Minnesota Collegiate DECA

It seems like just yesterday that we were all in D.C. Time sure does fly, doesn't it? When I was told I had to do a blog post once I became a state officer, my first thought that popped through my head was what would I write about. I could chose anything! Imagine the possibilities. However, I wanted to write about something that I thought would be worth reading. So here I am, sitting here writing about why I think it would be beneficial to attend ICDC. This is my first blog ever, so forgive me if its not that exciting. This year was my second ICDC that I had the privilege to attend. My first year was in Orlando, and I was so excited to be in the warm sun (since it was such a cold winter) that I really didn't soak up the experience as much as would have liked to. This year I made it my mission to really try and figure out what makes this event so special. The first thing on my list was the networking. I don't know about you, but I must have talked to over at least 50 people that I had never even met before. It was amazing! I got to hear so many different stories about different places and colleges from all over. Some of them even had business cards that they gave to me so I could contact them down the road. I also have new facebook friends and linkedIN connections. I also had the privilege to talk to some of the judges and professionals that attended the conference, which was amazing because I got a real world picture of what life would be like after college. Second, was the experience. Not just the experience of going to competition, I mean getting to experience something that is completely outside your comfort zone. It was amazing to see all of the monuments and documents that I had learned about as a kid growing up. I think the Washington Monument was on the cover of 2 or 3 of my social studies books growing up. So to finally see that in person was truly amazing. Also, I was a huge extrovert in high school. So going to an unfamiliar place and getting to experience these things with people I had never met was a whole new experience to me. Surprisingly, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Last but not least, was the team camaraderie. Don't get me wrong, our team at St. Cloud State is a very tight knit group. However, you don't always get to have that one on one time you would hope for due other responsibilities that pull you different ways. I didn't realize how close we would become. From walking around D.C. with them or just going out to eat always brought up something new about somebody that you didn't know before. It was also truly amazing to see all of us patiently hoping one of our team members was called up to the stage to participate in finals and then giving each other words of encouragement when they didn't. We grew much closer as a team, and I hope all of you did with your teams as well. I could honestly go on and on about the benefits and things I learned when I attended ICDC. It was truly an amazing experience and I hope all of you can at least attended it once during your college careers. If you have any questions about how to attend this amazing event, please do not hesitate to contact your officer team. I'm sure we can find you an answer to any questions you may have. Until next time, have an amazing summer!