DECA do, or DECA do not?

You may have heard of it. You may have yet to. Whichever may be your cause, if you love business and competition, or are curious, You may love DECA. When in DECA, you get to taste what the world of business, and compete at the same time. Who would put off an opportunity?

Why would you compete in DECA? Because it opens a world of doors for you. Participating in DECA lets you test your wits against others in varying types of competitions, including management, finance, hospitality, and so much more. There are many ways to compete. Do you feel like taking a solo challenge role-play, immersing yourself into the business world. Do you tag team it with a partner? Or do you prefer the entrepreneurial approach, crafting a business idea and presenting it. You compete in your district, in the state, and if you make it, national competition, gunning for victory and scholarships to your college. (There is a legend saying having participated in DECA looks great on your transcripts when applying for college.)

If you want to compete in Jenison DECA, The first step is to take a business class. This will enroll you in DECA, Though participation is optional. If you are without a business class in second semester, you can still be in DECA if you had a Business class and participated first semester. Once you are in, you can stay in. You need to want to pick an event to participate in.

Your Event. So many to choose from. In short the categories are: Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Hospitality and tourism, and Marketing. The management section is all the decisions and inner workings of a company. Ethical practices and human resources. The entrepreneurship section relates to planning of a business, extending it, and so much more. Finance deals with the money aspects of business operations. It includes accounting, financial consulting, and financial decision making as topics. Hospitality and tourism sells

the customer an experience. Marketing includes all the aspects of selling products and services, and by a wide margin has the broadest selection of events and competitions. In each category, there are also virtual business challenges, which are online simulations, which have the feel of a game, but constructed to teach lessons. 

Once your choice is made which event you want to compete in and how you take it, it is time for district competition. For Jenison, Ferris State University hosts our event. In the available competitions, Individual events pick the top 10 in each category, and [if memory serves proper] 8 teams from each team competition. It may be the first round but that gives zero leeway when you aim for the top. With hundreds of people competing in the first stage there is little room for falter.

Now that you made it through the tenderizer, it is time to get flame-grilled. State DECA competition holds a chandelier to its predecessor, a candle. When you find yourself in Detroit, you discover that while this is still competitive, they want you to have fun. You can explore the city if you want on your free time, and walking in the cool air to the host building gives you a sense of refreshment. be careful though, competition is fierce, with other high schools with massive numbers, you bout for your right to go to ICDC, and distractions can spell chaos.

If you managed to DECA-Demolish the competition, it is the time for the International Career Development Conference, where, quoted from the website itself, “Eighteen thousand high school students gather…”. Yeah, talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. For reference, the Michigan State Conference of 2018 estimated around 5000-6000 attendees. This is triple that.

You have done it. You made it to internationals. You competed the best of your ability. All that is left… the award ceremony. It was you vs all the others. You toughed it and you did it. Now will decide if all your work paid off. Although, there is at least one thing you will leave with. Greater skills and a deeper understanding of a business field. Heck, you might take an interest when you go to college. Business colleges like seeing DECA on your transcripts, if you applied yourself, you have a shot to get a myriad of scholarships that DECA offers to its competitors.

And hey, along the way, maybe you will lead your states DECA chapter?