By Risa Askerooth
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To study for their events, HOSA students were given search queries to ensure that they fully understood the material rather than just relying on memorization.
The Health Occupation Students of America-Future Health Professionals (HOSA) students attended the statewide HOSA competition at the Hawaii Convention Center on Feb. 20 and 21. Twenty students placed in the top three of their categories and will soon move on to nationals, thanks to long periods of studying and preparation prior to the competition.
“I was shocked. I was overly happy because I had worked so hard for months, preparing. To get to go to nationals is a big opportunity,” said third year HOSA member Junior Rachel Sakuma, who placed first in Medical Readings.
Students from around the state competed in 33 different categories of debates and written tests. To continue on to nationals, students must score close to the national average on the college level tests. The hard work of the HOSA students throughout the year paid off at the awards ceremony, in which the winners in each category were announced and 11 students alone scored first place. “I was shaking and I actually didn’t think I was going to get first place. You know, I was shooting at least for third or second,” said Junior Christiana Oshiro, who placed first in Epidemiology, “I was in shock and I went up there and I was kind of crying a little bit too. I was just like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe I did this.”
The preparations for such a large competition began at the beginning of the year. “I passed out things and I told them what they’ve got to do so it started as soon as we could because we wanted a good chance at winning,” said HOSA adviser Candace Chun.
Despite extensive knowledge about the subjects, all students faced bumps in the road at some point because they were under so much pressure. “I was so nervous and I got the test and I was sitting down in this huge room,” said Oshiro, “The closer I was getting to the end of the test, I was feeling a lot more confident.”
Students were required to take their success into their own hands through rigorous studying because a lot of aspects of the competition were individualized. “I’m just really proud of the students for coming through because I didnít have time to help all of them study,” expressed Chun, “I encourage them, you know, give them advice and stuff but I think they really proved to me that they learned the stuff on their own.”
Twenty students will move on to the 2013 National HOSA Leadership Conference, which will occur from June 25 to 29 in Nashville, Tenn. They hope to make MHS proud by putting their best effort forward and striving to improve their rankings from last year.
