Not one, not two, but three. That’s how many times juniors Aayush and Aarohi Mahableshwarkar have qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference. In non-DECA speak, that is the highest level of competition for worthy participants. They took home top honors this past March at state finals. As twins and partners in competition, they both have high aspirations as they head off to compete in April.

DECA, or The Distributive Education Club of America, is a student organization that teaches the fundamentals of business, economics and marketing. Students are evaluated during competition by their ability to successfully conduct a roleplay for their chosen category. They also have the option to submit written pieces for evaluation. Aayush and Aarohi joined DECA freshman year in hopes of becoming more business savvy. The twins quickly came to appreciate how it challenged them to think creatively.

“A lot of activities are made where you have the information beforehand, which is not exactly testing your skills- just how much you can memorize. With DECA, you are given your roleplays on the spot, and that is a real test of how much you can come up with at that moment,” Aayush said.

Students can chose from an array of categories to compete in, from Hospitality to Sports Marketing. This year, they chose to compete in the Business Law and Ethics category and placed in the top ten.

“We got into Business Law and Ethics and saw that it involved a lot of technical terms about those fields, which was really interesting, but we also had to use critical thinking and creativity. They give you the problem and you know that 90 percent of people are going to say one thing as their solution. But you have to figure out how to stand out and say something different,” Aarohi said.

Aayush and Aarohi also chose to compile a business plan. These are detailed descriptions of a proposed business or service that can be up to 30 pages in length. They consist of an introduction, executive summary, analysis of target market, planned operations report and planned financing report. This was no simple task for the two people.

“Other high schoolers can write as well as you, but if you have a creative idea, you can go really far. We chose Netflix this year and we took it to India. We realized they like movies, but they don’t have Netflix or anything like that,” Aayush said.

Their original idea was awarded a first place prize at the recent competition. Such a large operation takes true commitment and extreme discipline. They divided and conquered to complete it and were able to get it done despite their packed schedules. At competition, they are given ten minutes to present their plan to a judge. When they compete at Internationals during the last week of April, they will also deliver a ten-minute speech.

“The presentation at the end is where you synthesize the ideas. When you write a 30 page paper, you have the opportunity to go in depth with your ideas. But with such a short time to present, you have to focus on the main points and how they connect with each other,” Aayush said.

Their commitment to success goes beyond what they do during competition. Senior and club president Thomas Shimamoto has taken note of Aayush and Aarohi’s dedication.

“It’s very impressive that they have been so consistent in everything that they have done,” Shimamoto said.

The two have taken leadership positions in the club. Traditionally, such positions have included president and vice president. However, this year, Aayush and Aarohi proposed that there should be an entire board of leaders to accommodate the large club consisting of about 220 members- the largest DECA organization in Illinois. Shimamoto feels that there could not be two better people to be a part of this newly elected board.

“They’ve been a big help to the club. They are always willing to help other members, whether it be telling them how to ace an economics test, or what to expect at competition,” Shimamoto said.

Both Aayush and Aarohi appreciate the support from other members on their quest to DECA excellence, but they agree that they motivate each other the most. As like-minded siblings, their biggest factor of success is their cooperation as a team. The best part about competing with their sibling, they agree, is that they are not afraid to be critical of each other’s ideas.

“We both know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we know what we are best at. At the end of the day, it’s not like if I disagree with him I’m ruining our friendship because … well, he’s my brother,” Aarohi said.

One constant in their relationship as siblings and partners is respect. There is a mutual regard for each other’s ambition.

“We don’t want to let each other down and we both really want to go far because we truly do enjoy it,” Aayush said.

They do have some plans for the future as well and they are confident that business will be involved in one way or another. Aarohi noted the importance of business in the professional world. Aayush thinks that it would be interesting to combine another one of his interests with business.

“Maybe like a biotech company? Maybe not purely[Certified Public Accountant], but something along with that that could create a unique business of some sorts?” Aayush said.

Before that happens, Aayush and Aarohi will head to the International competition in April. This year, it is being held in sunny Orlando. Three years ago, they never expected to make it this far, yet they find themselves there once more. The thing they look forward to the most, besides Disney World, is proudly representing their school for the third time in a row