Published on 02-03-2025
A highlight of my high school experience was learning leadership skills, competing in prestigious business competitions and forging professional connections while being president of DECA. Coming to Purdue allowed me to try new experiences and move outside of my comfort zone, but I always stayed connected with DECA. So, when Oliva Atkins, associate director for undergraduate recruitment at the Daniels School of Business, first suggested starting a collegiate DECA program at Purdue, I was eager to learn more.
DECA is a worldwide organization that centers on professional development and leadership while honing skills in entrepreneurship, marketing, business, finance and accounting. There are over 255,000 high school members and 4,800 college members.
I decided to re-build the DECA chapter at Purdue because it shaped me into the person I am today and helped me discover what I am passionate about. With DECA comes several networking opportunities that coincide with various competitions around the nation. These competitions are done in teams and individual sections. Participants have several options for competing ranging from day-of case studies to prepared business presentations. Through the comradery in each DECA chapter, competitions and networking with DECA alumni, members develop vast business and professional skills that any employer would admire.
The current collegiate DECA President, Eric Bedrosian, is a current student at Butler University. I reached out to him when I was considering rebuilding Purdue’s chapter, and he was an incredible support and resource as I began. We outlined the time commitment, the requirements and crucial resources and overall how to lead the chapter. In truth, there was no rule book to follow. We had to forge Purdue’s path.
Speaking with Eric made me confident that I was capable of rebuilding Purdue’s DECA chapter. My first task was acquiring an executive board with the skill set and passion to re-launch this program. I met with seven people this summer and at the beginning of the semester, all of whom are now dedicated members of the chapter’s executive board. I was excited by how many of them were eager to jump in, especially since we were rebuilding this from the ground up.
The hardest challenge of re-starting this chapter at Purdue would be the time commitment. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I wasn’t fully prepared for the amount of hours put in each week. With my classes and prior commitments, I had to change how I allotted my time to different aspects of my life. I was able to manage my time well as I learned to balance my studies, leadership roles and personal life healthily. But, it was a difficult few weeks before I found what worked best for me.
During Purdue’s 2024 orientation week, we set up a table at the Be Involved Fair. We were talking to students non-stop and received so much enthusiasm. Many were involved in DECA during high school and weren’t aware there was a collegiate division. We received over 250 interest signups and had a call-out meeting a few days into the fall semester.
In September we had our first Purdue DECA meeting. Since then, we’ve had workshops every other Tuesday on resume building, networking, personal branding and communication. We’ve grown as an organization, learned new skills and are competing in-house to qualify students for DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC). We have a limited number of spots as we have to fundraise to cover the cost of ICDC in San Francisco this year. Our case competition is being judged by business professional volunteers. They are community leaders who work in an array of different industries and are willing and able to judge our competition in late February.
I had the honor of rebuilding this chapter with my extraordinary executive board and Bedrosian as an incredible resource. I took the numerous opportunities that come with DECA and narrowed it down to exactly what I wanted to do for the Purdue chapter. I learned the ins and outs of leading a group and how to make a positive impact in their lives. I learned what it took to motivate a team and what incentivized members to be excited and return. I cannot wait to send off members to ICDC, and I am proud to know that I was able to restart this program and impact students' lives.
Natalie Deck is from Westfield, Indiana, majoring in marketing and minoring in communications at Purdue University. She will graduate in May 2025. Deck is a current Business Ambassador for the Mitch Daniels School of Business and the president of the collegiate DECA chapter at Purdue. She is a shift lead and social media lead at Greyhouse Coffee in West Lafayette and a Wyldlife leader for Greater Lafayette Younglife. This past summer she was a retail key account management intern at Elanco. She will return to Elanco in July 2025 to work full-time as an associate key account manager.
