The Success of DECA MGCI: Raising the Bar

The annual DECA Ontario Provincial competition was held at the Toronto Sheraton Centre from 7 February to 9 February. Over 6000 ambitious students from all over Ontario — including MGCI students — gathered to participate in this renowned business competition.

Most students competed in oral events, which consisted of oral roleplays and a multiple-choice business exam. In the roleplays, students demonstrated their understanding of business concepts by applying their knowledge to the task at hand. Other students competed in written events, for which the competitors had prepared a business proposal prior to the competition, and presented the proposal during their event. Judges also evaluated based on the students’ business presentation demeanor, such as their usage of terminology and their formal attire.

Many of the competitors had previously attended regional competitions, and came to the provincial competition in hopes to be qualified for the International Career Development Conference in April, which will be held in Nashville, Tennessee. The top seven competitors from each event were asked to represent DECA Ontario during the awards ceremonies on Sunday.

A total of 45 students from the MGCI chapter competed in the provincial competition this year, compared to 35 students last year, and many received awards, as follows:

• Jaitra Chaudhuri (Sports & Entertainment Marketing) – Top 15 Written Exam, 9th Place Overall
• Amy Chen (Principles of Finance) – Top 15 Written Exam
• Riling Chen (Hotel & Lodging Management) – Top 15 Written Exam
• Sherrie Cheng (Apparel & Accessories Marketing) – Top 15 Roleplay 2
• Cindy Cui & Jessica Fung (Travel & Tourism Team Decision Making) – Top 15 Roleplay, Top 15 Written Exam (Jessica), 3rd Place Overall
• Parnika Godkhindi (Human Resources Management) – Top 15 Roleplay 1, Top 15 Written Exam, 2nd Place Overall
• Hannah He (Restaurant & Food Services Management) – Top 15 Roleplay 2, Top 15 Written Exam, 5th Place Overall
• Russell Ijaya (Principles of Business Management & Administration): Top 15 Roleplay 1, Top 15 Written Exam, 4th Place Overall
• Hargun Kaur (Principles of Hospitality & Tourism) – Top 15 Written Exam
• Ryan Lin (Marketing Management Series)- Top 15 Roleplay 1, Top 15 Roleplay 2, Top 15 Written Exam, 1st Place Overall
• Saurav Luthra (Sports & Entertainment Marketing) – Top 15 Written Exam
• Gabriel Luo (Principles of Hospitality & Tourism) – Top 15 Roleplay 1
• Mei Yi Niu (Business Services Management) – Top 15 Written Exam
• Andrew Yuan (Principles of Finance) – Top 15 Roleplay 1
• Cindy Zeng (Food Marketing Series) – Top 15 Roleplay 1, Top 15 Roleplay 2, Top 15 Written Exam, 2nd Place Overall
• Yiqun Zhang (Retail Merchandising Series) – Top 15 Roleplay 2, Top 15 Written Exam, 3rd Place Overall

Jaitra Chaudhuri, Cindy Cui, Jessica Fung, Parnika Godkhindi, Hannah He, Russell Ijaya, Ryan Lin, Cindy Zeng, and Yiqun Zhang will be advancing to ICDC. In addition, Mackenzie Wong, Jerry Yang, and Victor Yu, who had participated as a team in Round 1 of the online Virtual Business Challenge event, had also qualified for ICDC and were not required to attend the provincial competition. There are a total of twelve ICDC qualifiers this year from MGCI, compared to three members last year and only one member in 2014.

“I am incredibly proud of every single person in the DECA chapter,” said Cindy Zeng, the president of DECA MGCI. “The success we witnessed at Provincials is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all our members. We are all super excited about ICDC, and ready to make our school proud yet again!”