Largest Number of Student Delegates in School History Qualify for DECA Internationals
Three members of Portola High’s Distributive Education Clubs of America chapter qualified for the International Career Development Conference. This conference had the most number of Portola High qualifiers for the international level in school history, according to business club co-president and senior Anna Su.
Seniors Aryan Shrivastava and business club co-president Howard Zhang and junior Jenny Zhang qualified; Shrivastava and Howard Zhang competed in business law and ethics, and Jenny Zhang competed in financial consulting and financial service team decision. To qualify, delegates had to place in either the top four or five within their event, depending on the category.
“I felt excited and also nervous because there’s a lot of people out there, so I was excited to see everyone from all over California, and it just seemed very professional there,” Jenny Zhang said. “This is considered my first year in DECA. I feel really surprised, like how I can get into the international because I think it’s really competitive.”
After competing at the State Career Development Conference from Feb. 24-27 in Anaheim, CA, delegates who qualified will compete in their same event at the International Career Development Conference on April 23-26 in Atlanta.
“I was so proud, especially because we were competing against the whole state of California and these programs where the advisers have been there for 35 years and [our students] have a lot of students to look up to and get advice for,” ROP Virtual Enterprise teacher Katherine Dillon said. “I really hope that we can grow our student base a lot by adding more business classes so that there are more students who qualify, and they feel more prepared.”
According to Su, the conference allowed students to gain skills on how to act in a professional setting including presentation structure and impromptu speaking.
“It’s a chance for the members to show what they’ve done this year and show their own capabilities,” Su said. “Also, basically exploring their own interests, and that’s what makes it important.”
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