Forty Niles West students will be competing in the DECA State Competition  in Decatur, IL Thursday, March 7 through  Saturday, March 9.

According to sponsor Eric Lueder,  the business skill competition is broken down into two parts.

“[First] a student has a limited time to read the information and plan a solution to solve the scenario presented. The student’s solution [is] evaluated and compared against other students’.  First through third place qualify for National  Competition in California in May,” Lueder said.

The second part, Lueder said, is a written paper 10-30 pages long that is presented and evaluated by the judges.

Senior Vera Ratner says she is excited about competing.

“I’m extremely excited! I’m hopeful that my group and I will do well enough to be able to compete at Nationals. My group and I have been working hard on our papers and presentations. We utilize the help that’s been given to us from our teachers and work together to create the best possible projects,” Ratner said.

Senior Robert Urosev agrees with Ratner and said the DECA competition preparation is highly important.

“It’s something all of us look forward to and work towards nearly all year,” he said.  “It’s very exciting but nerve wracking as well.”

Urosev also said  the competition is very important because DECA  has been a huge influence on his life.

“DECA helps you discover yourself and sets a foundation for your future. It has helped me discover what I would like to do for the rest of my life and has influenced my major in college greatly. It’s definitely a club you can’t miss out on and a group that will yield invaluable characteristics to help you in whatever field you choose to pursue, whether in be business or not,” Urosev said.