Vivian Geilim opinion editor
On Friday, April 20, sophomore Matthew Allana and seniors Sydney Fogelman and Camilla Wolff traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete in DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
To compete at ICDC, students needed to place in the top four at the DECA state conference that took place back in March. Although Beverly DECA has had members compete at ICDC, this was the first year where a student placed in the top 10 at the international competition.
Only being a sophomore, Allana spoke of his astonishment when he was called as a finalist.
“[Placing in the top 10] felt and it still feels unreal. Just to feel like I’ve done so well at an international competition, I was definitely not expecting that especially since it was my first year in DECA so I had no idea what to expect from the competition at every level but also because the event I competed in, entrepreneurship, was a completely new event this year so no one who was competing in it really knew fully what to expect on our tests and on our role plays as well as how to prepare for the tests and role plays,” Allana said.
Although it was his first year in DECA, Allana’s preparations did not falter. He described the strenuous efforts he put into practicing his role plays as effective and is happy with the outcome the practice gave him.
“So [to prepare for ICDC], I practiced a lot of role plays with other DECA members and with my parents and with the advisor Coach Johnson and also studied for the test using competition university software platform that we use to study for DECA as well as quizlet.” Allanna said.
Although Allana was the only student who placed top 10 in his category, entrepreneurism, Fogelman and Camilla competed at ICDC in a partnered role play in travel and tourism team decision-making.
“The competition at ICDC is much tougher and more intense than state. It was very interesting to see the higher level of competition and a great opportunity,” Wolff said.
Being seniors, the two described their last competition in DECA as bittersweet. The two have been partners since sophomore year, and we’re grateful to have gotten the opportunity to achieve a high level opportunity in one of their extracurriculars.
“It was nice to end [DECA] together. We ended with a bang and performed the best this year, which was exciting,” Wolff said.