DEX wins big at state competition

By Young Min Jung
yjung3@cougars.ccis.edu




 Nine Columbia College Delta Epsilon Chi (DEX) students participated in the state competition at the Lake of the Ozarks in February. The college’s DEX chapter competed against students from 15 other schools and brought home eight trophies.


 DEX is a business and marketing club that uses competitions and real-life experiences to prepare students who are interested in a career in business. It is open to all students regardless of their majors.

 Before the competition, the DEX students had to decide whether to compete as individuals or teams. Students can compete in many different categories, including financial services, an international marketing team, human resources, marketing management, travel and tourism, and restaurant and food management.

 All competitors had to take a written test that included 100 questions about general marketing. Along with the written test, the students were given a case study about a business situation. They were allowed 30 minutes to read and solve the situation in the case study. Then the students shared their ideas in a 15-minute presentation to a judge.

 Columbia College’s DEX students won eight awards at the state competition. Thanh Nguyen received second place for both Marketing Management and Web site Design Prepared Business Presentation; Matias Costa and Aigul Kubatbekova received second place as an International Marketing team; Trang Nguyen and Tram Nguyen received third place as an International Marketing team; Trang Nguyen earned fourth place, and Tram Nguyen got fifth place in Financial Services. Chapter president Andrea Parton, Wayne Boykin II and Jian Le received ratings of “proficient” in their competition areas.

 Matias Costa Navajas said, “I participated in this competition because it’s a very good opportunity to learn new things. It was my first business competition. Also, it can be a really good [opportunity] to learn, especially when I win a competition.”


 Thanh Nguyen said that participating in the competition provided an opportunity to meet many friends. But more important, Thanh Nguyen said solving the problems in the competition was enjoyable.


 Trang Nguyen said that students who are interested in participating next year should just be confident and have fun. Studying about business also would be helpful, Trang Nguyen said.


 Angie Kinworthy, DEX advisor, said, “Over the last two years I have been impressed with the number of awards our students have won in proportion to the number of students competing.”


 Seven students from Columbia College will compete with more than 2,000 other college students from around the country at the national competition held April 24-27 in Louisville, Ky.


 The college’s DEX chapter is currently raising money to send the seven students to the national competition. The cost is estimated around $4,500. DEX is selling Columbia College cookbooks for $10. In addition, they also will receive all of the profits from an online Avon sales event Boykin is holding. For more information about these fundraisers, see Kinworthy or any DEX member.


Photo: DEX members assembled outside Atkins-Holman Student Commons. Photo provided by DEX.