From February 18 to 20, LM’s Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) chapter competed in the Pennsylvania State Career Development Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The team left with immense successes, including multiple competitors placing and qualifying for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The top six places in each individual activity qualify for this national competition, with LM contributing six total participants to these top ranks. The DECA organization aims to prepare students to be successful in various career paths, including marketing, entrepreneurship, hospitality, finance, and business management.
Participants compete under the section of their choosing and in unique activities in each category. Some categories are larger than others, with participant amounts ranging from ten to over 100 students. At competitions, students take written exams depending on their career cluster, and will go on to compete in either roleplay events or presentations. A total of 101 high schools attended the state conference.
Abby McGrew ’27 and Ella Chen ’27 found success in their event, Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making, and secured first place against 33 other teams. McGrew expressed how heavily they prepared to successfully take this win. “We met up every weekend to do practice roleplays, memorize terms, and take practice tests,” McGrew explained. She also told how thoroughly they practiced and how much effort went into being prepared. “We also took advantage of a lot of resources available. Ella’s mom knows a lot about our topic and has connections to many other knowledgeable people in this area.” The two also spoke with previous DECA winners about strategy. McGrew and Chen were not the only two accomplished competitors from the trip; LM students secured wins across the Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Financial Consulting, and Job Interviewing categories.
Camille Cohen ’27 and Sasha Smith ’27 snagged the third-place award in Sports and Entertainment Marketing. Both Cohen and Smith expressed that this win did not come easily. “The hardest one [difficulty] was to find comfortability with being okay not knowing everything,” Cohen reported. “I found it hard when I was first starting out to admit I didn’t know things.” Corresponding to this feeling of uncertainty, Smith detailed her fears going into the competition. “I’m not good with presenting a topic that I’m not super comfortable with, which goes hand in hand with not knowing everything.” They both grew to understand that this strain could actually be used in their favor. “In the real world people don’t know every answer as well,” Cohen explained. She believed that expressing maturity during their roleplay and handling tough situations and questions helped them win the judges’ favor. The two used what could be disadvantages and turned them into benefits.
Many of these categories are for teams or partners, which can be very beneficial to the well-being of the participants. Smith expressed the importance of relying on one’s teammate. “Having trust in your partner is really important, like I had trust in [Camille] with everything.” This was also motivation for them to perform well and to control everything in their favor. Smith described her emotions throughout the preparation phase and during the competition: “I was scared I was going to let [Camille] down.” The two utilized their desire for victory and trust in each other to successfully place within the top six and qualify for nationals.
Some other participants didn’t get to rely on a friend within their category and competed solo. Thomas Gorman ’27 prepared for his event, a job interview, which he learned the day of that it was for a DECA store. This category is not a unique skill like others; it is something all students should prepare for in their future. “I had to fill out a job application that day,” Gorman commented. His main preparation ahead of time was on his one-page resume. Gorman thrived in his category of over thirty people and obtained first place.
Max Hansberry ’27 was another student who competed alone with great success. He participated in the Financial Consulting category and placed second. “I chose financial consulting because I wanted to get some exposure to how a real job in the financial sector might look.” Hansberry described. Hansberry will compete at Nationals in April. Hansberry explained how he plans to get ready for this major competition with even more pressure than states. “I’ll be preparing by doing my full presentation every few days, identifying what I need to work on, and changing any parts that I think could be improved.”
DECA had a successful trip to Hershey and left with both pride for their accomplishments and hope for what the future of this chapter will hold.
