by JASMINE ELSHAMY Staff Writer
The DECA International Career Development Conference took place from Saturday, April 28 to Wednesday, May 2, with seven participants from MTHS. Fourteen thousand high school students, advisers, businesspersons, and alumni gathered for a few days of DECA excitement. This is a highlight of the DECA year, which features a variety of leadership and career advancing academies along with the competitive events. From Monroe, freshman Jenna Parisen, senior Bindia Patel, senior Kristen Calavano, senior Sydney Brennert, senior Jessica Parisen, and junior Samantha Visinski participated in the competition. “I’m a bit nervous being the only freshman at MTHS going, but I am so grateful and excited to be able to go as well!” says Jenna Parisen. “I want to take advantage of this great opportunity I’ve been given.” During the regional competition, she and freshman Cori Haider teamed up for the Travel and Tourism division, where they were one out of the 20 groups from other towns. They won the second place overall award for this category, and they were the only freshman. Jenna took part in the leadership conference because she doe not have as big a role as the other leaders in the club, but her sister, Jessica Parisen, is a state officer who has to help with choosing the national DECA officers. “My hopes are to take a lot out of this event that I can use for other business situations in life,” Jenna Parisen says. Originally, there were about 40-some students in DECA, but not all of them were eligible for the international round. “I really wish I had gotten past regionals. DECA is such a great program, I honestly recommend it to any business-aspiring student,” says sophomore Grace Jung.
Comments