of their topic.”

Veeramaneni and Patel found that forging connections with other DECA participants and judges of the event was one of the most valuable experiences to come out of the trip.

“One of our judges tried to get to know us; she asked what the hardest part of our [project] was and it felt appreciative of our effort,” Patel said.

The trip included various leisure activities throughout the week, including visits to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Top Golf and Universal Studios. Junior Sitan Zhan, who competed in the Finance category, enjoyed the experience but had little time to rest or further prepare for his presentation.

“It was a little packed; that’s not something we can control since DECA organizes [the schedule], but it just felt like constant motion,” Zhan said. “It was hard to organize time.”

Hesemeyer agreed that time was a limiting factor in planning the visits to Disney and Universal, given that the competition took up the majority of their five days in Orlando. 

“Prices are pretty high, and the fact that we got to go was amazing, but I wish the kids had a little more time in the parks,” Hesemeyer said.

For Zhan, the expense of the trip compounded by the price of food and transportation led him to create a personal savings plan, should he qualify for ICDC 2024.

“I would take the trip again because it was a great experience with friends, especially if it’s in California,” Zhan said. “Next year I’m doing fundraising [for ICDC] so I think I can lower the price.”

DECA continues to forge a part of the Algonquin’s legacy as the school’s largest extracurricular activity and a representative of the community at the international level.