Nick's Journal

May:

As the past week becomes a blur, there are certain points I remember. I remember the period of the conference when we were told if we passed the test or not; also the point when Wisconsin asked me to make them laugh in a caucus without talking; and, of course, the moment when I was announced as the successor for Isaac Robinson III. I returned home to find endless congratulations and hugs, as everyone knows how much work went into my campaign. My adrenaline is still pumping at the thought of being a National Officer. I have begun my networking and am building plans to execute what I have promised to the members as their Central Region VP.

The end of my senior year is approaching, and a year with DECA that will always be remembered is just beginning. To those whose experience with DECA is coming to an end, I ask that you share those opportunities you have gained with others, encouraging them to rejoin our amazing organization!

DECA provides every opportunity possible, whether it's the competition, leadership development, or scholarships - there is something for everyone.

I already cannot wait for our next major event as a team, which will be National Officer Training in July. I hope that this training will be filled with a mixture of state DECA officers and officers at the local level, making it a more exciting experience for all of us! Let's make this DECA year to be one that people will NOT forget!

June:

As my term is just beginning, I have already noticed what an amazing year I have planned ahead of me. I still am getting the endless congrats and hugs from people that haven't seen me since I got elected. This past month has been a rollercoaster of emotions with all the events that have taken place. From my last senior prom, stepping down from state office, my birthday, seeing old friends, the stress of graduation parties, graduation itself, and much more, this has been one month that I will never forget! It may be sad at times, but I know that only bigger and better things are to come in my future. As this year progresses, I am excited to continue meeting new people and learning from others what people want from me as CRVP.

As I stepped down from my term as Minnesota DECA State VP of Business & Industry, I noticed how great of a term it was even with how little time I actually was in office. I had the opportunity to work with great members on that team, and work with amazing people throughout the state. With Minnesota being my home state and the host of the 2009 Central Region Leadership Conference, I was already in the planning phase of CRLC as a state officer and now I have a solid grasp of what this fall has to come preparing for this conference. I am extremely excited for CRLC to return to Minnesota, as it was a great conference in 2006. I truly am dedicated to making this be one of the best CRs DECA has ever seen!

July:

It is crazy to realize that this is already my third journal report! My term is moving very fast, as training is approaching around the corner. Next week I will be leaving for Reston, Virginia at National DECA Headquarters, where I will be training with the rest of my team. There are many different parts of training that I am looking forward to. What I am most excited for is to spend the day at Capitol Hill where we will have the opportunity to meet with legislatures and politicians. I am most excited for this because politics spark my interests. I am also looking forward to meet and spend time with the state officers I will be working with throughout my term as Central Region Vice President.

As I am building more and more relationships with members of my region, my excitement for CRLC is increasing. I will be able to reconnect with everyone that I have built these relationships with from the last year.

This summer has been off to a quick start, as it is already the beginning of July. June was a busy month full of grad parties and preparing for national officer training. My July is packed with traveling with national officer training, visiting Denver for friends and school orientation, and the annual family vacation. I will literally not be home until August. When August arrives, I will have to say goodbye to my longtime best friends such as Laura Normile and pack my things for college. Although the end of this summer will come quickly, I know I have a great year ahead of me with my first year of college and my term as your CRVP.

August:

This past month has been one that I will remember for the rest of my life! It is now just hitting me with how cool of an opportunity I have been given to represent DECA as a National Officer. I had the opportunity to become family with the National Officer Team, meet the National DECA staff (the ones that make this organization what it is), familiarize myself to the home of our Nation's Capital, meet people in/out of DECA, and to really see what 1908 Association Drive is all about.

This year will be absolutely amazing working with the Nation Officer Team; during training we have become a family. What I loved most about bonding with the team is that we were together for a full week and whatever one person experienced we all experienced. It really gave us the opportunity to get the full view of everyone's personality, and how each works best. The way I know that we have a established such a strong relationship, is because we all laughed together when something was funny and we even all had our sad moments that we felt comfortable sharing with each other. The week of training went by way too fast, and its sad to think that we don't have many opportunities left to spend time together. Our relationship shows how anyone can become close friends with complete strangers.

As we got to tour DC and DECA Headquarters I came to realize what a great country we live in! We got to tour DC at night and learn about our Nation's history, meanwhile spending time and getting to know other DECA members. We got to spend a day on Capital Hill meeting Senators and Congressmen, and seeing first hand government work in progress. During training we were also privileged to host a luncheon at the Washington Arts Club where we networked with members of the National Advisory Board.

During our travels through Virginia and DC, we had more important bonding time. This is also where many of our little inside jokes were established while listening to Lady Gaga. One of the days at training we attended Marriott international Headquarters to meet with Mr. William Shaw, the Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board. This meeting was very interesting as we heard about the practices of their company. Over the weekend the State Officer Leadership Training took place, where we were provided with the opportunity of exposure to this year's leaders of the organization.

