After months of preparation, dozens of DECA and Academic Decathlon students have traveled to San Antonio to compete at state conferences Friday and Saturday.

“In their free time, students who made it into the state competition are studying, they also come in for study session lead by club officers,” DECA sponsor Hillary Wysong said. “Students in a written event are writing and revising their papers.”

Qualifying for state is no easy task for competitors, as each one must earn first place at the district competition to get to the state conference. As a result, marketing teacher and DECA club sponsor Hillary Wysong has set high expectations for those who have made it to state

“Students must receive number one in their specific section at the district competition,” Wysong said. “The numbers of students in each section have been rising dramatically, creating a lot more competition.”

45 DECA members qualified for the state conference, competing in a variety of competitions relating to business and marketing. Competitors have the option to compete in roleplay, written, or principles. Events include topics like Business Finance, Marketing Communications, and more.

“If you put time and effort into studying for your test and role play and know what you’re doing,” DECA competitor Sahana Kodali said. “You’ll have a better chance of making it to state.”

For all of the students competing, the weekend is the payoff for a long road.

“I definitely do believe my hard work has paid off,” senior Visakh Matadhil said. “Even though competition just started and we just finished the first two events, I can tel that all the hard work that we’ve done so far is clearly showing. However, we still have the rest of today and all of tomorrow to compete.”