Bustling across Hilton Anatoleβs Convention Center in business attire and with sales pitches prepared, 252 students competed at the Distributive Education Careers of America (DECA) State Career Development Conference (SCDC) from Thursday, March 6 to Saturday, March 8. Standing out amongst over 7,500 competitors at the conference, 75 Warriors advanced to the next stage, and will head to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
The three-day conference allowed members to compete and network with students across the state. On the operational side, officers and chaperones coordinated transportation and room assignments.
βAs the largest chapter at [SCDC], with over 250 members, Iβm extremely thankful for everyoneβs collaboration and cooperation among the officers, students, and the adults to run the conference as smoothly as possible,β President Aiden Wen β26 said.
While over 50 students qualified for ICDC in their traditional competitive events, this year brought record achievements in virtual events as well: 15 members will be competing in Virtual Business Challenge or the Stock Market Game. Virtual events involve students running simulations in various career clusters β from personal finance to fashion.
βI saw everyone working hard and running the simulation over and over again, trying to bring their best to these virtual challenges,β Wen said. βI am excited to see these 15 members compete live at ICDC.β
The freshmen in particular excelled in their competition, with 11 qualifying to compete at the international level. Students like Apple Ma β28 began preparing for competition as early as November, taking almost every practice test offered and practicing role plays, which is a class of competitive events.
βI am proud of the work I put in, and I wouldnβt have prepared any other way,β Ma said. βNo matter what, itβs important to have fun while competing and to prepare to the best of your ability.β
Carrying on the leadership-oriented legacy of Westwood DECA, Josephine Sun β26 was elected as one of the State Vice Presidents of Texas DECA, succeeding former State Vice President Shivani Kondubhatla β25. Leading over 25,000 members, Sun hopes to create more equitable competition resources and foster community connections. With Arnav Maskey β26 serving as the District 5 Vice President and Sun now leading the state, representation in leadership like this at Westwoodβs DECA chapter has been unseen.
βIβm excited to work behind-the-scenes as [a state officer], especially for ICDC,β Sun said. βThe last time we went to Orlando, I was a freshman β it feels full circle.β
The following students will compete at ICDC in Orlando, Florida from April 26-29:
Principles of Business Management and Administration: Apple Ma β28
Principles of Entrepreneurship: Ava Stidvent β28
Principles of Finance: Nithin Reddy Vemula β28, Catherine Zheng β28
Principles of Marketing: Mia Shetty β28
Accounting Applications Series: Adarsh Rajesh β25, Ryan Lee β25
Hotel and Lodging Management Series: Krish Shenoy β27, Josephine Sun β26, Medha Katragadda β25
Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series: Jatin Aggarwal β26
Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making: Brijnandan Saranu β27, Joshua Boersema β27
Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making: Rutu Ruparel β25, Mishree Narasaiah β25
Hospitality & Tourism Team Decision Making: Reett Aulakh β28, Aanya Pathak β28
Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making: Sidhant Sen β25, Prince Kumar β25
Financial Consulting: Saisha Siram β26
Professional Selling: Diya Shakkottai β27, Uma Sthanu β26
Integrated Marketing Campaign Product: Shivali Sahu β26
Integrated Marketing Campaign Service: Sophia Ng β26, Parmida Jamali β26, Aarya Kale β26, Avishka Boina β26
Career Development Project: Dawoon Jung β25, Chloe Oakley β25, Isabella Shi β25, Arjun Bhardwaj β25, Aarvin Hirode β25, Samarth Margasahayam β25, Aryan Sehgal β26
Community Giving Project: Ashka Rajbhandari β28, Lucinda McWilliams β28
Financial Literacy Project: Talia Philip β25, Cheyenne Wang β25
Business Services Operations Research: Aiden Wen β26
Hospitality & Tourism Operations Research: Shivani Kondubhatla β25, Shrishti Mahajan β25, Yujie Zhang β25
Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research: Camila Carrillo β25, Shuyu Lai β25, Sophie Liu β25, Maya Rajan β28, Alexandra Oancea β27
Franchise Business Plan: Romita Sur β27, Rounav Sur β27, Allison Zhuang β27
Innovation Plan: Lakshay Batra β26, Anish Bhat β25
International Business Plan: Vandya Agarwal β28
Start-up Business Plan: Anika Aslesh β26, Sanjana Aslesh β26, Dhiya Balajee β26
Stock Market Game: Shreyan Khanna β27, Ruhan Gupta β27, Victor Lehr β26, Zuhair Amin β26, Alexis Correia β26, Levi Kim β27, Sahil Jain β27
Virtual Business Challenge β Accounting: Dhiyaan Nirmal β25, Shaurya Pathania β25, Shrey Birmiwal β25
Virtual Business Challenge β Personal Finance: Neev Gupta β25, Loy Bhowmick β25, Visshwa Balasubramanian β25
Virtual Business Challenge β Restaurant: Phoenix Mielcarek β25, Anvay Todkar β25
#1 Sampat β’ Apr 8, 2025 at 11:24 am
Chat dont dis my goat #Ishaan#1 #MakeIt76 #FakeNews
Sampat Glazer β’ Mar 17, 2025 at 8:24 pm
my GOAT Ishaan Sampat also made ICDC but he isnβt in this article. I will not stand for Sampat slander.
Sampat Glazer Reality Checker β’ Mar 19, 2025 at 12:13 am
Ishaan stop glazing yourself lil bro
Sampat Glazer Reality Checker β’ Mar 25, 2025 at 10:43 am
Bro Ishaan you didnβt even make ICDC, you js got lucky to get bumped up
OG Sampat Glazer Reality Checker β’ Mar 30, 2025 at 12:31 am
Hi Iβm the Sampat Glazer Reality Checker from the first reply but not the second reply (he is a sussy imposter).
I think it is an incredible achievement that you made ICDC, regardless of if it was a bump-up or not. You deserved to be included in this article. I am simply here to prevent self-glazing.
Have a pleasant day.
Sincerely,
Sampat Glazer Reality Checker I
#2 Sampat β’ Apr 8, 2025 at 11:26 am
I canβt stand for Sampat Slander
#AddIshaanToTheSheet
#DontDissMyGoat
Sampat Tech Support β’ Apr 8, 2025 at 11:29 am
Sampat donβt listen to them, you stand stronger than the haters!