DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs to be college and career-ready, but what does that mean?
I had the opportunity to meet with alumna Mackenzie Perez and discuss how DECA prepared her for college success.
During her journey as a dedicated member, she has had a large impact on her teams and communities. Mackenzie served as Georgia DECA’s Vice President of Marketing during the 2020-2021 academic year. She is currently a marketing major at Clemson University’s Honors College.
When it came time to apply to colleges, Mackenzie said the strong time management skills she developed as a member allowed her to successfully complete applications on time. Her DECA experiences made the application itself any easier to complete. She developed a professional voice in writing and knew exactly how to efficiently communicate her thoughts thanks to her participation in DECA competitive events.
DECA also served as a resume booster and opened the doors to countless scholarship opportunities. She also had access to more scholarships than her peers through DECA’s scholarship portal.
Taking business and marketing classes at Clemson, Mackenzie noticed that she was having a much easier time understanding concepts like the 4Ps of marketing since she had seen most of them before in DECA. The core concepts of business were familiar which allowed her to excel in class. “The transition wasn’t intimidating at all since I had seen it all before. DECA helped lay the foundation for my future in the business world,” said Mackenzie. Her competitive event experience also helped her choose her intended major.
We all know there’s more to school than just classes and learning. Making friends and networking has been a lot easier for Mackenzie—possibly the number one skill she gained from DECA. In her words, “I’m more comfortable approaching professors and others on campus because I’ve done it before during DECA competition.”
There are millions of alumni like Mackenzie and thousands more are added every year. By applying what you learn through DECA you could be the next success story!
