Dominion DECA returned Sunday night from SLC, the annual leadership conference held in Virginia Beach where Virginia-based DECA competitors present marketing projects pertaining to a number of different fields. Competitors at SLC all vie for a limited number of competitor spots at ICDC—the International Career Development Conference—where they are pitted against thousands of other students from around the globe.

Of Dominion’s 200-plus member DECA chapter—the largest in its region—around 70 were invited to attend SLC: a drop-off from previous years. Still, Dominion students performed admirably, sending 21 to ICDC. “We performed comparatively well,” said Dominion DECA Director of Training and Development Paige Stevens. “We took fewer people [to SLC] this year, and to still have the same number go to ICDC is pretty impressive.”

For those who’ll be competing at ICDC—normally those who place in the top 10 in their respective categories, which range from role-playing to pre-prepared marketing proposals—the focus now turns to perfecting their craft before performing on the international stage. Despite the pressure, however, competing at ICDC is a uniquely beneficial experience. “ICDC [allows you to] network with other strong business and marketing students,” Stevens said. “The competitors are more skilled, and though stressful it’s a lot more fun [than SLC].”

This year, ICDC will be held in Anaheim, California. The students who qualified to compete at ICDC based on their performance at SLC are Jason Kelly, Trevor Karlan, Evan Slebrch, Max Dyson Simmi, Hailey Hollerbach, Meghan Grove, Joey Pavich, Bryce Griffin, Dillon Kane, Allie O’Neill, Culley Hess, Matthew Traenkle, Paige Stevens, Lila Najmyar, Emma Straub, Brooke Weber, Camryn Shulsinger, Simone Ghobadi, and Mirabell Ochoa. The students who will be attending ICDC in order to represent Titans Corner in the SBE category are: Riley Chugg, Emma Straub, and Tomi Aluko.