Mr. Dinicola

Life has a funny way of coming full circle. Five years ago I was sitting in my very first business class in high school, Principles of Entrepreneurship, and here I am taking it again in college. Although I can almost guarantee that the key takeaways are going to be vastly different, taking entrepreneurship in high school helped me pave the way to who I am today. Starting as the shyest person in the room, I was intimidated by our teacher, Mr. Dinicola's, expectations of us and his promises of passion. But he quickly became one of my favorite teachers and my number one supporter. His ability to pass the fire burning within him to even his most apathetic students is something that inspires me to this day.

By the second quarter of my freshman year, I was standing on chairs to command the class' attention and volunteering to present first at any opportunity. As soon as he saw me more comfortable in my own skin, he made the suggestion that changed my life. He asked me to join DECA, an organization that breeds competition, responsibility, and innovation in business students across the world. I joined excitedly, just happy to be a part of something, and ended up making it to States and missing Nationals by a few points on my first try! As the years progressed I got hungry for more and studied and worked hard until I made it to Nationals, twice. My happiest and proudest moments are all in Dinicola's classroom, on a DECA field trip, or at a competition. He always knew how to keep his students challenged, but fulfilled.

I enrolled in this class in the hopes of reigniting my once fervent passion for business. If it weren't for Dinicola and DECA I likely wouldn't even have chosen a business major, and since starting college I quickly realized how difficult it could actually be and remembered how easy it is to get discouraged. I truly hope this class will remind me why I was so passionate about business in the first place and help me become the person Mr. Dinicola is, the person who inspires others.