Braving the cold, snow and ice, 28 DECA students traveled to Dallas to compete in the State Career Development Conference. Of the 28 students, five won in their respective categories and will advance to compete in the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) held in Orlando, Florida on April 25-28.

“I have been in DECA for three years and I prepared for state by going over my presentation with Mrs. [Vera] Cruz, having other people read my paper and practicing a lot,” junior Natalia Colom said. “This is my first year making it to ICDC and I will  prepare by tweaking my presentation and paper to make it better and keep practicing.”

The following students will represent McNeil at ICDC:

Colom – Entrepreneurship Written Independent

Megan Lutz (11) – Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan

Joanne Nguyen (11) – Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan

Anna Qi (11) – Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making

Ricardo Rivadeneira (11)- Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making

“At the closing ceremony, I had miniscule hope that we would be called on stage,” Qi said. “But the moment when our event flashed on the screen, all I remember was screaming and staring wide eyed at the projector as I saw our names listed as a finalist, and then scrambling out of my seat towards the stage with 10 different emotions running through me. It was surreal.”

In addition to these state winners, five other students placed as alternate finalists and will advance to ICDC if someone else from their section can not attend.

The alternates include:

John Ho (12) – Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan

Luke Peveto (11) – Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan

Shelby Stewart (11) – Entrepreneurship Written Franchise

Kasi Balijepally (10) – Business Finance

Amrin Madhani (11) – Advertising Campaign

After the closing ceremony, all DECA members were surprised to see Dallas covered in two inches of snow. Instead of reaching Austin on Friday night as planned, the trip was extended for another day to ensure the safety of all students.

“The snow day seemed like an inconvenience at first but, we ended up playing fun games with the people in our group and even some kids from other schools so it became a huge bonding experience,” Nguyen said. “For ICDC, Megan and I are going to really focus on perfecting our presentation and studying more for the written exam.“