The club, DECA, prepares students to one day become business leaders and innovators, as well as succeed in both college and their future careers, by learning about several key points across many different business topics. One of the leaders of DECA, as the VP of Marketing, sophomore Reethi Sriram, speaks on who inspired her and why she chose to join the club.

“My sister’s friend was the president last year, and she was a really good role model for me, so that’s who inspired me to become a part of the club, said Sriram. “I joined the club because of her, and I joined it last year, my freshman year, because it was just a good club for outreach, problem-solving skills, and public speaking.”

Additionally, the VP of Outreach, senior Burhan Fanee, clarifies why he decided to be a part of the club and how he hopes to positively impact his community as well as peers.

“That to me is actually Mr. Campbell. I began to know him in my freshman year, and he inspired me to do DECA, and it really just changed my perspective on competitiveness. He really persuaded me to, and he said it was a fun opportunity where you could be with friends while participating in a larger community, and develop communities,” Fanee said. “I think mainly the thing is, just building them up, helping them in any way they need, and just providing support when they need it.”

Following up, Sriram comes back to discuss what she wants to do beyond DECA and how her experience will help her in the future.

“I want to study medicine in college with pre-med, I want to become a pediatrician, but DECA provides public speaking skills and things that are good to know for any profession,” Sriram said “I haven’t taken any business classes, but I am planning to take some in the next couple of years, and I’m sure those will continue to help me develop my problem-solving skills.”

The president, senior Eva Thomas, interprets how she and the other club leaders deal with challenges when presented with them.

“When we’re presented with a challenge, we try to use our resources as much as we can, especially our sponsor, Mr. Campbell, and just assess the situation and see what we need to do,” Thomas said.

Fanee adds on to this and explains how the challenges can help DECA members apply what they have learned to real life.

“I think DECA specifically, it’s camaraderie in the networking that you get from going to events. I think that networking is the biggest thing, even more than the competition itself, because you’re with a bunch of people your age that are also minded like you, and it’s just a great opportunity to meet other people,” Fanee said.