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Celebrating the Win: How to Celebrate and Prepare for the College Experience
The best way to enjoy your college acceptance is to celebrate the moment, thank the people who helped along the way and begin preparing for the opportunities that lie ahead.
Behind the Scenes of the West Forsyth DECA Playbook
West Forsyth DECA’s high-energy DECA Playbook delivers quick, powerful coaching tips to help members succeed. Through engaging weekly videos, officers and leaders turn big goals into winning plays for the entire chapter.
How DECA Prepares You for a Career in Consulting
Many members don’t realize how closely their competitive events experience mirrors a career in consulting. Check out five skills that members learn in DECA that can easily be applied to a career in consulting.
Congratulations to DECA's 2025-26 Scholarship Recipients
DECA is pleased to announce the 2025-26 scholarship recipients. Each year, DECA and its corporate partners award over $200,000 in scholarships to DECA members. Congratulations to this year’s recipients!
Congratulations to the 2025-26 Knowledge Matters Digital Presentation Skills Challenge Winners
DECA and Knowledge Matters are excited to announce the winners of the 2025-26 Digital Presentation Skills Challenge.
A High Schooler's Guide to Internships
For high schoolers, an internship is one of the best ways to explore a career field before committing to a college major. In this article, discover how to find opportunities and how to stand out on your application.
Case Study of the Week: Expanding Into Fashion Accessories
Step into the director of marketing for Kosport, a brand of backpacks that are sold at various retailers across the country. Kosport has been making backpacks for over 60-years and is the most well-known brand for school-use backpacks.
Bring AP Business with Personal Finance to Your School in Fall 2026
AP Business with Personal Finance blends real-world business applications, personal finance skills and project-based learning, which naturally complement DECA. If you’re considering offering the course next fall, here are six steps to help you get started.
DECA joins the Intuit Hour of Finance™ Challenge
Financial confidence opens doors. Join the DECA community in the Intuit Hour of Finance Challenge and bring one hour of engaging financial literacy to students nationwide.
Lucky Charms: Tools Every DECA Member Needs to Succeed
Just like finding a four-leaf clover, success in DECA comes from having the right tools at your fingertips. Here are the "lucky charms" every DECA member should have in their toolbox to maximize their competitive edge.
The DECA Drop Episode 5: Dear Newly Elected Association Officer
Your 2025–2026 Executive Officer Team saw how podcasts were taking off and wanted to give DECA members the same kind of experience: a place to pick up tips, hear updates and get to know our team!
The Ultimate DECA Video Series: Student Leadership
From chapter officer guides and association officer tools to planning and leadership development materials, this video walks through the resources created to support leaders at every level of the organization.
5 Gears for a Healthy Lifestyle
Let's face it: being an emerging leader is not easy! We’re supposed to get good grades, be involved in our community, excel in extracurriculars and gain job experience. So, how can we manage it all? Read on the learn about the Five Gears!
DECA Direct Magazine: De-stress
Between school, volunteering, extracurricular activities and DECA, there’s never a shortage of things to do! Learn how to hit pause, slow down and discover the best ways to manage your stress.
5 Apps to Ease Your Stress
Looking to beat bad stress? Rather than endlessly scrolling through Instagram or stress-shopping on Amazon, turn to these apps to breathe, play and move your way to less stress!
Build Better Habits (and Break Your Bad Ones!)
Having the right habits is more important than ever as you navigate a busy school year. Read on to learn how you can create better habits in any area of your life, plus our tips and tricks for getting rid of your bad habits for good!
Mindfulness Your Way
You may have heard about mindfulness in one of your classes, and perhaps you’ve even tried meditating a time or two. For many people, meditation and other mindfulness practices are a go-to source for stress relief, getting in the zone before a role-play or resetting emotions after encountering an upsetting situation.
De-stress for Success
Life will always throw challenges your way, but the biggest challenges present opportunities for the greatest rewards. So, what’s the best way to manage stress? While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, here are some of the ways that work best for me.
Stress to Success: How to Use "Good Stress" to Succeed in Competition
Stress is often perceived as a negative experience, but the right kind of stress can actually fuel your success in competition and beyond. Read on to learn about "good stress", how to distinguish it from the bad and ways you can harness it to take your competitive edge to the next level!
Work Out the Stress
Today’s teens pack a lot into their busy schedules, which has caused stress levels and anxiety to increase in recent years. D’Andre Vasquez, DECA’s 2019-2020 High School Division President, discusses how he handles the stress in his life and how you can too!
How to Fight Off Zoom Fatigue
Whether it’s trying to combat Zoom fatigue or attempting to deal with the strain and stress that comes from staring at a screen all day, here are three tips to help you de-stress in an age of virtual living.
Take the Stress Out of DECA Scholarship Applications
Each year, DECA awards over $200,000 in scholarships to deserving high school and college members. Here are five tips to help take the stress out of applying for DECA scholarships.
5 Tips to Take Your Productivity to the #NextLevel
Schoolwork, volunteering, extracurricular activities, DECA... can you really do it all without endless all-nighters? We think so! Check out five of our favorite ways to level-up your schedules, to-do lists and priorities for peak productivity.
Managing Stress as a Small Business Owner
After six years as a small business owner and entrepreneur, I’ve adapted a few habits and philosophies that have helped me along the way. Here’s what I’ve learned.
