Niles North’s DECA students competed at this year’s State Career Development Conference in Decatur on March 8-12. DECA is an international organization operating to attract young people to careers in marketing, management, merchandising, accounting and entrepreneurship. The tournament only scores individuals. Twenty-five students from North placed in the top 10 in their respective categories. “State was amazing,” senior Jordan Weiss said. “It was the best way to get a taste of real world business.”
The top-10 placers in their categories were Weiss, Aqil Hussain, Zain Lakhani, Ben Rios, Jeff Fox, Med Jimenez, Troy D’Souza, Xavier Ghani, Theresa Khoshaba, Sonali Patel, Mahak Lakhani, Maciej Kowalkowski, Ammar Mujtaba, Abdus Saleem, Shariq Salman, Justin Thomas, Saud Ahmed, Muhamed Muftic, Mitul Lakha, Ralph Reyes, Paul Kim, Brandon Pokrefky, Donna Khuu, Ayrie Gomez and Maytal Maor.
Many of North’s competitors were underclassmen. “This is the first year we had a freshman qualify for State.” DECA co-sponsor Angela Hankes said. She emphasized the fact that in order to compete at State, the members had to qualify, which is particularly difficult for underclassmen with less experience. “We have a younger group of students.”
The three-day State meet starts with an economics test. Afterwards the students present their projects to the judges. On the final night’s DECA dance, the results of the judges’ voting are revealed. This year, in addition to the top 10 qualifiers, several competitors also qualified for the International Career Development Contest (ICDC) in Salt Lake City. Zain Lakhani and Aqil Hussain came in first place in their event. Saud Ahmed, Jordan Weiss, and Alex Stavropoulous took second in their event. Sam Eisenberg, Jeff Fox, and Harsh Patel placed third in their event. Elif Gundogdu ranked third for his event. Sonali Patel also qualified as a Voting Delegate. The Utah competition is April 28-May 1 and DECA members are excited. “I’m looking forward to it, and the students are too,” Hankes said. “Let’s hope we get to do some skiing and snowboarding”.
In addition, two DECA competitors also earned scholarships for their achievements. Saud Ahmed earned a $1,000 scholarship from Men’s Warehouse. Muhammed Muftic earned a $1,000 scholarship through Safeway.
DECA competitors prepare for their upcoming competitions in several ways. One strategy is to role-play during their meetings. They field practice questions and prepare their answers for students posing as judges. This practice has given DECA students solid preparation for their State meets and upcoming competition in Salt Lake City.
What do the students take away from their participation in DECA? “It’s something you can take with you for the rest of your life,” Weiss said.
