OUT WITH A BANG
business beast
B E AS L E Y B EC O M ES A N I N T E R N AT I O N A L T H R E AT I N D ECA
BY LISA SAVILLE
Hannah Beasley was one of the top eight in DECA State, just one spot away from qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). She says she was proud of this achievement and happy with her performance, but as fate would have it, thirty minutes later she had a plane ticket to Salt Lake City. “I was really excited,” Hannah said. “I was jumping up and down because it was just a new experience because this is my first year in DECA, and I didn’t think I’d get that far.” Hannah is one of two Marketing I students who went to ICDC from April 27 to May 2. Marketing II students have a distinct advantage in DECA competitions because they have an entire year more marketing knowledge. Beasley had to be extra studious in order to be up to par. DECA advisor Lori Moore attributes this extra effort to Hannah’s success. “I think her hard-work ethic, and her ability to relate topics to the performance indicators, she’s very creative,” Moore said. “She comes up with really good ideas that are really unique compared to the other competitors in her event.” Hannah competed in the Hotel and Lodging Management event; she placed second at the District level and seventh at the state level. While someone placing seventh does not usually go to Internationals, fortune smiled upon this student when one of her peers above her dropped out. “To get seventh out of 40 people that are competing is phenomenal. She should be just as excited as people who got first or second; it’s a huge accomplishment to go to Internationals,” Moore said. “The way the state looks at individual events, they allow the top eight to be called to the stage, so they won’t allow anyone past the
08 S E N I O R E D I T I O N
2012
top eight to go to Internationals. Anyone in the top eight is a high-qualifying contender to send to Internationals.” Although Hannah plans to be an interior designer after high school, she believes the skills she gained in her Marketing class and DECA will help her career. Additionally, she believes her experiences have helped her to grow as a person. “I think I’ve learned not to be so nervous around new people,” Hannah said. “I’m a lot more outgoing, I guess is the word.” Altogether, seven students went to Internationals. Hannah prepared for the trip by looking at roleplays from the past and determining how she would handle them - roleplays count for 50 percent of a contestants entire score - and studying for the test. “She’s an awesome student. She does everything top-notch; she completes her assignments thoroughly; she asks questions; she listens and gives insightful answers,” said Moore. “You can tell that she is really good at marketing, like she understands it well, and she can apply her knowledge to the projects and to the real world.” Even though none of the contestants from North made to it finals at Internationals, five of the seven were in the top 30 percent of their respective events, including Hannah. Advisers and students alike are pleased with the outcome. “I’m always happy with the way we do; when you have the best competing against the best, it’s not possible for everyone to be on top,” said De Ciechi. “I’m very happy with the results.” Hannah is also happy with the results. “I was really excited because there were a lot of people there, and I think I did my best,” Hannah said. “I think I would have been happy even if I didn’t get it because I did the best I could.”