Tupelo senior ranked in Top 10 internationally for DECA competition
TUPELO — Tupelo High School senior Connor O’Daniel ended his THS career with a bang, ranking eighth in the world in DECA’s professional selling event.
THS students can join the DECA chapter through the school’s business, marketing and finance class.
When O’Daniel first took the business class and joined DECA his sophomore year, he chose the professional selling event as his focus, and he’s stuck with it ever since.
“I feel like that sort of matches my personality,” O’Daniel said.
Each year, the professional selling competitors are given a prompt; this year, they had to sell digital marketing strategies to boutique businesses. Their goal was to get their judges at the DECA competitions to sign sales contracts (though the judge does not have to sign in order to give a competitor a good score).
O’Daniel researched and prepared a presentation based on the prompt. He scored in the Top 20 at the state-level competition in February, which put him on track for the international competition in late April, where he ultimately earned eighth place in professional selling.
This wasn’t O’Daniel’s first year to do well at DECA competitions. He placed sixth internationally in the 2022-23 school year.
“I was excited that I was able to … get Top 10 again, like I did last year,” O’Daniel said.
But DECA isn’t all about winning competitions. For O’Daniel, it’s been an excellent way to learn practical skills, spend time with old friends and make new ones. A friend of his, as well as his then-business teacher Brookes Prince, convinced O’Daniel to join DECA.
“At first, I didn’t know what DECA was, but I’m really glad that I was able to do it,” O’Daniel said. “Probably one of the most important things is, I’ve learned how to speak to people in a professional environment. I’ve learned how to make connections and network with people … from all over the country.”
He’s learned business terminology, how to dress professionally, and how to sell a product.
Prince, now the exploring careers teacher and co-DECA advisor, talked about how DECA brings her students together.
“Some of them come into the class knowing each other, but they don’t necessarily have a deep friendship,” Prince said. “But by the time they leave,” they’ve formed close bonds.
That’s certainly been true for O’Daniel. In fact, when he attends Itawamba Community College in Fulton this the fall as a marketing major, his ICC roommate will be a friend from DECA.
“There have been a lot of awesome friendships I’ve made in DECA,” O’Daniel said.
