After a successful state competition, 22 competitors will be heading off to the DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida. These are some of the best DECA competitors in the state who have some big shoes to fill! Last year in Atlanta, GA, Grace Chialiva placed second in the world, which was a huge moment for BC DECA. This year, BC is competing in thirteen different categories, including projects, roleplays, and the SBE Academy.

ICDC officially begins with the opening session on Saturday, April 27 and ends with grand awards on the last day of April. During that time, competitors will go through testing (Sunday), preliminary competition (Monday), and possibly finals (Tuesday) should they qualify.

Senior Janani Sundar holds an optimistic outlook on the competition itself: “I feel that we have a pretty strong team this year, and I expect us to do well. Obviously there will be a lot of competition since it is internationals, but I think we are well prepared to put up a good fight.” Sundar is competing in the Quick Service Restaurant Series, having qualified by placing sixth at state.

However, the competitors are also looking forward to enjoying their Florida experience. Julianne Sun (‘20) said, “The competition is definitely a big part of it, but I’m going for the experience. After districts and state, you just kind of feel like you put in all the work to get to where you are, and now you can just relax.”

Competitors will be staying with the rest of WI DECA at the luxurious Rosen Plaza Hotel, located in the heart of Orlando. For the second year in a row, Wisconsin lucked out when it came to hotel assignments; last year, they stayed in the Omni Hotel. Aside from high-quality rooms for five nights, BC will also be enjoying the Florida weather as they explore some of Orlando’s most popular sites.

On their first full day in Orlando, BC is scheduled for a day at Universal Studios. For Sun, this is expected to be a highlight of the trip. “I’ve always loved The Wizarding World of Harry Potter because I’m a Potterhead, so that’s definitely part of the allure. I’m really excited to revisit that and Universal this year because I’ll be experiencing everything with my friends instead of my (sometimes obnoxious) family.” BC will also be visiting Cocoa Beach and Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Epcot parks to conclude the trip.

Those competing include:
Maya Benhamo
Emily Busch
Stephanie Chen
Maggie Conlon
Nisha Desai
Riley Feng
Rawan Hamadeh
Gianna Hamann
Sami Krutz
Casie Li
Katherine Liu
Rajat Mittal
Andrew Ng
Shweta Panda
Ellery Prusko
Pranay Reddy
Aafreen Sajid
Courtney Shady
Bradley Steinert.
Julianne Sun
Janani Sundar
Mikayla Utnehmer

Good luck to our Lancer competitors at ICDC!