On Thursday, Sept. 14, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) hosted their first Event Exposure Day in addition to their second general meeting after school in the library. Event Exposure Day informed new members about the various competitive events DECA offers, allowing them to find an event best fit for their strengths.
DECA is an international organization that helps high school and college students become emerging leaders and entrepreneurs through competitions. DECA is one of the biggest clubs on campus with approximately 510 members.
“DECA teaches you presentation skills for everything, and I think over time more and more kids in Westwood learn this,” Executive Vice President Sobhisri Suthakar ‘24 said. “A lot of people immediately think DECA is a business club, but people forget that every type of career field has business involved in it. Part of the reason why DECA [has] so many different types [of events] is to show the business aspect behind every career.”
An overflowing number of members filled the library to receive information at the general meeting. After the meeting concluded, Event Exposure Day began, showcasing multiple stations where DECA officers introduced their event to new members and answered questions, providing a comprehensive view of what DECA offers. New members were able to learn how the events operate and decide on an event they are best fit to compete in.
“It’s pretty interesting because obviously there [are] a lot of [events], so it’s helpful when [officers] explain what [they are] about,” first-year member Shungen Honkura ‘24 said.
In past years, new members frequently didn’t have an understanding of which events would ensure them the most success, hindering them from advancing in competitions. Helen Zhang ‘26, a new member, expressed her interest in virtual business and written events after Event Exposure Day.
“Besides virtual business events, I [will] probably prefer written events because you prepare everything beforehand,” Zhang said. “It will be great for practice because I’m not great at speaking in front of people.”
DECA’s focus on providing a supportive environment for new members was evident throughout the event. Event Exposure Day allowed members to rotate through stations and explore different events every 10 minutes.
“I think it was very fun,” Mahita Bontu ‘26 said. “As a new member, I learned a lot about the new events that I want to be a part of with my partner.”
Event Exposure Day not only introduced new members to DECA, but was also a refresher to returning members. Returning members could review changes made in events, and discover others they had more interest in.
“I think it is really interesting to see DECA do this event with various stations and officers,” second-year member Ruixuan Zhu ‘26 said. “I believe this will give the new members more information about the different events and bring their interests together.”
As a second-year DECA member and the Director of Online Events, Olivia Jung ‘25 presented the Stock Market Game (SMG) and Virtual Business Competition (VBC) to new members.
“I’m glad that our new DECA members had this opportunity to be exposed to multiple events and decide which one they can maximize their skills on,” Jung said. “Online events are hard to research and find out about, so this event is helpful for members to get tips and advice from previous competitors. My goal was to help new members to be exposed and be aware of the events so they can get the chance to go to ICDC.“
Like Jung, DECA officers were able to see which events had the most interest and evenly distribute members to various competitions of their best fit.
“[Event Exposure Day] helps them narrow down what they want to do,” Suthakar said. “We wanted to offer them an insight that’s more than just a Google search. You can see what the real-life application of the project looks like since everyone who is presenting has been successful.”
DECA will host its next monthly meeting on Oct. 12th to discuss DECA day, another event to prepare members for competitions.
