Mountain Ridge members of DECA competed in Atlanta for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). 

38 DECA students qualified for the national conference after competing in the state competition. Of those who qualified, 30 chose to compete in Atlanta. 

At the competition, students chose different categories related to business and marketing, such as sports and entertainment marketing or hospitality and tourism. After the students selected their topic, they received a test with 100 questions. They then advanced to their presentation or written event, which is the main part of the competition. 

The judges discuss with the participant and ask questions based on their presentations. They then receive a score on their test and can also get a medal based on how well they did. 

Yameen Sekandari won a medal for Hospitality Services in the Mountain Ridge group! He placed in the top 10 out of 400 kids who competed in the category. 

“Being the top 2% is definitely a crazy experience, and what made it more fun was how we competed in Atlanta,” Sekandari shared.

There were over 20,000 students at the competition and even students that came from different countries such as Germany, Japan and Canada. 

 DECA member Hayden Sulwer shared, “Since we’ve been here we have gotten amazing opportunities to meet tons of new people and go see tourist attractions like the aquarium, the zoo and the world of Coca-Cola.” 

The trip was an amazing experience for these students filled with many opportunities and memories.