Isaac Robinson's Journal

May:

The past two weeks, since the election, have been amazing. My school is still celebrating having its first national officer and Missouri remains enthusiastic about running and electing its first national officer in 33 years. My adrenaline is still pumping at the thought of being a national officer. I have begun planning how to successfully execute my campaign promises and best serve the members of the Central Region.

As the academic year comes to an end, I encourage all DECA members that are not graduating to rejoin our great association. DECA is full of opportunities that are waiting for members to take full advantage of. Whether it is competition, leadership opportunities, or scholarships, DECA has it!

Our next major event is the National Officer Training and Leadership Training in July. I hope for a great turnout from local and state DECA officers during Training that will lead into DECA’s most successful year ever!

June:

As I have written thus far in this month’s report, I have had a wonderful start to my term in office. The warm reception from the Central Region and my new-found celebrity in my high school and hometown has been a lot of fun. As the year progresses, I am excited to continue meeting new people and collecting experiences and memories.

As the former Missouri DECA State President, I had the opportunity to work on the planning of the Central Region Leadership Conference during my term due to the fact that the conference will be hosted by my home state. This has made the transition from State Officer to National Officer easier and more comfortable. I have hit the ground running with planning advice, documents, and constant communication from the CRLC Planning Board. I am convinced that this year’s CRLC will be the best one the Central Region has seen!

July:

As National Officer Training approaches, my excitement and enthusiasm is growing quickly. I am thrilled by the thought of finally being able to truly meet my fellow National DECA Officers in and out of DECA activities. The National Training for State Officers is scheduled for two and a half days of National Officer Training. My fellow officers and I are scheduled to work with them too. Working with and meeting officers and members from around the nation is portion of training that I am most looking forward to.

The early feedback that I am receiving from the Central Region is resulting in an increase in my confidence that this will be a highly successful year.

On June 29–30, I attended the CRLC Planning Meeting in Kansas City, MO. During the meeting, I was able to tour the venues that will be used to host the conference as well as the plans that are currently in place. All Central Region DECA members can rest assured that this conference will be a true highlight of your year and will allow you to "DEFINE YOUR LIFE!"

August:

This has been, without a doubt, one of the best month in my life. I finally had to chance to bond with the National Officer Team, attend National Officer Training, travel around Washington, D.C., meet the National DECA staff, meet lots of new people inside and outside of DECA, and I will be starting college in two weeks.

Bonding with National Officer Team: I had National Officer Training from July 8–16, 2008. This gave me the opportunity to meet my team again, but unlike before, we spent eight days together and had the chance to really get to know each other. It is amazing how close you can become to complete strangers in such a short period of time.

National Officer Training: National Officer Training was great. Learning the history of our organization first hand from people who helped create it was a humbling experience. The National Headquarters is a historic building itself. It is full of DECA’s history and its future. Throughout training, I had some incredible experiences. The DECA team joined with the Delta Epsilon Chi team to lobby congressman and senators about the importance of the Carl Perkins Act and Career and Technical Education. We again joined with the Delta team to meet with the Chief Operating Officer for the Marriott Hotel Company Mr. Bill Shaw, to host a luncheon at Washington Arts Club for ten of our National Advisory Board companies and met with United States Department of Education Undersecretary Troy Justesen. The Department of Education meeting was my favorite. Dr. Justesen is an incredible person and strong supporter of our organization and Career and Technical Education.

Washington, D.C.: Our nation’s capital is one of the greatest cities in the country. It is a place that I have wanted to visit for along time, and National Officer Training provided me with this opportunity. During training, the National Officers competed against teams of state and chapter officers in a scavenger hunt around D.C. which I am proud to inform you, your National Officer Team won! That night, we took a night tour of the city that was terrific! I most enjoyed touring the Lincoln Memorial.

National DECA Staff: On our first full day of training, the team and I had meetings all day with the staff of National DECA. These were some of the most amazing and dedicated people I have ever met. Two people stood out to me from everyone else. One was Mr. Bill Carmichael. Mr. Carmichael is in his nineties but is possibly the most intelligent and articulate person I have had the honor of meeting. The other was DECA Honorary Life Member Mr. Tim Coffey. Mr. Coffey gave us a presentation the night before we left training to come back home, and I do not believe that there could have been a better way to end the training. I could see the true passion and love Mr. Coffey has for our organization and he did a tremendous job passing that passion and love on to me. I have always had a great love and respect for DECA, but Mr. Coffey reinforced it and made it 100 times stronger!

New People: This was the first year that the National Officer Training overlapped with the State and Chapter Officer Leadership Training. This gave me the opportunity to meet DECA members from around the country and Canada. My favorite thing to do in DECA is meeting DECA members and talking with them about themselves and their state and chapters. Spending three days doing my favorite thing was fun. It resulted in not only meeting people and talking to them while we were together, but I keep in touch with few of them and have regular phone calls with them that often time has nothing to do with DECA.

College: As we are all preparing for the upcoming school year, remember to talk with your friends about joining our organization. Do not forget that you need to sign up too!

September:

Over the last month, my college life has really begun to pick up. I have been having a lot of fun finding all the former DECA members that attend Truman State University with me. I get stopped often around campus, especially in the cafeteria, and am asked if I was the Missouri DECA President. This has helped make the transition to college life easier. Currently I am working with many of those students to form a Delta Epsilon Chi chapter on campus.

As the school year starts and your marketing classes are forming, this is the most vital time for the DECA organization. I hope you are getting excited and pumped up for another year in this dynamic student association. I encourage you to take that excitement and put it towards recruiting at least one person to join the organization. Get out and tell your friends and classmates about all the different ways to "Make Your Mark" in DECA this year!