One of the most common questions a DECA member gets asked has nothing to do with the competition or the results, but is far more simple.
What is DECA?
The answer is simple, but doesn’t do the organization justice. If you asked what it was the standard answer is the response would be, “An organization of business and marketing students.” The most common response to that is “Oh” promptly followed by a quick subject change. If you really took the time to listen to a longer answer though you would hear something much different.
DECA is an academic organization that helps students learn about becoming a professional and what they want to do in life. It does so by holding competitions at district, state, and national levels in marketing, advertising, and business operations.
Competitions range from role plays to thirty page written events that often make it to the national level. In role plays all students need to do to prepare is show up. They are given ten minutes to prepare and a one page description of a problem that they are to solve, they then speak to judges about their ideas for ten minutes. This helps students learn to be professional with colleagues and bosses and helps problem solving skills. Another popular event is the employment interview in which the participant is in a mock job interview choosing from a list of jobs and submitting a resume. This may sound like a lot of work, but in reality it’s a lot of fun too. During districts, which is held at the St.Cloud mall, many of the female students make it a tradition to look for prom dresses at Deb.
“We have fun dressing up my friend, who’s five feet tall, in the biggest dresses we can find.” says Junior, Katelyn Jerde, the co-president of DECA. Another great benefit of hard work comes when students go to state in Minneapolis in March and stay at the Hilton hotel. So while the answer may sound boring and “nerdy” the result is actually a group of students who are more prepared for life after high school and the working world. 
