I don’t care.
That is what sophomore Erica Gupta thought as she set foot into the Academic Decathlon (AcDec) classroom. She viewed it as nothing more than an extracurricular.
What she didn’t know is that, gradually, the team would shape her confidence and the person she is today.
Erica competed in UIL Academic number sense, spelling and dictionary events in middle school. She thought AcDec would be similar. This year her team went to regionals, and she made a perfect score individually in math: a 1000. In the beginning, she was neck-and-neck with others to earn a spot on the team.
“One of my favorite achievements was making the team,” Erica said. “I was relieved a little, really proud and mostly shocked. [At first,] I saw it as a lot of work that didn’t matter as much. But as the year progressed, I saw our team get achievements at state and go to more activities together. That made me care about it more.”
After making the team, Erica said she struggled to find her place within it. She drilled math facts and studied over the summer. AcDec coach Donna Friend said she saw her potential, despite Erica being timid.
“At the beginning, she was more quiet and reserved, [but] she does see things well,” Friend said. “[After a while,] not only was she studying for herself, but she started teaching other people how to study effectively. She was practicing speech more and more, and you could tell it was better each time she spoke; it made me cry a little bit.”
Senior Amareya Clay was the upperclassman who Erica said impacted her the most.
“I influenced her to speak her mind more and become friends with the rest of the team,” Clay said. “It was important to me that we all became friends. Erica is so smart, and always has the best opinions: I want to hear them all the time.”
This year’s AcDec team was the first all-girls team in school history. Erica said it created a sense of commonality and helped her feel more comfortable.
“In general, [we] bonded over more personal experiences — even how we study together is completely different.” Erica said. “[Before joining AcDec,] I struggled with low self esteem and feeling behind in school. Making the AcDec team, as well as spending time with [team members] and getting advice from different perspectives was comforting. It changed my mindset.”
The team made it to state this year and placed sixth.
“We worked so hard up to that point,” Erica said. “The moment after all of our events were over, when we were just talking about the future of the team, cheering for each other’s scores, that was a really close moment and really emotional.”
Erica plans to continue AcDec for the rest of her scholastic career. She said she hopes people will join the AcDec community and keep achieving good things.
“Even if you’re unsure at first, it grows on you,” Erica said. “You’ll find yourself going to potlucks and award ceremonies, and somewhere along the way, you’ll realize you’ve found your people.”