By Harlan Rose
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On Feb. 19 and 20, MHS’ Health Occupation Students of America-Future Health Professionals (HOSA) team competed in the state competition at the Hawaii Convention Center. 14 students placed in the top three of their categories and will be moving on to the national competition, making this the ninth consecutive year MHS has sent students to the national level.
“The competition was very intense. Every category is definitely difficult in its own right and it’s always a challenge,” said HOSA President Senior Mart Joshua Lopez, who placed first in Biomedical Debate, “Although (the competition is) stressful and although it’s nerve-racking, a lot of them did very well, all of them did very well this year.”
The HOSA team spent many months preparing for the competition, starting by picking a category that they wanted to compete in. Each category required a certain degree of research and planning. For the Health Education team, it required choosing a health-related topic and preparing a lesson on that topic. “(My group) chose to focus on backpacks. With our particular topic, we taught students how to pack their backpacks and how to sort of think about (injury) prevention because if you carry too heavy (of a) backpack you can actually cause yourself some permanent back damage,” said fourth year HOSA member Senior Mason Matsuo, who placed first in Health Education.
The competitors were grateful for their adviser, Candace Chun and her efforts to help them prepare for the competition. “(Chun was) always there for me, she’s there for every step of the way, she’s always there to check up on us (and she gave us) constant reminders because every single one of our students are capable of doing great work,” said Lopez. Matsuo added, “She also helped us day and day out with our project itself. She would look at it, review it, and then she would take it and sort of help improve it and then she’d listen to our speeches that we present to and all that.”
Amongst preparations for the competition, the teams found the stress and pressure hard to deal with. “No matter how committed you are, no matter how intelligent you are, you’re always in there nervous and you’re scared,” said Lopez, “It’s definitely a challenge but I always tell my members, as the president, we’re always here to set the standards and we’re always here to carry on the legacy that Mililani always has had.”
The team’s hard work paid off, as 11 students placed first, two students placed second and one student placed third. “I was so excited, we jumped out of our seats, we knocked over our seats. (My group members and I) all ran to the stage, jumping around,” Matsuo said. Chun added, “I was so happy because I knew that they had that potential, especially since a lot of them, (had been) to nationals (before with) these teams.”
Before the national competition, the teams will work to improve on areas such as public speaking. “(We need to improve on) the speeches. They did a great job, but I still think there’s room for improvement,” Chun said, “It always comes down to the speech, that’s what impresses the judges the most, that you know what you’re talking about, that you’re confident and everything.”
Fourteen HOSA students are currently preparing for the national competition, which will be held from June 25 to 28 in Orlando, Fla., where the teams hope to continue their legacy of placing in the top 10 for a ninth consecutive year.
