South's DECA Club Headed to Nationals

DECA has been around for for nearly 70 years and has remained dedicated to helping students achieve business excellence internationally. South’s DECA is just as committed to aiding its members learn important employment skills and occupational experience, and this year, 44 of South’s own students are headed to Nationals after moving on from State, bringing them to Nashville, Tennessee. There they will compete in the International Career Development Conference, which will take place in late April of this year.
“I did a sports entertainment promotional plan for the League of Legends World Championship,” Aric Wood ‘16 said. “We went to certain judges in a big room; there were like ten different projects going on at once. We would essentially run through a play-by-play of what our project would be and how it was going to help the product or service or event.”
All participants did a judged roleplay in addition to their presentation.
“I also did a team roleplay with one of my friends where we had to attract more women to a monthly razor shaving club, which was a buying and merchandising roleplay,” Bryan Kelly ‘16 said. “For the roleplay, part of it was a written marketing test and that factored in addition to the actual roleplay in how we met the performance indicators, and for the written project part of our score was based on the actual project we wrote up beforehand.”
Many students involved in the organization have been spending a considerable amount of their time beforehand preparing for the State Career Development Conference in Portland, which happened Feb. 21 through Feb. 23.
“DECA prepares future entrepreneurs and leaders in marketing, hospitality, and management.” Meg Takara ‘18 said, a member of South’s DECA club.
This competition will consist of obstacles that they could run into in a future career. The club positively benefits those involved by giving them a genuine corporate background that they can use in professions later on.
“We get to collaborate with real businesses, so it’s like a real life experience,” Morgan Winder ‘18 said.
More than just an authentic business experience, it boasts the courage and determination of those who participate, and allows those involved to let their confidence blossom through hard work and effort.