By Judith Dorato O’Gara

Holliston DECA is continuing to impress, with 13 students (on eight teams) qualifying for the Massachusetts State Career Development Conference (SCDC) last month in Boston qualifying for the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) to take place in Atlanta, GA April 25-28. They include:

• Sal Herbert

• Rishita Mitra (Holliston DECA VP of fundraising)

• Steven Lima (Holliston DECA President)

• Antonia Stevens and Sophia Rickman

• Kevin Whynot (Executive officer of mentorship) and Luke Burgett (VP of mentorship)

• Xuanye Zhang (VP of Fundraising) and Sanika Javali (VP of Mentorship)

• Yukti Avala (Executive officer of fundraising) and Isabella Yang

• Srivalli Kuragayala and Varenya Neelamraju

“The kids in this organization have been unbelievable,” says DECA Advisor Mark Freeman, lauding student officers for “really identifying what needs to get accomplished and how to do it.” 

A certified financial planner, Freeman, who was asked to judge a portion of the state competition, says the depth of knowledge the students exhibit rival his own CFP exam.

“My socks were knocked off at the depth of knowledge these kids had,” he says, adding, “these aren’t cakewalk challenges. They’ve taken written exams, they’ve been studying on their own with a knowledge base they’ve developed, and then they have to communicate clearly to some adult sitting across from them.”

Xuanye “Josh” Zhang is one of the students who qualified for the DECA ICDC, and he’ll be going for the second time. DECA, he says, has not only helped him develop some business knowledge and skills, “but it has also worked to build other soft skills like communication, teamwork, how to build long-term processes, especially for team decision-making categories, quick thinking on the spot and recognizing pros and cons swiftly. I think regardless of whether or not one person wants to do business-related activities, or build business-related careers in the future, so many of these soft skills at DECA will help,” says Zhang, who says Sanika Javali, “is a great partner,” for their state competitive event, Business Law and Ethics.

The competition was tough.

“There were a lot of very well-qualified teams in our category,” says Zhang, “It was tough and a lot of hard work, and good quick thinking on the spot helped us a lot.” 

Javali, a junior, explains Zhang and she needed to “take a 100-question test … with questions on operations, information management, different parts of business management, etc. Then after that, we compete in role plays, essentially given a case study where we have to respond to a problem, usually regarding ethics, with 30 minutes to take the case study, come up with a solution and present to a judge in 15 minutes.” 

To prepare, the students researched, took sample tests and conducted a lot of role play, learning to streamline the process for better results.

“We’ve been prepping a lot. Josh has done an amazing job prepping,” says Javali, who joined DECA as a freshman and will be the first member of Holliston DECA to head to the international competition for a third time. “I’m really excited about being able to meet so many new people…and be able to share time with them, enjoy new friends, and hopefully make the top 20,” she says.

Sal Herbert, who joined DECA just this year, says she’s “honored” to qualify for ICDC.

“I didn’t think I was going to be good at DECA,” says the junior, who was surprised to be second in her district at the regional competition, adding, “It’s more business-oriented, and I’m normally a more creative thinker.” 

Herbert says DECA has especially helped her hone her problem-solving skills.

“I think it allows you to rely on your knowledge and apply that to situations and how you can come up with a solution to them,” she explains, “It makes you feel like you can do a lot more than you thought you could.”

An unexpected bonus for Herbert was a new perspective and respect for her category, Quick Serve Restaurant Management.

“I tried to get into the mental space of my category, the lingo and aspects of the hospitality and tourism industry. There’s a lot of subsets to it, like marginal labor, product extension…I learned a lot about OSHA regulations! It definitely makes me think a lot about how much I take for granted, and how simply getting a coffee – I know how much goes into that, now.” 

Right now, Mr. Freeman explains that not all students who have qualified and have no conflicts are able to attend ICDC, due to financial concerns.

“Going to this next competition is expensive, and not all the kids can afford to go,” he says. 

As there is little time left in the year to fundraise, he appreciates any support from the community. If you would like to donate, please reach out to his fellow DECA advisor, Robert Tivnan, at [email protected].