Being the school’s largest club comes with the pressures to perform. However, members of the school’s DECA chapter lived up to these lofty expectations when they competed at the Maryland DECA State Career Development Conference (SCDC) on Feb. 28.
With close to 1,000 members from across the state competing, this event was the school’s most difficult of the year so far. After months of hard work and preparation, 23 members from this school qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) and will travel to Atlanta, GA, during April to compete.
DECA is a global student organization that prepares high school and college students for careers in business. DECA spans across the world and is made up of over 300,000 members. This school is one of 4,483 high school chapters. According to deca.org, the mission of DECA is “to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.”
DECA competitions consist of both a prepared event and a role play. A prepared event is when students must either partner with an organization, or create their own business pitch and present it in front of a judge. They are given 15 minutes to present and answer any questions the judge may have. Role plays are when a competitor receives a business scenario on site. They’re then given 10-30 minutes to prepare a solution to the issue before presenting it to a judge and must also take a 100 question exam.
From 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on a Saturday, SCDC took place. However, members only had to compete for about 30 minutes of that long stretch of time. So, for the rest of the day they filled their time with workshops and networking. “As a state officer, I was overseeing workshops, but members attended workshops, listened to candidates for state officer positions and just hung out with friends. During lunch, they were allowed to leave the hotel to get food, so some people went around Baltimore,” Maryland DECA Vice President of Public Relations senior Maria Thomas said.
Students find that DECA allows for a perfect balance between competition and relaxation. “My favorite part about DECA is traveling around the country to meet passionate students and business professionals from all around the world. I also like the opportunity it gives me to learn professional business skills and mentor other students interested in the business world,” senior Kaden Chan said.
DECA members are looking forward to their upcoming trip to Atlanta for ICDC next month. The four-day event is filled with workshops, socializing, pin trading and more. “I’m super excited for DECA night where we get to go to the Georgia aquarium and the World of Coca Cola. I’m also looking forward to trading DECA pins with other people and meeting new people. Because I’m a senior, I’m both looking forward to and dreading competing one last time. It’s a very bittersweet experience, but I think I’ll have a lot of fun,” Thomas said.
