I am currently writing this from the Orange County Airport on a Sunday, waiting for my flight back to Dallas to conclude my trip, and in sunny southern California that had started on Wednesday. DECA ICDC in Anaheim has been an unforgettable experience filled with friends, competition, and Disney! My partner, Shivani, and I went through competition briefing and testing before entering into our competitive event on Friday. We put together our brainpower and completed the roleplay to the best of our ability. This year in DECA has taught me invaluable information within my competitive cluster, hospitality and tourism, and has made me a more professional individual. I could not be more grateful for the connections, knowledge, and memories that my three years in DECA have provided me with. In other news, AP exam weeks are right around the corner, and I will have to kick my studying into gear when I get back home. Following AP week will be Final Presentation Night, the culmination of my year in ISM. With all these big events coming and going, one of the most exciting has been my recent commitment to attend the University of California, Berkeley for the next four years!!! I am beyond excited to become a golden bear and live and learn in California. Before we know it, we will be heading off to college and paving the paths for our futures. I can't think of a better place for me to embark on this journey than Cal, and I am so honored to be able to call myself a member of the Berkeley Class of 2021!
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Last Thursday, I packed my suitcase and boarded a flight with my mom from Dallas to San Francisco. The excitement of getting to explore the city and tour the campus of UC Berkeley kept building until we finally landed late Thursday night at SFO and bought BART tickets to Union Square, where our hotel was located. On Friday morning, we woke up to a curiously quiet city. It just so happened that on our first day in the city, parts of the city of San Francisco experienced a power outage for the first time in years that resulted in almost all the shops and restaurants to close for the day. It was such a weird experience walking down the streets of the financial district and seeing businessmen and women making small talk outside the closed office buildings. Thankfully, other parts of the city near the bay still had power. I was able to meet with my friend Alyssa, who I had met this past June at an economics conference in Austin. She made the drive down from Sonoma to San Francisco after I told her I would be in town, and we spent the afternoon walking from the Ferry Building up to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. I absolutely loved getting to see her after almost a year, and it made me reflect on how amazing it is that such a brief three-day conference over the summer can create such a strong bond of friendship. The next morning, the power was finally back on, and my mom and I took the BART up to Downtown Berkeley for the annual Cal Day event, which is basically an open house for UC Berkeley. The campus was breathtaking, with redwood trees lining the outskirts and intricately designed buildings surrounding the iconic Campanile Tower in the center. After walking through Sproul Plaza and touring the Haas School of Business, I was able to meet up with a family friend from Plano, now a junior at Berkeley, to talk about her experiences and life in California. Cal Day was a one-of-a-kind experience that really gave me a sense of the campus vibe. On Sunday, we made the trip back to Berkeley once more because I had planned to meet up with other prospective students and current Cal students who had graduated from Liberty. I found that I had a lot in common with the other freshman admits, and I even found out that a prospective student from New Jersey would also be at DECA Internationals in Anaheim later this week! For lunch, I met with Shreyash, a former ISM student at Liberty who is in his first year at Cal. We talked about campus life and the pre-business track at Berkeley, and I loved getting to hear about his college experiences so far. Later that afternoon, I met with Jack, a former Liberty student who went to TAMS before coming to Cal. Jack took me on a hike up to the Big C, a spot on the edge of campus with a view so amazing that no pictures can do it justice. UC Berkeley boasts one of the most picturesque campuses in the nation, and seeing Cal from the Big C made that clear to me. As I talked with Jack, he explained to me the reality of studying at a school like Berkeley. He helped me sort through the pros and cons of pursuing business at UT in BHP versus on the pre-Haas track at Berkeley, and his insight really pinpoint my ultimate college decision, which I will finalize this week. I just landed back in Dallas last night at midnight, and tomorrow morning I will be back at the airport to catch a flight to Anaheim with other ICDC qualifiers for the DECA International conference. So many exciting opportunities have been presenting themselves in my life, and I cannot wait to make the most of every experience!
