Sensational Sandia DECA: Experience the Difference at the State Conference, Triumphs that Paved the Way to ICDC Nationals

 By: Aaliyah Haynes

In an exhilarating journey and experience for Sandia DECA at the State Conference, every step set the stage for nationals at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Through this journey, DECA students were able to sharpen their skills according to their event of their choice. Join us as we walk through the dynamic experiences and achievements that define Sandia DECA’s program and chapter. 

Some of the State finalists and ICDC qualifiers from the Sandia DECA chapter. / Photo Credits: Debra Tedesco

Sandia DECA emerged with astounding success from the State Conference. In which they left an impactful mark on the competition. The State competition is split up into three different placement times; who qualified for state, who qualified for the second round of state, and who qualified for ICDC Nationals. 72 students were able to attend the State Competition. This then led to 32 Sandia students competing for a spot at ICDC, Debra Tedesco, 1 of the 2 advisors of the Sandia DECA program says, “On Monday night’s opening session, we ended up with 32 finalists. At the end of Tuesday night, we had 18 qualifiers for Nationals, with 34 top 10 performers across New Mexico.” About 56% of the final group of finalists were able to grab spots at nationals. Not only did DECA have several finishers but they also received several awards too. “We also won Chapter of the Month and we got an award for achieving Thrive Level in the Membership Campaign. We also received an award for earning gold level in the snack bar,” says Tedesco. Not only did they receive COM, the chapter attained Thrive Level which is the most prestigious award in the membership campaign. Just like any good advisor, Tedesco had high hopes for her students and she sought them as met, “I have seen my students working hard for the last two months to get to nationals. I am glad that so many did well. But we are also going to review how we all did so that we can be even better next year.”

Nathan Ho, an 11th grader in Sandia DECA, relayed this about his first time at State, “I felt like it went pretty smoothly, I think the only thing that was confusing was that they were a bit behind on schedule, so it made it slightly confusing on what to do and where to go. The second day ran a lot smoother, considering there wasn’t as many people there.” Role-plays started around 8 a.m. and finished close to 2 p.m. It begins with waiting for your role-play time to be called, they then would go into the first ballroom and fill out a survey. They would then be led to their tables with their role-play scenario on them. Competitors were given either 10 minutes or 30 minutes to prepare, depending upon if they were in a team or an individual event. Advisors would then lead all of the students for that time period to the next room in which they would exhibit their role-plays in front of a judge. 11th grader Derek Dao said this about his 3rd time doing a role-play at the competition, “It was still difficult to talk about the performance indicators for a prolonged period of time.” It is extremely easy to be nervous considering it leads up to such an important result. Some people were nervous, and some were confident in displaying their business skills in front of the judges. “The overall competition was fairly easy, it was just showing someone on how to walk through a finance situation.” says Brye Campbell, a 9th grader and qualifier for Nationals. When nervous, some students turned to their fellow peers for support, “Despite it being my third year going to DECA state, I was still nervous as I am every year but looking at my fellow classmates and seeing their encouragement towards each other gave me confidence to do my best in my role-play.” Not only did students attend but their advisors had to as well. The advisors watch their students hard at work and for one, it was his first time too. Cougar Burke, another Sandia DECA advisor stated “There was a lot of energy and I learned a lot from the advisors that interacted with me.” Students had fun at the award ceremonies, letting off the anxiety and stress that built up while preparing for the competition. 

There was quite a lot of preparation that had to occur for the students to do well. After studying for the tests and taking them it was time to start preparing for the other half. The role-plays, in which students have to enact a certain situation depending upon which event they chose. Students spend around two weeks doing practice. They would be given the appropriate amount of time to work on preparation. They then would collaborate with the people around them and accept peer reviews and feedback. According to several studies, students who work with one another tend to get scores of 80% or higher, sciencedirect.com. When asked about preparations Ho said, “Preparing for the role-play, Ms.Tedesco had us do practice role-play in class, which were harder than the ones at state, I feel that it prepared us efficiently.” All of this preparation had a lasting effect on students attending ICDC in Anaheim, Calif.. 

This year ICDC is being held in Calif. from April 27-30, 2024. More than 10,000 DECA members come together to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in hopes of being named an international champion. It’s quite similar to the State Competition but it includes much more as well. The International Career Development Conference, ICDC, includes Competitive Events, College & Career Exhibits, Emerging Leader Series, and much more.  

Once the elation dissipates for the ICDC qualifiers, they will turn their efforts towards the upcoming conference, in which they sharpen their skills to stay in the utmost running to be an international champion!