First year student Jacob Sackett represented the Goodman School of Business at DECA ICDC and placed in the top ten in the Hotel and Lodging category
Jacob Sackett just finished his first year at the Goodman School of Business and has already been involved in several students clubs and had the opportunity to travel to Orlando, Florida to compete at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC), where he was very successful in the Hotel and Lodging category.
Congratulations on your success at DECA ICDC! Tell us a little bit about how ICDC works and what your experience was like.
Thank you! As a first year student, I didn’t expect to compete at internationals so I was really happy to just get a chance to go and the hardware was just an added bonus. ICDC runs similarly to how provincials run but with some alterations. The case prep is 30 minutes instead of 15 and the presentation is 15 instead of 10. Not to mention that you have to finalize in order to move onto the second case. As for my experience, it was great! I had such a fun time. The difference in how it runs gave us an advantage I think. The cases are the same length as those at provincials so it gave us more time to refine our ideas. But it wasn’t all about the case – there were fun times too, like our trip to Disney! I would strongly advise everyone to try out DECA at least once.
You competed in the Hotel and Lodging category at ICDC – what attracted you to this category?
At provincials, I competed in the travel marketing event, and since the events differ slightly between collegiate DECA and DECA Ontario, I thought this would be an interesting event to do that was similar to one I previously competed in. The first case was about handling complaints, whereas the second was marketing-based which is what I was expecting. It gave me a chance to think about something I never would have otherwise. This is what attracts me to events like DECA; as an accounting student, it’s mostly what I learn. With DECA, I can branch out into different areas, learn new things and just round myself out. It’s the same thing that attracted me to BUMA.
You are finishing up your first year at Goodman and you have already been involved with several clubs – BUMA, BSA, ASA and DECA – what advice do you have for incoming first year students who are considering getting involved in extra-curricular activities or student clubs?
I’ll take a page from Nike’s book here: “just do it”. I knew I was going to get involved in maybe one thing in my first year. I did not expect to be involved in so many clubs to the point where I’ve become known with some of the executives and they would approach me for volunteer opportunities and such.
Perhaps the biggest piece of advice I can give incoming students is not to be afraid. It’s scary joining these new clubs not knowing anyone. But all these clubs are super friendly and everyone welcomes you with open arms. If you keep with them they become your little fam jam. If you are a little shy to go at it alone, grab a friend. If it weren’t for a friend or two I wouldn’t have been as involved. Also, step out of your comfort zone. Go do things that aren’t necessarily related to your major. I’m an accounting kid serving on the executive for the marketing association now. By doing things like this you just round out yourself and learn a bunch of new things.
Who has been your strongest mentor at the Goodman School of Business?
It’s hard to pick just one person for this. There have been so many people who have talked to me, let me pick their brains or who encouraged me to do things. I think a few of the biggest ones would be Jill Windeatt who showed me an opportunity for the BSA and coached me through that which lead to all my involvement. To the BSA executive board who help show me what I can do and the various opportunities that are presented to me. And one last shout out to Sultana Naimi who was my voice of reason by the end of things and being there to talk things out with what I wanted to do next year.
What was the most important lesson you learned during your first year at Goodman?
This one is super simple: FOMO (fear of missing out) is a thing and how to say NO. Countless people have helped me with this lesson throughout the year: “two terms” Aqib, Najlaa, Sultana, and pretty much every upper year student I met and am friends with.
I think for any individual who gets involved, heed this warning. I wish I had slowed down a bit as second semester was really busy. But with everyone’s help, by the end of the year, I was able to say no and only apply for one position and not four. This is something that I plan on working on through the coming years. Because say no is actually hard.
