By Harlan Rose

[email protected]

From June 25 to 28, 13 delegates from MHS’ Health Occupation Students of America – Future Health Professionals (HOSA) chapter competed in the HOSA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla. After spending months preparing for the national competition, the team claimed one gold medal and several top 10 honors, continuing MHS’ legacy of placing in the top 10 at the national level for the ninth year running.

“The elation, the excitement and the competition we felt were multiplied hundredfold,” said alumnus Mason Matsuo, who competed in Health Education, “This year was our last year as high school students and it felt amazing to be back again to represent our school one last time as we competed for national recognition.”

In order to prepare for nationals, the delegates took the advice they received from the judges at the state competition to improve their projects. The Biomedical Debate team, which debated the sufficiency of care for war-injured servicemen, needed to research information on their topic. “For the national conference, we had to have a much wider range of knowledge on the topic. All of our information had to be up-to-date as news came about in between the time states and nationals had taken place,” said alumnus Gilbert Caraveo IV, “We tried our best to be even more comfortable with our arguments and memorize specific information, rather than general ideas.”

Health Education delegates alumni Fejiereich Luz Lopez, Chasidee delaCuesta-Batara and Matsuo focused their presentation on the detriments of carrying a heavy backpack. “Through thorough research of this topic, we learned that carrying a bag that is too heavy for your body to handle can cause multiple back problems, such as kyphosis or lumbago,” Matsuo explained.

Additionally, the teams had to improve on their presentation skills before reaching the national competition. “Our students, because they were with us for so many years, they kind of knew that you have to memorize (your speech) and look at (the judges), use eye contact and just know your topic and be able to tell them about it,” said HOSA adviser Candace Chun,  “I told them that they have to do one hundred times better (than states).”

Despite the delegates’ continued efforts to perfect their presentations, they found it difficult to overcome the stress and pressure the national competition placed on them. “The stakes at nationals were much higher,” Caraveo expressed, “We were not just representing our school the way we were at states. This time, we felt that we were representing Hawaii and that was much more important to us.”

Their efforts paid off in the end, as the Clinical Specialty, Biomedical Debate and Public Health teams all placed in the top 10 while the Health Education team claimed the gold medal. “When we first heard our names being called, we didn’t believe it. We didn’t move until we saw our names on the screen. We all looked at each other and the only word I can think of to describe what I felt is ‘pride,’” Matsuo said. Caraveo added, “When they called the ninth team and it still wasn’t us, we pretty much lost hope that we made top 10. But when they finally called us, it seemed like the entire Hawaii delegation exploded in cheers. It was awesome to feel like that many people were rooting for us.”

In the end, Chun was pleased with the delegates’ performance at the national competition. “I knew, no matter what, I knew (they) did their best. They knew what they had to do, and they started early working on it and practiced. I wasn’t really worried about that at all,” Chun said, “I always tell the kids, ‘You have to really push yourself, you can be among the best, you just really have to work hard for it.’”

Now that the 13 HOSA delegates that attended the national competition have graduated, many are choosing to enter health-related majors and plan to eventually pursue careers in the health and medical fields.