DECA, that club with the diamond, is more than an acronym you see on people’s shirts every Thursday. In fact, this international club can take you places as far as Nashville, give you a good opportunity to showcase your business skills, and, if you work hard enough, provide you with plenty of accolades to put on your college application. Recently, more than two dozen DECA winners went upstate to Rochester for a week to compete in a statewide DECA competition and came back decorated with silver medals hung around their neck. Sounds fun? Well, next year, this can be you. Are you DECA?

This past September, when I was looking for a club to join, I heard about this business club on the announcements and thought to myself “What is DECA?” Well, I went to the first meeting of this international business club and I was bombarded with dozens of terms provided by DECA. DECA Thursday. DECA Trip. DECA diamond. DECA competition. DECA Dance. When I finally had all of the DECAs sorted out in my mind, I realized just how amazing this club really is.

The first question always asked is “What does DECA stand for?” Well, DECA used to stand for Distributive Education Clubs of America, but the name was permanently shortened to just DECA when it became an international organization, found in countries as far away as Italy and Germany. I knew by the end of the first meeting that this was the club for me, and when they said it looks great on college applications, I was sold.

For anyone who wants the full high school experience and wants to attend every school event, DECA is for you. DECA has fundraisers at almost every school event, so you can enjoy everything from Powderpuff to Senior Follies, all while raising money for your club. Vending popcorn and snacks might not sound fun, but with our exuberant advisor Ms. Kleupfel and our diverse group of members there is never a dull moment.

At this point, you might still be confused about what you actually do in DECA. The first thing our chapter is involved in is YPCC, a local competition where you have to make a presentation and present it to a panel of judges. The categories range from Travel & Tourism to Entrepreneurship (the category I ended up choosing). My task was to create a mobile business and then present it to two judges. I worked really hard on my board and rehearsed for hours, and when it came time to show it off, I was extremely nervous. However, it all paid off when I won first place in my first-ever DECA event and was able to attend a winners’ banquet in Huntington Village. It was a great experience and it really gave me a taste of what was in store for me in DECA.

The next competition was Regionals. At Regionals, you choose a category that interests you (I chose Business Management and Administration). You either have to take a test or do a role play where you act out a surprise scenario. Nerves were definitely high on the bus ride to Suffolk County Community College, but when it came time for the awards ceremony more than two dozen Whitman students received trophies in events ranging from Principles of Finance to Public Speaking.

The DECA fun wasn’t over yet, for the plaques in our hand signified our tickets to the state competition in Rochester. There, you have to take a test and perform one or two role plays, depending on your event. While the task might seem daunting, it was not nearly as prominent in our minds as the fun we were having. We went for four whole days during the school week, spending our days prepping for the role plays, wandering the vast convention center with our friends, attending seminars on everything business related you could possibly think of (including how to set a proper table) and having dinner in an enormous room filled with the best members of DECA chapters all across the state. Unfortunately, no one from Whitman moved onto International competition down in Orlando this year, but many of us came home with medals for Top Ten Test Score and/or Top Ten Overall.

Even though none of us are moving on this year, our DECA experience this year is far from over. If you like positions of power, you can run for office in DECA, something that DECA members are doing now. There is also a DECA dinner in April, where local DECA chapters come together to have a formal dinner and have a good time at an elegant restaurant. DECA members never rest, and we will still be fundraising at school events throughout the year, so if you are interested you can ask us questions there and buy a bag of popcorn.

Think you have what it takes to be DECA? If you do, or even if you don’t, make sure to remember those four letters for next year when we start our 2015-2016 year. Who knows, maybe you’ll make it all the way to International competition in Nashville. Your dreams can come true with DECA!