This week I officially got registered for Collegiate DECA’s Collegiate Leadership Academy in New York City November 12-15. This is exciting for a number of reasons:

It’s a DECA conference: Collegiate DECA has truly defined my college experience. It was the first thing I joined as a freshman and I’ve been hooked ever since. The best part about it is the friendships I’ve developed through it. In my freshman year, these friendships were mostly confined to the UCF chapter. The leadership team that year were the people who got me hooked and I still talk to them to this day. In my second year at UCF, I talked to more people from other schools at the state level, and then got to attend the international conference. Speaking with people from all over the country with the same interests and goals was incredible. At this conference I’ll be able to reconnect with some of the people I met at 2015’s ICDC and meet new friends that I’ll be able to stay in touch with until the 2016 ICDC. In fact, since I’m the only attendee from UCF I will be sharing a hotel room with people I won’t be meeting until I arrive.

It’s my first time in New York City: I’ve always had a desire to see as much of the world as possible. Thankfully I’ve been able to do just that in college. I had my first trip to Europe with a month long study abroad program based out of France in summer 2014, then took my first trip to the west coast this past August for a marketing analytics conference for students at Google headquarters in San Francisco, California. Later in 2016, I will get my first trip to Washington, DC for the 2016 ICDC. For now, I’m beyond excited about the opportunity to explore the concrete jungle with new and existing DECA friends or some friends from my California program.

It’s not going to be hot: The fact that it’s the last week of October and I still sweat when I walk outside is a problem. It’s thrilling to pack my Floridian attempt at winter clothes as I prepare for it to be somewhere between 60 and 40 degrees… fall really did come to the rest of the country!

Plus, I’ll be able to sing this song in my head all day as I walk down the street: