On January 18th, Bellaire’s DECA club competed in the DECA Mini Conference and District 3 DECA Career Development Conference. Jackson Chang, a winner in the DECA Mini Conference, thought it was an excellent experience because his competitors were interested in business just like he was.
“The conferences are great since there are a myriad of people who share similar aspirations, which make conversation much easier and more interesting,” Chang said. “It was very intriguing talking to others about their competitive event and learning the various facets of business.”
The competition itself consists of two parts: testing and role-playing. The role-playing part requires competitors to think on their feet, present information in an organized fashion, speak publicly, and problem solve. Each competitor is given a prompt with a role and a situation from which they are to base their performance off of.
“It almost turned into a debacle,” Chang said. “Moments before the start of my event, I was informed by my adviser, Ms. McKinney, that I had been registered in the event ‘Principles of Business Management’ due to a mishap. I was supposed to be in ‘Service Marketing Management’ which is completely different.
Not wanting to relinquish the opportunity, Chang decided to compete in the event even though he was not prepared. His original event would simply have to do without him. Chang went in and did his best, with some knowledge of Business Management from his father.
“During the awards ceremony, I was wishing others luck and hoping my team members won,” Chang said. “The thought of me being one of the award recipients hadn’t even crossed my mind. I was awestruck when they called my name, and even more so when they called my name a second time for another award.”
Participants in the DECA Mini Conference and the District 3 DECA Career Development Conference include Lindsey Benguel, Marissa Carrillo, Jackson Chang, Monica Farag, Dante Brooks, Shekia Dillahaunty, Karlon Greenhouse, Tianna Kelly, Sidra Naveed, Quentin Lovall, Kiar’arah Momon, Virginia Nwosu Michaels, Marklal Tea, Joshua Rodriquez, and Tatyana Jones. Those moving on to compete at the Texas CDC conference in Dallas are: Tatyana Jones, Karlon Greenhouse, Tianna Kelly, Sidra Naveed and Jackson Chang.B
