From April 25 to April 30, twelve students from Berkley High school traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete at the 2025 DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) – one of the largest gatherings of business oriented high school students in the world. The conference consisted of 22,000 students from all over the U.S, as well as countries such as China, Brazil, and Canada. ICDC brought opportunities for these students to showcase their skills in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Contestants needed to create 10 or 20 page research reports depending on their chosen topic, then present their project to a judge. Students could also choose to do roleplays, where they must take a test, then simulate a business related situation in front of a judge. After competing at the state level in Detroit, Berkley High School secured 12 qualifying spots at internationals, a huge achievement in itself. ICDC consisted of two rounds, a preliminary round where students were split into groups based on the business related event they chose, and a final round where the top three teams in each event were rewarded with glass (the coveted DECA trophy).

While no students from Berkley High School advanced to the final round, it wasn’t from a lack of effort. “It took a lot of hard work, late nights, and nonstop preparation,” said junior Salman Abdella. Abdella chose to partner with me, competing in the Financial Operations Research event. This event included a 20 page research paper, along with a 15 minute presentation on how a certain credit union could increase their utilization of AI in a positive way. We conducted our project on Extra Credit Union, a credit union based in Warren, Michigan. Another project from Berkley’s ICDC DECA chapter includes Junior Tayla Stetczek’s and Lief Schoof’s work on the Career Development Project event. Through trying to increase educational and career related resources for people in need, their project made a real life impact in the Berkley community. “I felt that my team did a really good job working together to inform the judges and present them with the real impacts our project made on our school and in our surrounding community,” says Tayla.

Berkleys ICDC chapter included two sophomore qualifiers as well, Lexi Gross and Adalyn Brzezinsky. They partnered together competing in the Innovation Plan event, featuring a 10 page report and presentation. They created kevlar based backpacks to promote student safety and presented a real life proto-type to their judge.

Apart from working on presentations, the group took full advantage of being in Orlando, visiting Walt Disney World on the second day of the trip, as well as Universal Studios on the fourth day. From the many roller coasters these parks had to offer such as Disney World’s Space Mountain ride, and Universal Studios’ Velocicoaster, to Topgolf and Butterbeer, the trip offered plenty of opportunities for students to explore and celebrate. From everyone’s hard work drafting 20-page research reports to memorizing presentations, the trip certainly paid off in experiences.

Aside from all the hard work Berkley students put into perfecting their projects none of this would have been possible without Berkley’s Deca chapter adviser Mr. Hunt. He inspired 50+ students to compete at the state level, which was the only reason why Berkley had so many ICDC qualifiers. Mr. Hunt’s classroom displays numerous DECA related pictures and posters, reflecting his dedication to Berkley’s DECA chapter. Although no one advanced to the final round, ICDC was an incredible experience, and a great opportunity for many.