Nine students and two alumni from Students in Technology, Academia, Research and Service (STARS) Alliance attended the 2025 National Technology Student Association (TSA) Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, which ran from June 27 to July 1, 2025.

Joining the trip were CCI students Sierra Blythe, Bella Bozied, Heath Davis, Ava Downes, Paige Elkin, Sophia Ferraro, Julia Sveen, Javin Vance, and Orion Qualls as well as CCI alumni Jamie Guterman and Owen Van Lenten. The students and alumni of STARS were led by their advisor, Associate Dean Ebe Randeree, who started and has maintained the partnership between Florida TSA and STARS.

The STARS students and Randeree’s contributions didn’t go unrecognized as Kelly Gulich, the 2025 National TSA Conference Manager, describes how the words “thank you, seem so insignificant to express how grateful National TSA is for everything you did for this year’s conference. Your hard work was such an enormous contribution to guarantee a great experience for so many TSA members and advisors from across the nation.”

Over 12,000 students attended the conference from a multitude of TSA chapters nationwide. The students were able to interact with both high school and middle school students and present them with tools that they could utilize in their professional careers.

Bella Bozied, STARS President, described how “you see a lot of yourself in these kids. Everybody grows up differently but everybody at some point is a nervous kid that wants to have the potential and the public speaking skills to articulate their skills in leadership and that’s what we’re there for – to help mentor them through our own experiences.”

Bella and fellow STAR members Paige Elkin and Heath Davis’s presentation “Communication and collaboration: the Power of Learning and Teamwork,” discussed active listening and understanding nonverbal skills through activities. Bozied delved into the importance of collaboration amongst these younger ages and the encouragement needed to get them invested in the topics addressed.

“There were a lot of young women, and it was nice to see how confident they are and talk to them about their involvement in school…I find it to be such a privilege to go to TSA and especially to connect with kids and work with them,” Bozied said.

Other presentations focused on topics from time management, building teams in different settings, and thinking critically and creatively. Randeree also presented to TSA chapter advisors and interested students on how to pivot teaching tactics to better prepare students of all ages for the more technology orientated job market.

“Attending and presenting at a national conference is a huge opportunity for our FSU student leaders.  They are also visible as FSU and CCI with students from across the country (and world),” Randeree said. He has served on the Florida TSA Board and actively engages FSU CCI students with TSA leadership conferences since 2008.

All presentations included various activities for TSA students to self-reflect on their own skills and build their communication and leadership skills with other students from different chapters.

“Regardless of your industry, or even just in your personal life, the ability to voice your thoughts to others and work collaboratively is necessary to success,” Elkin said.

Both Bozied and Elkin discussed how they bonded as a group. Specifically, Elkin mentioned how she enjoyed getting to know the other members and connect when supporting other members during their presentations and during their long bus ride there and back.

“I love being stuck with everybody because it’s such an easy way to connect to one joint goal of going to TSA,” Bozied said.

The STARS Alliance is a supportive network of leaders where students can look forward to gaining more chances for growth and connection.