After a grueling 100 question test, senior Eliana Anderson DECA member receives a prompt and gives a performance with her teammate, senior Paige Glynn, that propelled both into state competition.
DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, and it is a student-led business management club focused on getting its members ready for futures in business, such as marketing, finance, or management. DECA is a mix of an academic team and student government where students balance studying business concepts and competing academically with doing other business and not-for-profit opportunities.
DECA students host all kinds of events for the community like the annual book drive, the 3 on 3 basketball tournament, and the clothing drive.
“Paige and I received first place in the district competition. We both were nervous before the competition, but once we started working in our prep-room we felt more confident because we had practiced a roleplay very similar to it. Afterwards, we remained confident because we knew we had done the best we could do,” Anderson said.
DECA competitions enable students to show their knowledge and expertise in a field by competing. There are two main categories: host an event and write a paper on it, or take a 100 question test and roleplay a situation in front of a judge. In these two categories, there are many events that DECA students can choose from, ranging from finance to cooperating with a business and solving their issues. The competition on Jan. 10 was the opportunity many GHS DECA members needed to show off their skills.
Another DECA team who placed first in their event is senior Peyton Tines and senior Hasan Tefenlili. Their 100 question test left them both with a sour taste in their mouths but they made up for it in the roleplay.
“Our test scores were a 69 which was really bad but the roleplay was pretty perfect, a 94. We apply our skills in the field more effectively. We expected we did good but not 94% not that close to being perfect,” Tines said.
Tines said that having a teammate helped him achieve a first place score and competition dominance.
“I teamed with Hasan, and I think it was a great idea. We could play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses and the other person could take over if someone starts struggling. Before the competition, I was pretty confident in myself because we prepared a lot during the event at the start. I was a little nervous, but at the end, I was really confident. I knew I made little mistakes but was confident in our ability to recover from the mistakes,” Tines said.
A DECA member who decided to fly solo is Ni Za, who took second place in her event.
“For my role-play I was supposed to be an accounting consultant talking to my client that owns a coffee shop, which was played by the judge. Before the competition, I was nervous and excited. During I was locked in. After, I felt relieved. Overall, I had a great time because I enjoy pretending to be a business person and I got to be with my friends after,” Za said.
