Last weekend, Arizona DECA held its annual State Career Development Conference at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa. The conference lasted three days with exciting activities like spas, yoga sessions, and delicious dinners. SCDC is the second stop on the #PathToGlass with over 2,200 DECA members from all around the state. All members of DECA did exceptionally well at the District 5 Conference, attaining 67 out of 87 marketing students earning medals for test scores or role plays.

Here are the finalists who earned a #Path to Glass trophy or medal:

Marketing Communications

Ally Halverson

Ashley Rulffes

Principles of Hospitality and Tourism

Krista Rowan

Tayten Thrash

Principles of Marketing

Alec Provo

Carrie Chen

Quick Serve Restaurant Management

Megan Mckenna

Retail Merchandising

Saar Zutshi

Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series

Ihtiram Muhtady

Ahlias Jones

I interviewed ACP DECA’s Chapter President, Ashley Rulffes, to express her thoughts on the exciting weekend and DECA:

Q: How did you first get involved with DECA?

A: I first got involved in DECA when I took Marketing as a class; I had friends who had taken the class previously, and raved about the program to me.

Q: What category did you participate in this year and what other categories have you participated in over the years?

A: This year, I competed in Marketing Communications for SCDC. Last year, I competed with a partner in Marketing Management Team Decision Making for SCDC, however, my partner unfortunately couldn’t attend this year, which lead me to compete by myself.

Q: How did you prepare for this event?

A: There’s not much you can do to prepare for a role play, but I usually review key marketing terms, and doing actual role plays with example events online.

Q: What was one of your favorite memories during the whole conference?

A: One of my favorite memories during the whole conference was getting to reunite with friends I’ve met at conferences from previous years.

Q: Would you recommend doing DECA to others and why?

A: I would 110% recommend it to others. DECA has prepared me for the real world and has allowed me to network with so many people not only from the state, but from across the globe. I have also experienced some of my best memories from high school and it has allowed me to grow as a student, competitor, and leader.

Congratulations to all members who participated in SCDC, and thank you to Ashley for taking the time off her busy schedule to do this interview. Be sure to check DECA out again in April when they make their way to the International Career Development Conference!