A group of Old Saybrook High School DECA students attended the annual DECA Ultimate Power Trip, a 3-day leadership, business, and career development conference which was hosted in Arlington, Virginia the weekend before Thanksgiving. This event brought together thousands of students from across the country, giving each chapter a chance to strengthen their skills, grow their understanding of the business world, and to build confidence that goes far beyond the classroom.
Junior Michael Page thought that this conference was “a really great experience for me to network and meet people from around the nation and to see a lot of smart people talk and learn from them.” The students woke up early on Friday, 11/21, to catch an 8:00 a.m. train with their suitcase in hand and excitement showing. After a long train ride, approximately 7 hours, the students arrived at their hotel and grabbed some Chick-fil-A before heading to the opening ceremony. Then, the students went off, and were able to participate in a variety of business focused activities. These included speeches from key note speakers, business leaders, student run activities, and even designing websites with the use of AI. The students repeated the same thing on Saturday, where they visited different sessions discussing all aspects of business. Senior Emma Waklee said, “The variety of workshops available were amazing.”
In addition to the workshops, a college fair took place, where many business school representatives came from all over the country, from Syracuse to Indiana University. Junior Chase Comboni stated, “being able to connect with so many different people was extremely valuable, especially with colleges.” Students were able to talk to their colleges of interest with the opportunity of learning about what the colleges have to offer, with a little added bonus of getting trinkets to take home.
Later that night, the DECA members participated in a late night tour of Washington DC, where they were able to see many famous monuments, such as the White House, the Capitol, Washington Monument, and all the other attractions. Students took photos and met many students from all over the country. Then came Sunday morning, the final day of the trip where they woke up bright and early to arrive at the convention center for the closing ceremony and to say their goodbyes to the friends they made from all over the country.
With the train departing around noon, they arrived home late on Sunday night, with many new memories made, as Waklee stated, “I feel so lucky to have attended the DECA Ultimate Power Trip.”
