Hi!

       I may be bold in feeling this way, but I believe that my career began in high school, specifically junior year. When I started high school, I joined a club called DECA simply because my brothers did it and I knew involvement was important. According to their website, "DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe." In my school, you had to take marketing classes to be a part of this club. Thus, my first exposure to the other side of marketing.

       Like I said, I joined freshman year, but junior year is where this story takes place. My DECA advisor decided to put me in an event called "Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling." Why she chose this, I don't know, but I am better for it. For this event, I was taking on the role of a representative of a city, and the judges were role playing as an organization seeking a city to host a convention. I had just recently been to Chicago, so I, along with my advisor, decided to sell the city of Chicago for this convention. For the next semester, I devoted every day in class to research and the creation of a presentation. I became very familiar with the city of Chicago, and quickly aware that this city is in fact perfect for a convention and just needs a voice to show that. It had been ranked "Best Big City in the US" by Condé Nast Traveler magazine's reader's choice awards a few years in a row at the time, and has maintained that title for seven years now but I'll get to that later. The research was done and presentation written with a great Frank Sinatra hook, so the only thing left was my visuals. In comes Canva.

       My school did not do PowerPoints, but physical boards and lots of them. This was the first time I ever used Canva and it was so much fun. I designed the coolest boards with black and white photos of Chicago in the background, and red titles, and I even had moving elements that could be flipped and moved once printed. It was all very "Chicago-esque" and I was incredibly proud.

       The state DECA convention was held in Chattanooga, where I competed against schools from all over Tennessee in this event. This was the most fun I have ever had with these competitions, and it was honestly easy because I was so passionate about it and genuinely loved talking about Chicago. After all was said and done, I placed second, meaning I got to move on to the international conference in Orlando. I was the only single person team in my school to move forward. That was not a common occurrence for our club. In between running around Disney World, I gave my presentation to the judges, Frank Sinatra and all. Since it was already a miracle that I was at the competition, I went into the awards ceremony with no expectations other than cheering on my classmates for their awards. But, when my category came up, there was my name to come to the stage. Standing up there, in front of thousands of people from all over the world, it was announced that I had tied for sixth place. In the whole world! I was ecstatic.

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       I largely consider this my first success in marketing, but how is this the start of my career. Well, through this experience, not only did I learn how to use Canva, but I found a way to use marketing for what I love. I love to travel. I love new cities. I love to know cities and to know people. When I travel, people can't get me to shut up about where I had just been. I am the biggest advocate for the places I have been and that is all I want to do in life. I want to travel and see the world, then I want to tell people about it and inspire them to do the same. The reason I know Chicago is still being voted "Best Big City in the US" for seven years now is because my mom immediately subscribed to Condé Nast Traveler and I have been obsessed with them ever since. I was looking for jobs there when I was still in high school and I was amazed to see that I could love travel and marketing at the same time. It is my dream to work in a role where I can combine my love for travel with my love for marketing. If I pursue a certain career, it will be something I am passionate about. If I am passionate about it, I hope this story is proof enough that I will make it great. I do not like to waste people's time with half-hearted effort and I do not like to settle in life for things that I do not want. So, anyone that I work for can be confident that I want to be there, I am passionate about what I am doing, and because of this I will put in my best effort.