It’s been a busy and successful year for Locust Valley High School junior Chelsy Arrata. Through Virtual Enterprise conferences, DECA club state and international competitions and essay contests, she and her teammates made history and helped demonstrate the growth of the school’s business programs. Now, she is setting her eyes towards another first for the school, a TEDx Talk.
In March, Arrata and her Locust Valley DECA compatriots traveled up to Rochester to take part in the New York DECA State Career Development Conference. The team earned several accolades, including a top 10 finish for Vito Ricciardi in his role play exercise. Arrata, meanwhile, became the club’s first-ever member to qualify for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta by placing fifth statewide in the Professional Selling category.
Earlier this spring, Arrata entered the Japan Center Essay Competition through Stony Brook University and took home first place and the International Consulate of Japan Special Award. Her essay centered on her grandfather’s escape from the Cultural Revolution in China, which she connected with Japanese philosophy.
In May, Arrata returned from the international DECA conference, where she competed with thousands of business students from around the globe and earned a 92 overall composition score from an exam and her presentation on professional selling. studied seven days a week while balancing her regular schoolwork for the notoriously difficult ICDC exam.
“It was a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of stress,” Arrata said. “I’m grateful for the experience because it taught me how to balance academics and an international competition.”
Even while at the conference, Arrata skipped leisure time, including concerts and a trip to Six Flags, opting to utilize as much time as possible to prepare for her 15-minute presentation in front of professors and industry professionals from institutions such as Blackrock, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. That presentation was a “supped up” version of the one she gave at the New York State DECA competition, which qualified her as the first-ever Locust Valley student to attend the international conference.
As part of her project, Arrata was tasked with finding ways to maintain a nonprofit organization and perform tasks like reducing high turnover rates and increasing and upscaling staff. She went beyond her marketing designation; creating an employee handbook and contract and running through the organization’s finances. Arrata had some real-world practice in this area already that she built off of, as she runs her own districtwide initiative called “Message Matters” focused on helping neurodivergent students express themselves, acts as the business director of a program called “Heroboxes,” which helped raise money for the homeless and she took part in a mission trip down to Jamaica in April to help rebuild homes damaged in storms.
“I really took on the role as if it were a real job, and that took some time and money to make these props,” Arrata said. “But it was really worth it.”
While Arrata was preparing for ICDC and her regular school exams, she received good news about another venture just days before she left for Atlanta. Arrata submitted numerous essays and video applications throughout the school year and received approval from the organization and the district to give a TEDx Talk to Locust Valley High School in August. The talk will be given from the school auditorium and livestreamed to be viewed everywhere online.
Arrata was inspired to fight for all these incredible achievements during a period of her life when she was struggling with health issues. Her TEDx Talk will focus on her belief that fear and hardship do not have to define anyone.
Arrata said her DECA club teacher, Lara Olotka, has been a huge source of support during her time in Locust Valley.
“She knew me when my family was going through a lot of adversity and she never gave up on me,” Arrata said. “She’s never doubted me. She always says, ‘You can do anything.’”
Arrata gave advice to Falcons present and future on how to find both classroom and personal success.
“I’ve failed many times. I’ve submitted for competitions, I’ve auditioned for things, started initiatives and some have failed, but I didn’t give up,” Arrata said. “I always tell my friends when they ask how I balance all this, ‘you have to have the drive. You have to want it.’ If you don’t try, you’ll never know.”