As my past month ends, I think back on all the amazing experiences I was provided with. It was a busy month with me traveling from National Officer Training to Denver for college orientation and on to Vail with my family for a summer vacation. However, there is nothing I would do to replace those experiences I just had. This month will also be crazy for me with another trip out to DC, and preparing to leave for college, which will be here before I know it!

September:

WOW!! That's how I can describe this past month; it has been a roller coaster of emotions… It has also been a month I will always have a vivid memory of. The month of August has included everything from: more traveling (a trip to D.C. with my good friend Brandon), a raise at work resulting from two years of hard work, saying goodbye to my childhood friends as they left for college, also being the first child to head off to college, and of course the long/memorable drive out to Denver for school.

In the DECA world I have been working with a lot of the state presidents from my region to establish a sturdy method of contact. As Team 64 we are working with our members to be better connected, the method we are most actively working on is the Skype conference call schedule.

I am really starting to see the connections DECA has provided me! Like the rest of the team we receive numerous friend requests on Facebook everyday, but I just see that as an example of how strong this organization really is. Where else I see DECA's results of networking is in college, for the day I have been here I have had numerous people to up to me and tell me that they recognize me from some direct result of DECA.

As I just arrived to school I have had to make sure I leave time for DECA, as all of you should! We all have hectic lives and crazy schedules but we can't get caught up in that; I always tell people to leave time for you. That is something that everyone needs no matter who you are – so as long as you keep focused on school, work, DECA, etc… You always are able to say no to something that may come up last minute.

October:

As I am now into full swing of the college lifestyle I have started getting used to the fact that every detail of my previous lifestyle that has changed. Even with all the changes I have faced, I love the new life; I never thought I would actually say this, but I do miss my pesky little brother. I grew up with Jack for most of my life and he sure was good at being annoying, but now I have no little brother that I can hassle on a daily basis, or even just go to him to talk. College has sure kept me busy - along with classes, I also have work and, obviously, DECA. So if I must say so myself, I have become pretty good at managing my time already.

Time for CRLC is getting closer and closer. It will be here before you know it! I watch many parts of the conference come together on a daily basis, and this year members will be in for an amazing conference - as always!

November:

Buying a new car, parent funding tapped, the delicious taste of Ramen noodles…. These are all signs of living the college lifestyle. A routine is just getting established and I am already nearing finals of my first term. It is amazing how quickly life flashes right before your eyes, or is the saying “time flies when you're having fun” actually true? I think it's a little of both. When you enjoy daily life and you are confident in the work you do, life is great! As I went through my high school career I continuously was worried whether I was doing everything right. I would turn in a paper hoping the teacher would approve and with the constant concern of: what if I did something wrong. For the most part, I traveled through high school with fairly high grades, but I was never confident in my work. I believe this was caused by many things: stress about college applications, parents approval, and how I wanted to look graduating. I never realized that, yes, I did need good grades; but the stress I was putting myself through was not worth it. Through my senior year I became more and more comfortable with my writing. When I first started college, I started with a new mindset; so when I handed my first paper in at Johnson & Wales University, I handed it in with confidence. And, expecting nothing less, I got it back with big “A” written at the top.

With the confidence I have gained in myself, I believe that it has made me a better person. I have been able to get assignments done more quickly without second-guessing my work, and I have even been asked for advice from peers. I suggest that everyone should take this attitude and implement it immediately, because this can dramatically change your effort in DECA to be of greater success. Judges love to see confidence in competitors and typically will score them higher. So whether you're an average DECA member, or an officer at any level, confidence always puts you towards the top. Bring your confidence and I know that we will have fantastic conference at CRLC.

As this is my last journal before the conference, I have to express how excited I am to see each and every one of you there!!!

January:

Time to take a breath!! The holidays are over... Sad, but now there is actually time to think and breath. This past month was filled with endless excitement. I got to spend time with familiar faces from all over the place. During my time in attending conferences I got to reconnect with the people that have always been there to support me.

When the conferences came to an end, the New Year was waiting right around the corner. With the New Year coming, this is a time where people would have a fresh start. When the clock hits midnight, many start off the year with resolutions they set. Some set these high, others set them too low, and the smart people set resolutions that are actually achievable. These resolutions, for a lot of people, are goals that they intend to achieve over the year.

I have set two goals that are my resolutions for the New Year. One of those goals is to become more financially secure. I set this goal because it won't be long before the summer will be here which means that I will need to work in an apartment payment to my monthly expenses. My second resolution is to get trained for a half marathon that I am planning on running in the spring.