In a prep room filled with professionally clad competitors, CHS9’s Yuvan Sampath scribbles on his paper. As time expires, he stands. Channeling his theater experience, he walks on to his own stage, ready for his roleplay.

Since middle school, Sampath has had many intertwining interests between art and business ventures. 

“When I was in sixth grade, I had a stock portfolio that I started after looking at my brother’s,” Sampath said. “I really enjoy learning about stocks and trading and I’m still continuing with that today.”

Before business, Sampath was drawn to the performing arts, mesmerized by the ability to sing and become another character.

“I’ve been performing since I could talk,” Sampath said. “Theater was the obvious option when going to middle school.” 

Moving into high school, Sampath was looking for an extracurricular activity to excel in. Listening to his brother and 2022 Coppell High School graduate Kavin Sampath’s suggestion, he settled on DECA. 

“He follows what he loves to do and nobody can tell him otherwise,” Kavin said. “He’s very clear about whether he likes something or not.”

Combining his business acumen and theatrical abilities, Yuvan settled on the Principles of Business Management and Administration event. The event is a roleplay and consists of quick thinking and interacting with a judge. 

“I’m involved with a theater program and the whole acting perspective of theater really helps with the roleplay part of DECA,” Sampath said. “It helps me be creative in the moment.”

Sampath intentionally chose the event to attune to his natural talents.

“The event needs a lot of emotional intelligence and customer relations, and I’m good with people,” Sampath said. “So I thought, ‘hey, this would be a good fit for me’.”

In his interest with connections with people and the judges, Sampath has developed a strategy that has served him well, leading him to be the only freshman DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) qualifier this year.

“You have to have something that sets you apart from everybody else that’s competing against you, right?” Sampath said. “You want them to remember you, so the personal aspect really comes into letting a little bit of your personality shine through.” 

Sampath uses both his acquired skills and personal strengths to his advantage when making a connection with the judges.

“He’s attentive, obviously intellectually and academically, but what really matters is empathy,” Kavin said. “Being able to read other people is really going to bring him far in life.”

Sampath has also developed a unique bond between his heritage and theater over the course of four years. 

“I do South Indian classical music and it’s very helpful for me with performing,” Sampath said. “It’s similar to classical music, but there are different notes and the style is different.” 

Art is another reason Sampath has progressed so far in his DECA journey, shaping his character and personal goals.

“There’s a lot of hard work, and it’s difficult to progress through it,” Sampath said. “Being enrolled in that really helped with my work ethic.”

Sampath attributes a lot of his success to his brother and the unwavering support with everything he does.

“My brother has always been my best friend,” Sampath said. “He truly is the biggest support in my life; when it comes to somebody I can talk to about anything, it really is my brother since I was little.”

Kavin is a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin in the business program. As Sampath watched his brother go through CHS, he was inspired by his older brother’s actions.

“Looking at him grow up and go into something he really loves, fuels that fire for me to work hard while I can in high school,” Sampath said.

Though Sampath has not finalized what he wants to do as a career, he is looking into many options.

“It’s such a big decision and it’s something that I have to look into as many areas as I can,” Sampath said. “I have to have more experiences in those fields before I can really make a decision.”

Currently, Sampath is leaning towards pursuing an education in business in his next years at CHS. 

“The whole learning process of business in general is so appealing to me,” Sampath said. “I feel like it could definitely be a great option for me and I’m looking forward to what the future has in store for me.”

To Sampath, DECA has become much more than an after school extracurricular.

“I’ve had so much fun and I’ve met a lot of friends,” Sampath said. “I’ve just really fallen in love with the process of it.”

Follow Maya (@mvpalovalley) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.