Over One Fourth of Team Advances to International Competition
Priscilla Ng
Staff Writer
American High School’s DECA team travelled to Anaheim, California from February 6 to 9 to compete in the annual State Career Development Conference (SCDC).
“DECA is an organization that promotes exposure to real business situations and public speaking skills that are applicable to any field,” president and senior Revati Kapshikar said.
DECA members prepared for the competition through a variety of methods, practicing both the written and oral requirements each division presents.
“On the bus ride to Anaheim, we did two practice multiple choice exams, and reviewed a few Principal Indicators, which are like basic business terms that the judges will score on how well you incorporate them in your presentation and how well you understand them,” junior Katherine Cui said. “We did roughly three practice role plays at after school practices too.”
Many of the students also had experience from previous competitions going into this year’s SCDC.
“Previously this year I competed in the Northern California Career Development conference, NorCal, as well as SCDC last year as well,” senior Sanjana Naik said.
The total team included forty three members, eleven of whom will be advancing to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia early May.
“My team has shown stunning growth and maturity in competition over these last two years,” Kapshikar said. “I’m proud of each and every one of them and proud to be recognized for the largest membership percentage increase in California for the second year in a row.”
Not only has the team been successful in terms of winning awards, many participants also greatly enjoy the experience itself.
“At first I hesitated on whether or not to do DECA, as I was not really into business. But after hearing all my friends talk about it and telling me the great experiences that they had, I decided to go for it,” Cui said. “Never in my life would I have imagined hearing our names announced at the awards ceremony and having the opportunity to step on the podium for top 2 in the event. It was honestly the best weekend of my life and gave me an opportunity to explore something new.”
Other students agree, stating that one of the best parts of participating in DECA is being a part of the team dynamic.
“I love our team, which has grown immensely from just two years ago, we feel like a family,” Naik said. “At conferences, we’re not the biggest team, but for our size, I can definitely say we’re the loudest!”
With an extremely successful competition behind them, the team is looking forward to ICDC and even ahead to next year.
“I would like to tell people that, yes, DECA is a great social experience and allows for networking and travel, but it does require commitment to succeed,” Kapshikar said. “I encourage anyone interested in marketing or business to come out to the meetings and practices.”
Eagle Era 