Two weeks ago, I spent my weekend at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare for DECA State, where I basically zombied around for three days in a drawn-out fever dream.
As a State Officer, I had way more responsibilities than I was expecting, but now that I’ve started to recover (a little), here’s a rundown of ILCDC from my perspective:
1.) Is this…allowed??
Immediately when we got to the hotel, we were given about an hour of free time, which we used to study for our exam, organize our clothes, and tour the suite (it was really nice).
But that’s about the most free time we had all weekend.
After that hour, we were pushed around to various duties. Our days were planned almost to the minute, which was honestly terrifying. The first day, we had rehearsal until dinner, ate dinner in 15 minutes (they accidentally gave me food I was allergic to so I didn’t actually eat), and then had more rehearsal until the opening ceremony. After the ceremony, we had a short team meeting — but at midnight.
The next day, we woke up around 6:30 to go to judges’ breakfast. The rest of that day was filled with competition, running the raffle table (I was in charge), rehearsal, the banquet, and beginning to lose our minds at the raffle table again while people watched a magician (that I heard wasn’t that great). Lunch this day was on our own, but with so much going on with the raffle table, I didn’t get to eat lunch until around 4 PM. And then we ate dinner at 5 PM, right before the banquet — because during the banquet when everyone else was eating, we hadto “mingle” with as many chapters as possible.
We slept really late on Friday night too, around 2:30 AM. Before bed, we had to get the raffle prizes organized in order, pull tickets, write down names, and send the list of names to the production company. We also had to be in the ballroom by 7 AM the next day — with the 60 raffle prizes — for one last rehearsal.
Bottomline: we didn’t have time to sleep or eat. It was so exhausting.
2.) We are NPCs.
Yeah, I think I was called an NPC at least four or five times by different people. And honestly, I can see it.
Our first appearance on stage was accompanied by this ridiculously terrifying wave that we were told to do — and when all five officers were there together, we waved in sync. I can see where NPC came from.
We were also told to smile, always. If we were on stage, smile! Always! Smile! To the point where I’m seriously starting to think that my jaw is going to be permanently sore. After the closing session, I couldn’t feel my face anymore.
But there was one incident, where we were told to “stop talking until they stop talking” because people weren’t listening, and I accidentally started frowning. I was standing there, thinking about how much my cheeks hurt, and so I decided that since I wasn’t talking, I could stop smiling. This was a mistake, because what resulted was me getting sent several photos of me looking angry and random freshmen referring to me as “The Mean One.”
The Grand Awards Ceremony is a whole other story. After the awards for each event were handed out, we had to rotate spots. For example, the “presenter” would become the “outside usher” who welcomed people onto the stage, and the original outside usher would become the “inside usher” to make sure people stood in the right spots. If you were the “inside usher,” you’d have to remember that you were turning into the “runner” and would have to grab 1st and 2nd place awards. After that, you were the “holder” and would grab 3rd and 4th place awards. As a result of this complicated procedure, I kind of started to feel like an NPC. On stage, we couldn’t focus on anything other than smiling and remembering our next steps. The only thing I could think of was what my next role was going to be and which awards I had to grab. I genuinely felt like a robot.
3.) Wait what’s your name again?
Still, it wasn’t all stressful. The Executive Directors’ wives made us little goody bags with food and water in them, which was really nice, and I quite enjoyed talking to everyone.
I did get to talk to a lot of people though. Like, a lot.
While everyone else was eating at the banquet, the State Officers were instructed to talk to as many tables as possible. I met so many funny people from schools that I didn’t even know existed (Jacksonville High School, Marmion Academy, etc.) and it was really nice to build connections. My favorite people I met were these two juniors from South Elgin who just got me. I spent way too much time at their table talking about future plans, weird things that happened, and our favorite painless heels.
We also had the chance to talk to the judges on Friday morning at their breakfast. With each table organized by event, it was amusing to observe what type of judges resided at which table. For example, there was one finance event with all old men drinking coffee, and an entrepreneurship event with Barbie-looking millennial women. Some of the judges asked us really bizarre questions, but most of them were really pleasant to talk to.
Other than that, there were a lot of people from the State Officers’ schools. I spent a lot of time with kids from Deerfield, Geneva, Central, and some from Downers Grove South. They’re not as bad as you’d think!
As much as this experience was mentally and physically exhausting, I’m so glad it happened. These are memories that I don’t think I’ll ever forget — and now, I’ll finally shut up about it too.
Hello Kate, being at DECA too, that same weekend, it is interesting to see how different our weekends were despite being at the same place for the same competition. For me it looked more like a lot of free time, getting in trouble, and also meeting many new people. I am still mad that I was not able to go into your suite; there could have been a great DECA party on that last night. I found it funny how people found you to be the mean one when there is Mr. Lyons. One thing that I was jealous about besides the room was your accessibility to water in the goodie bags. Most other people had to trek their way down to the first level 3 minutes before curfew just to get some water. Eventually, my room had enough and these kids from this other school whom I do not even remember decided to take the whole jug into our room. Great Blog!
Hi Kate! Save to say my weekend was a lot different from yours. I want to say I studied, slept well, prepared for my competitive events, and earned the 1st place that Bryce and I received at the end of the weekend, but the truth is terribly different. Matter of fact, I was giving blood on Thursday at 10:15 am (the time that we were supposed to be on the bus), and unfortunately I couldn’t just walk away with a needle in my arm. But after skipping the required 15 minutes of rest and running to the bus, I enjoyed our annual Portillos meal. I was slightly nervous when I realized that I didn’t pack my iPhone charger or my button down shirt, but no need to worry about those things! My grandpa (a judge) brought them the next day. I have to say, I think I spent more time playing p0ker than actually competing. But it is nice being (how do I say this?) one of the better schools. I mean we have 60 members at the State competition, almost half of which placed in the top ten , and a dozen or so who are going to nationals. So, I think it’s fair to say that NNHS DECA is still on top. Also great job at ILCDC, Kate! Your efforts did not go unnoticed!
As someone who is in DECA and had the experience from the side of a participant, I would say that our time there differed greatly. For the main part, I had a ton of free time. Like so much free time I was looking at the clock and hoping the hours would pass to move on to the next event. Fortunately, I was able to spend a lot of that time sleeping, which meant I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as you seemed to be. It is funny to me that you mention the idea of the State Officers being seen as NPCs. I have always thought that the speeches and waves were a bit unsettling for that exact reason, and it doesn’t surprise me that people were making comments about it. It was super interesting to hear your perspective about what happens behind the scenes at DECA State, thanks for sharing.
Hey Kate, this was such an interesting read! So many of my friends went to DECA that weekend, and out of all of them, you were by far busier than most. I can’t believe they gave you food you were allergic to! That’s so sad, especially considering how hectic the rest of your day had been. Also, I didn’t realize how messed up the schedule of your events was – meeting at midnight and lunch at 4 is genuinely insane. I’m not sure how you did it, but I’m glad you made it out relatively unscathed. Also, “The Mean One” is crazy – you are a somewhat DECA-celebrity now, considering your state officer status, so I guess the gossip/buzz comes with the title? Either way though, it’s nice to hear that you got to talk to cool people, and I suppose, though tiring, this was probably a memorable experience for the books. Thanks for sharing!
Kate thank you for sharing your DECA experience and your weekend. The pictures were awesome. Glad it went well for you.