If you have me on Snapchat you’ll know that this past weekend was DECA U – Ontario Provincials.

Provincials are essentially the mother of all invitationals. Delegates stay overnight downtown, compete, meet students from other schools, dress up professionally and have an overall great time.

If you’ve never heard of DECA or of case competitions, I’ll give you a quick overview of what happens at competitions.

1. You can choose to compete as an individual or in a team.
2. You then pick a category (ex. Sports & Entertainment, International Marketing, Travel Management etc.)
3. Depending on if you’re competing as an individual or as a team you have 15/30 minutes respectively to read over your case and prepare a solution/recommendation for the judges. You then have 10/15 minutes to present to the judges with a Q&A. (By the way, you’re role-playing the whole time. You’re not a student giving a solution you’re a Vice President or an Executive).
4. You’re evaluated by performance indicators (basically what you need to answer in your presentation).
5. The day is spent networking with fellow delegates, industry professionals, attending workshops and having a great time.

Here’s a timeline of my DECA journey …

2014-2015  | Joined DECA
This was the year my undergrad experience changed, for the better. I was introduced to the ways of DECA. Although I only competed at provincials & at our home invitational, I learned a lot from the upper years.
2015-2016 | DECA the gateway drug to case competitions
My third year of my undergrad I had the opportunity to compete at case competitions outside of the DECA world. I was able to use all the skills I had learned from DECA and apply them to these new competitions.
2016-2017 | The Final Year
I applied and became an exec for the society that taught me so much. As one of the VPs in our all female team, I worked with 7 other dedicated, hard working and talented execs.

Here are some memories from DECA U – Ontario Provincials 2017.

DECA Roommates

Bumping Into Some Old Teammates and Mentors

Celebrating Our Last DECA Provincials

As my last provincials representing GH I walk away knowing that I’ve come a long way from my first year competing at DECA. I wholeheartedly recommend to everyone to try out DECA. You’ll learn & improve your analytical, decision-making and presentation skills. And most importantly you’ll make new friends.

Thanks for the memories DECA ❤