AHA Blog: Suiting Up for Success: An AHA DECA Competitor’s View of the State Event

Posted by Elise Tao (AHA ’24)

Students from the Academy of Holy Angels made the expedition from Demarest to Atlantic City to compete at the annual DECA state competition at Harrah’s Resort. The February 28 to March 2 event took place shortly after regional competition. 

Among the vast selection of clubs at Holy Angels, DECA stands out as a massive multidisciplinary career development program that sponsors challenges, events, and scholarships for business-oriented students. Since I entered AHA, I’ve developed as a student and an up-and-coming entrepreneur. I began an online arts organization, Synthesis Publications, the summer before freshman year. Since then, our mission to provide a welcoming, accessible space for teen creatives has expanded to hundreds of online submissions and membership subscriptions, and a staff of over 25. 

Mrs. (Krystal) Reilly advises and leads the AHA DECA Club’s 50+ members. She is persistent in encouraging us to embrace the opportunities at our fingertips. One option is entering the Virtual Business Challenge, in which two Angels qualified for the national round, the International Career Development Conference. (Read more about AHA’s first national DECA qualifiers here.) 

The most common route to the state conference is participating in “career cluster” events, ranging from the Individual Series to Team Decision Making. After selecting from a plethora of disciplines (marketing, entrepreneurship, financial management, human resources, and business law are a few), participants take a preliminary assessment consisting of 100 multiple choice questions within a tight time constraint to place in the regional competition. Finalists qualify for the

statewide competition.

When one-o-clock came around on Monday, our state competitors filed onto a coach bus, lugging our suitcases. Miss (Traci) Koval and Miss (Sarah) Chalmers chaperoned the trip and assisted us in settling into Harrah’s Resort after the three-hour drive. 

The opening ceremony was nothing short of grand. The ballroom was decked out in lights, and the music was loud. New Jersey’s teams heard booming speeches from the DECA state chapter advisers and board members. After light preparation between gatherings, my roommates and I felt refreshed and ready for the next day’s events. 

Because I qualified for states through the Entrepreneurship Individual Series, I had already completed the multiple choice exam. The only thing left was role play, which is a critical component to practicing “people skills” in real time, merging negotiation, creativity, quick thinking, and professionalism. 

I woke up Tuesday at 8 a.m. to eat breakfast, throw on my pantsuit, and practice a couple of speaking exercises before I headed up the escalators to the competition. The area was rampant with excited voices and blue lanyards contrasting with the deep maroon carpet. 

After a quarter of an hour, I was given a set of instructions and a business scenario so I could draft a proposal. I had 10 minutes. Then, I was directed to a judge who heard my ideas and solutions. 

I completed one role play around 11 a.m. and a second around 1 p.m. Although I did not earn a spot at the national event, I was immensely proud of the effort I allocated to the conference. 

As much as I enjoyed the competitive facet of this experience, I will more so cherish the memories I made with my teammates. We returned to home base on Wednesday, stopping briefly at a food court while we shared the mutual fondness we developed over the time we spent as a collective unit; a group whose purpose is uplifting one another in the classroom and beyond.