DECA–a non-profit organization that prepares high school students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management–held its international career development conference (ICDC) on April 25, 2026. Seymour High School’s DECA took two members and its advisor to Atlanta, Georgia for the competition: myself, Brooklyn Howell, and Dr. Dixon. We left on April 24, a day before the competition began and attended the opening ceremony the following day.

The opening ceremony was loud. For a business club, I didn’t expect it to be so informal. However, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was filled with laughter and noise with a DJ blasting out everyone’s ears. Around 26,000 people attended from all around the United States, its territories, and Canada (around 8% of the club’s total members). Aside from the hype, the opening ceremony gave a rundown of the schedule and times for presentations were soon posted. Additionally, pins were traded at the stadium. Pin trading is a big tradition at ICDC. The pins were about as informal as the ceremony itself: there was a 6-7 pin, an alani pin–you name it, they had it.

Competition started the next day. I got the time of 11:00 AM to present my business idea, so I woke up around 8:00 AM to practice before presenting. Brooklyn, along with many other members, attended programs that taught leadership and club management while people with events presented. I’m confident that we were the smallest chapter present, as every other chapter had groups of 10+ people. When I arrived at the presentation room, there were about 10 other people with me. Competitions take place every 20 minutes, and I was competing against roughly 200 people total. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we were brought to our judges and were given the okay to present, and so we did.

I would argue my presentation went well; I finished a little early and headed back to my room after. Unfortunately, the

reveal of who made it to the final round was not to be held until two days after my presentation; the next day was a day for roleplay events. With the free time, we explored Atlanta. We went to Top Golf, Activate, and much more…among them, the aquarium, where we saw the aquarium’s whale shark! WAYMOs, which are self-driving cars, were present around every corner.

The following day at 8:04 AM, they began to announce finalists. Around 40 minutes later, my event was called. People from California, Washington, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ontario were called. I was not, and that was unfortunately my last time competing for the year. No one from Indiana placed in my event, and Massachusetts and Ontario ended up scoring high across nearly every competition.

Despite not placing, I’m glad I went. I was exposed to so many people, all of which were excited, welcoming, and kind. Next year, I hope that many more people will join SHS DECA and make it to ICDC. Larger groups are always fun, and I want everyone to be able to experience it at next year’s international conference, located in California!