A group of Missouri State University students demonstrated their professional know-how at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Orlando, Florida, this April.
Six out of the eight competitors from Missouri State’s Collegiate DECA team advanced to finals. Congratulations to:
- Faith Mirowski and Kayle Gosche – Top 10 overall for marketing communications.
- Melaina Fischer – Second overall for sales management meeting.
“This year’s MSU DECA team really stood through our cohesiveness,” said DECA President Isaac Moon. Moon is a sophomore accounting major with a minor in economics.
“All team members were wholeheartedly happy and excited to offer support and root for their teammates who advanced or got on the podium.”
About the competition
ICDC is the culmination of the DECA year, gathering more than 20,000 teacher-advisors, business professionals and alumni representing 48 states. Conference goers had the opportunity to attend career development workshops, networking events and competitions.
Missouri State students arrived in Orlando the evening before the opening of the conference. They attended events and briefings prior to the start of competitions. They also explored Disney Springs and Disney’s EPCOT theme park in their downtime.
“Students persevered despite technical difficulties during their competition preparations and performed brilliantly,” Moon said. “This was an amazing trip where all members got the chance to learn from professionals, enhance their competition skills and grow closer with each other.”
About DECA
DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. Students engage in multiple competitive events throughout the year that test their knowledge within their chosen event categories or fields.
DECA has been a national/international organization since 1949 and has served over 10 million members since then. Currently, there are over 200,000 high school DECA members and over 17,000 collegiate DECA members.
The organization is open to students of all majors enrolled at Missouri State.
“Competing with DECA will improve your critical thinking and communication skills and can positively impact students from any major,” Moon said.
“This year at internationals, one of our competing members was a psychology major and another one was an English education major, so there really is a place for everyone.”