DECA
Braving the competition for yet another year, senior Chloe Sumner steps up to the challenge. In her second year competing in the business competition known as DECA, Sumner knows what to expect.
The first portion of the competition consists of taking a test focused on her knowledge of business skills. A 100-question standardized test makes up a percentage of her total score. "We take a test a few days before we go to the competition. It's pretty long and we have about an hour to do it," said Sumner. "It's a bunch of business-related questions, just random ones concerning any category of business."
In addition to test scores, Sumner explained the other portion of scoring, which includes a role-play scenario. This mock trial helped Sumner learn how to change her perspective. "From joining DECA, I have learned to really think through things not just one way, but multiple ways: looking outside of the box, in the box and all around," said Sumner. "It's made me think about more ways to dive into things in my life; it's not just business-related. It's work, or with friends or just talking to teachers."
Sumner has competed in DECA for the last two years, and understands not only the pressure of nerves, but also how to cope. "To calm my nerves, I just make sure I remember what I plan on saying, what the storyline is, what my part is and what the main ideas are," said Sumner. "Either way, I get pretty nervous when I walk in to see the judges. I kind of get 'scrambled brain,' but I just have to take a deep breath and get it done because it's going to happen either way."

A lot of students tend to stay away from competitions that include role playing, such as DECA, because of the nerves that come with competition. Sumner advises students to be resilient and try new things. "The advice that I would give students is that although it is very nerve wracking, in the end, it's worth it," said Sumner. "I would make sure to tell them that it's easy to kind of get off track and ramble, but you have to stay on topic and go into further depth about what you think."
DECA offers an opportunity for students to expand upon their knowledge, as well as their social skills. "It is important to join DECA because it really does help with thinking through situations, but also, I think it's just really fun," said Sumner. "You get to be around your friends and if you make it to State, it's just a few days where you go downtown and enjoy the time with your friends, as well as learning at the same time."
Story by Ruby Woodson