The weekend was the culmination of all of the hard work the HSA HOSA team has been putting in throughout the year to train for their competitive events and raise the funds necessary to attend the conference.

This year, our students competed in the CPR/First Aid competitive event, which included two rounds.  The first round consisted of a multiple-choice exam and the second round asked students to demonstrate their knowledge of first aid and basic life support procedures in simulated settings.  While our students did not win the competition, they learned so much about being team players and showed excellent sportsmanship.  "I couldn't have asked for anything better," shared HSA HOSA Co-Advisor Mrs. Tahvildari.

In addition to their competition, all of our students volunteered for the Courtesy Corps and attended workshops held throughout the weekend.

The Courtesy Corps provided students the opportunity to help out with events.  They served as patients in skill events, helped to host workshops and greeted judges.  This helped them learn the ins and outs of the event process and allowed them to consider the different ways they might want to participate in next year's conference.

"My favorite experience was helping the Forensic Medicine people with their competition. It was fun and we learned a lot," shared Jose S..  For Andrew J., the best experience was "meeting all of the new people and helping out during Courtesy Corp.  It was a lot of fun."

The workshops gave the students a chance to learn invaluable life skills.  Their favorite was “Trail to Mount Everett”, which taught them that they should never give up on something and always have hope that dreams will come true.  Another workshop hit was “Mine, Mine, Mine” which taught the students to think not only of themselves, but to give other people a chance to do things with them.

"The best experience I took away from HOSA this year was learning about the different medical field jobs and learning so much about leadership and taking charge at the Everest Workshop," said Adrian V.

In-between the competitive events, Courtesy Corps and workshops, HOSA hosted a Leadership Village.  This gave the students an opportunity to relax and mingle with other HOSA members.  A few of the events at Leadership Village included networking opportunities, video game rooms, photo-booth, talent show, dance, and much more.

The students enjoyed having so many opportunities to work and socialize with fellow HOSA members and leaders from across the state.  "My best experience of HOSA this year was when I had the chance to meet our State Leaders for the first time at the presidential meeting." remembered Ismael G.  Jessica A. loved that "we got to communicate with HOSA members from other schools and we got to learn new things with all of the workshops."

"The HOSA conference made me become a better leader and to take the health profession more seriously," shared Brittney M.

We are so proud of all of our HSA HOSA team members and want to thank their dedicated advisors Ms. Tahvildari and Ms. Choi for all of their hard work.  We would also like to thank all of the generous donors who invested in our students by supporting their participation, and all of the amazing volunteers who organized this year's event.  It was an extraordinary experience for our students and their advisors.