Tuning out the noise, Vandya Agarwal ‘28 sets her eyes on the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) District 5 President seat. As the District 5 presidential candidates walks onto the conference stage sharing their campaign objectives, Vandya quickly captures their attention with her young age. Despite being one of the youngest candidates for district president, her steady delivery and clear campaign goals erases any doubt as she is named the DECA District 5 President on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.
“DECA has influenced me for the better, to go above and beyond, and I can’t wait to improve our district,” Vandya said. “I want to look for opportunities to help our members become more successful and just feel more supported overall.”
Inspired by the presidential candidates of the 2024-2025 district election, Vandya set her sights on carrying out her own campaign during December of last year. Candidates went through an extensive application process consisting of a prompted essay response, an exam on DECA’s values and parliamentary procedures, and two sets of interviews with current district officers and staff. Advancing candidates assembled their posters for the meet-and-greet at the district conference. Contenders articulated their 90-second speech as part of their presentation assessment. After moving onto the second phase, no longer as an applicant but an officer candidate, Vandya drew in DECA members with her eye-catching campaign slogan, G.R.O.W with Vandya.
“Briefly going over it, my slogan was G.R.O.W with Vandya,” Vandya said. “G is for guiding first year members, R, is for retaining members beyond competition, O, is for outreach, and W, is for weaving. Helping first-year members was something I really wanted to focus on, so I wanted to create a centralized first-year task force and provide resources which is something I know I would have benefited from as a first-year.”
Highlighting her objective of supporting first year DECA members, Vandya’s DECA experience shaped the focus of her campaign. She competed in an entrepreneurship event, International Business Plan, which consists of preparing a 20-page report and 15-minute presentation articulating the expansion of a U.S. domestic franchise overseas. The event consists of several tedious sections such as producing exact yet hypothetical financials. Despite the intimidating event format, Vandya presented her project to district judges and advanced to both the state conference and the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
“[My first DECA year] was really rewarding and very surprising. I saw the 20-page report requirement and thought, ‘what did I get myself into?’” Vandya said. “But I worked really hard and I spent a lot of time on DECA, whether it was consulting the officers or researching my company. I grew a lot as well, even holding a leadership position as an elected DECA Outreach officer, and I was just really excited about DECA freshman year.”
Vandya’s growth across freshman and sophomore year, bolstered by her success in competition, came with vital lessons. Later, as District 5 President, her role spanned interpersonal interaction and self-presentation on a public scale, forcing her to become comfortable with external assessments. Going from a DECA member to representing the district, Vandya stepped out of her comfort zone to accommodate to the fast pace of leadership.
“I learned the importance of being able to take things with a grain of salt,” Vandya said. “For example, when writing my speech, I came across people with different inputs and feedback critiquing me. However, I learned that sometimes you need to be able to focus on yourself and be confident in the hard work and perseverance that was done.”
Throughout her campaign, Vandya emphasized the significance of supporting first-year DECA members, fostering their future success, and furthering the international acclaim of Westwood DECA. Vandya, will be taking the stage at the next district conference, stepping into her new role as district president, will still hold the valuable lessons and experiences from early DECA days.
“I would say to any future DECA member who is interested in running, [don’t] be intimidated because it’s not about who is the smartest person,” Vandya said. “You just need to have passion about what you do.”
