This past Friday was busy for the members of the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) as they competed at States. While there isn’t a decisive winner at these competitions, Green Hope certainly came out on top with many club members placing in their events and nearly 10 members moving onto the International Leadership Conference! 

HOSA is a club for students interested in all aspects of the medical field. This includes sports medicine, forensics, veterinary sciences, and more. Members get to specialize and learn about an area of their interest, and eventually compete within those categories. Competitions usually consist of test based events, skills based events, and sometimes a combination of the two. Club member Allison Marold stayed busy both days of the competition, taking an exam and giving a skills-based assessment for her category: sports medicine. The members of the club had to work hard in order to get ready for competitions as the information on these exams is very specific and takes lots of preparation.

Board Member Emma Despa painted a picture of this immense preparation as she described the bus ride to Greensboro, “It was an hour-long ride to Greensboro and the whole time you just saw people with papers in their lap just studying.” Clearly the studying paid off, because Green Hope’s HOSA excelled at States, having members place first in cultural diversities and disparities in healthcare, CPR/first aid, and physical therapy. Green Hope’s first place winners were Prerna Dash, Varun Kute and Janav Saluja. These three, along with other members who placed second and third in their respective categories, will be on their way to Nationals in June. 

While competitions like the one in Greensboro are pretty serious, there are also a lot of opportunities to have fun and meet new people. Board member Abhinav Gurram said, “I also got a fun aspect out of it, we got to go to the mall, go bowling and try different restaurants.” He also explained how at these competitions people have the opportunity to attend workshops and interact with HOSA representatives from different schools making the entire experience even more enjoyable. 

With such a great start, HOSA members and board leaders are excited about what’s to come!