Taken aback by the sudden cancellation of a regional competition scheduled for Jan. 12, 2022, Baldwin’s DECA team faces uncertainty around upcoming competitions.

DECA, which is a business competition that “prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management” according to their website, has been a prominent club at Baldwin for years. 

This year, however, competition ground to a halt when the district competition at Saint Joseph’s University was abruptly canceled just three weeks before the scheduled date as a result of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant. Rather than being judged on the typical criteria of test scores, written proposals, and in-person roleplays, students were assessed solely based on their test scores.

Members of Baldwin’s DECA team, who had been preparing for this event since September, expressed feelings of shock and frustration in response to the announcement. 

“I’m not a good test taker, and my strength has always been in the role plays,” said Rebecca McCurdy ‘22. “Without these role plays, you’re not getting a realistic business experience, which is what DECA is supposed to be all about.”

With February’s state competition in Hershey right around the corner, students have been left to speculate about what to expect. 

Gabi Pritzker ‘22, another member of DECA, said, “I don’t think that they’ll plan a thorough virtual competition… They can’t completely redo their system and they had much more time to plan it virtually last year.”

Ms. Smith, the team’s faculty adviser and Baldwin history teacher, said, “I think it’s great that our students did so well and managed to still succeed and place… it’s a shame that the in-person aspect didn’t happen but at least it wasn’t a total wash.” 

When asked about the future of DECA competitions, Ms. Smith said, “I can’t envision a scenario in which these types of competitions are virtual…there’s a lot of interest and enthusiasm with returning with as much normalcy as possible.”

Baldwin students have still achieved much success amidst rapid and upsetting changes. However, they have done so without the chance to experience the immersive, real-world experiences that the in-person competitions offer.