This past weekend was filled with anxiety, last-minute studying, excitement, bittersweetness, and pure joy. The rollercoaster of emotions I underwent was a direct result of my experiences at the DECA state conference in San Antonio, a trip that I had been highly anticipating ever since the district competition had ended back in January. All the DECA state qualifiers from across the district met up early Thursday morning to board charter buses to San Antonio, to begin the five hour drive to our hotel on Riverwalk. This state competition in particular meant the most to me personally, because out of all three DECA state conferences I have participated in, this one had the potential to qualify me and my partner, Shivani, for the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. Being able to explore the amazing city of Anaheim with my friends and meet talented and ambitious individuals from across the world at ICDC would be the trip of a lifetime. The pressure of doing well in our event started to build as we attended the Texas DECA Opening Ceremony on Thursday night and crammed in some last-minute studying before our event time early the next morning. Shivani and I made the walk across the street from the hotel to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and waited anxiously outside the competition room at 8:00 am. The good thing about having such an early competition time was that we had the rest of the day to explore the Riverwalk and everything that San Antonio had to offer! By 9:30 am, we were changed out of our business professional clothing, ready to make the most of the rest of our trip. We ate delicious food at restaurants on the Riverwalk, took a boat tour of the San Antonio river, and made new friends from schools across the state. That night was a Texas DECA casino night, where the over four thousand state competitors were given a chance to meet each other and form new friendships. It was a great time, and reminded me of my love for the social aspect of conferences like this one. Saturday was our last day in San Antonio, and it started off early with the Awards Ceremony and Closing Session. This was by far the most nerve-wracking two hours of my entire trip, and I’m sure that all the other DECA members in the ballroom felt the same way. As I sat there waiting for results, I realized that winning my event would mean more than a trophy and bragging rights- it would mean my third ICDC experience, a trip to Anaheim, and an amazing way to close off my last year of high school. The moment came when Shivani and I heard our names called by the emcee. Walking up to the front of the ballroom was surreal, and those few minutes on the stage made the hours of preparation and studying worth it. The other girls that we roomed with on the trip qualified for Internationals as well, and that made everything that much more exciting. Overall, this weekend was one of the best I’ve had this year without a doubt. DECA ICDC in April will be a time of growth of my knowledge in business, an opportunity to network with students across the globe, and a trip that will be one of the shining highlights of my senior year. I spent this week preparing for the tests and competitions that are rapidly approaching! With this week being the end of the fourth six weeks, my teachers have been assigning the last major grade tests and essays to wrap up the grading period. On top of preparations for my core classes, my ISM speech is on Tuesday. I have been preparing for this upcoming speech for the past few days, and hopefully I’ll be able to effectively present my research and original work thus far in the year under Dr. Gerlacher. Something else exciting that is coming up is a trip to the DECA State Conference in San Antonio on Thursday and Friday. I am really looking forward to getting to compete against talented individuals in different business events, meet new people from across the state, and explore the Riverwalk with friends. I will definitely be spending time in these next few days studying with my DECA partner, Shivani, so we are as prepared as possible at the competition. This weekend is a three-day weekend, which has thankfully given me the opportunity to be able to do my homework and spend time catching up with friends. I cannot wait to share my original work with my classmates on Tuesday! After I give my speech, I will officially be done with the fourth six weeks of my senior year. I am looking forward to my speech and I am very excited for my upcoming trip to San Antonio on Thursday! This week started and ended with exciting activities. On Monday, October 31st, I celebrated Halloween "Trunk or Treat" style. Trunk or Treat is my high school's take on the classic Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating. Different organizations on campus sign up for parking spots in the student parking lot, and they decorate car trunks in unique themes. On Halloween night, children in the Frisco community come to the Liberty High School parking lot to stop by the trunks and trick-or-treat at each organization's car trunk. I worked with the other National Honor Society officers to set up the NHS "Winter Wonderland" themed trunk. Our two cars were decorated with festive green and red, and we had a full-size white Christmas tree decorated with candy. Handing out candy to the adorable toddlers in their Halloween costumes was such a blast! After Trunk or Treat, the next few days consisted of catching up on schoolwork and preparing for the first research speech that we have coming up next week. I scheduled a research interview with Dr. Gerlacher, a local doctor who has had experience as a both a pediatrician and a business manager. On Friday, DECA had its annual Mavs Day, in which students from across the area spend a day at the American Airlines Center learning about the business aspect of sports enterprises, and at the end of the day everyone gets to watch the Mavericks as they play in a season game. I loved getting to explore Dallas before the business presentations, touring American Airlines Center and seeing the practice courts for the Mavs, listening to the business executives in the Mavericks brand speak to us, and of course cheering my heart out for the Mavericks! At the end of the game, the Mavs fell 10 points short to the Portland Trailblazers. Although our team wasn't able to get the win, I had an amazing time getting to learn more about the field of sports management and spending time with my friends.
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