How to Have a ProDECAtive Summer! by VP Landon

How to Have a ProDECAtive Summer

            It’s coming round to the end of the school year, and you’ll have to wait a whole three months to reunite with your chapter.  Many of you are probably thinking: “Well I guess that’s it for this year” and “It’s not like you can do DECA over the summer”.  WRONG!  There are multitudes of ways to be productive throughout the seemingly endless summer. 

Competition

            Everyone has those summer days where nothing is going on, and you end up just lazily waltzing around the house checking the refrigerator six times and the pantry seven, calling your thirty closest friends, to no avail.  Well it’s time to change that!  DECA releases its written event topics and information over the summer, so instead of waiting until the last night possible to start your manuals, maybe try actually doing it early for a change.  Now, remember…  Practice tests do not run out.  You always have the opportunity to sit down and answer a couple questions.        

Community Service

            Now this is an area where many people don’t see the connection to DECA.  Part of Team 58’s Annual Business Plan is to host a community service event.  There is no restriction that it cannot be held over the summer.  It is true that DECA is very invested in competition; it is our main reason why we put together conferences, in all fairness.  Despite this realization, it is important to analyze our four core values, our guiding principles.  One of these values is “Community Oriented”.  The title in itself is reason enough to put on such an event.

Communication

            It’s a modern world out there.  Cell phones and social media and laptops Oh My!  There will always be opportunity to make connections throughout your summer.  Some ideas:

·        Face-Time a Florida DECA officer

·        Go out to lunch with your school’s officer team

·        Check the Florida DECA website for news and updates

·        Get coffee with your expected competition partner

Remember, this is just a small list of possible ideas.  There are plenty of other methods you can use to communicate with DECA throughout the summer!

Academics

            A variety of online courses and Dual Enrollment Classes are offered over the summer in fields such as Marketing, Hospitality, Finance, Business, and Entrepreneurship.  By taking one of these classes, it facilitates your knowledge in both communication and competition.  Even if you feel like it is not directly part of your DECA curriculum, it might be assisting you in ways you don’t even think about.  Math is vital in finance, entrepreneurs must have language arts and public speaking skills to sell their product, it’s helpful for business owners to learn economic principles…  The list goes on and on.