SCA President Arjun Setty talks his election to Virginia DECA

Junior Arjun Setty is a lot of things: SCA president, Minvest CEO, Domfalls ice hockey player, and LCPS equity committee representative, to list a few. Now he adds another item to that list, after campaigning for and winning the position of Vice President of Career Development of Virginia DECA.

DECA has a large following at Potomac Falls. It’s a co-curricular organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.

“I am currently the Vice President of Competition, and a competitor myself, for Potomac Falls DECA,” said Setty. “I help our competitors study their marketing and business concepts, and prepare them to succeed. The last three years in PFHS DECA have been truly unforgettable and I’ve always been looking for ways to get more involved.”

The state-wide DECA organization is built to provide a variety of services and events to its members. It also works with individual districts to support them on their community service initiatives and student engagement projects. In Setty’s words, “The state-wide level of DECA is a central body that coordinates chapters across the state and helps bring them together in an effort to achieve their shared vision.”

“My position as the VP of Career Development involves ensuring that [every member is] prepared to take on the workforce and build their careers. More importantly, my role will involve communication with and supporting members across the state as they work to develop their careers and strengthen business connections within their chapter. 

As for what inspired Setty to run for his position, it was everything DECA had done for him and his community. 

“DECA, especially our sponsor Mr. Lucas, has helped me find myself in a lot of ways and given me a path for my future: pursuing a career in finance and entrepreneurship in the field of venture capital. I’ve been doing finance events for three years now, and after learning more about the subject, I decided that I wanted to go down that career path.

“[Now I want] to pay it forward by giving other students the same positive experience that I had.”

When running for SCA last year, Setty was prepared, posting slides titled “Arjun’s Agenda” on Instagram that detailed his plans if he was elected. He’s brought that same level of readiness to DECA with three main initiatives: job readiness workshops, career readiness chapter campaigns, and a DECA exclusive internship database. 

All three initiatives support his main goal. “[It’s simple]: to make every individual in DECA well-equipped to launch their career.”

“I’m going to run VA DECA by making it a highly-responsive and student-centric organization. Every action that I take will be driven by the needs of the students I’m representing and I’m going to involve our members in every step of the planning process.”