On March 28-29, FHN attended the HOSA State Competition at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri. FHN took 43 students to the competition. Out of those 43, ten students qualified for nationals.

“I guess my favorite part was kids got to see that the stuff that learn in school actually has some relevance outside of school,” HOSA sponsor Matthew Riffee said. “They really got a taste of what potential careers would be like, how college may be situated for them if they wanted to pursue some of them. It was a really, really rich experience for the students, and you could see on their face how much fun and how worthwhile the actual experience was.”

Throughout the day, students competed in various events and competitions such as visiting vendors and taking knowledge tests. Each individual competition had its own scoring guide and rubrics which determined the placing of each student.

“It was really fun to compete against like minded people,” junior Ethan Samson said. “It was really intense and a lot of pressure. I’m looking forward to next year because we are going to practice a lot and hopefully win and go to nationals.”

This is FHN’s first year attending the state and national competitions. The club decided not to go to either competition last year because it was their first year as a club and they didn’t feel prepared.

“We just kind of wanted to get our feet wet in terms of who we were as a club and what we wanted to do with ourselves, and we didn’t leave ourselves enough time to prepare for competitions, so, really and truly, it was a good idea not to, just so we could figure out what we were going to be at North,” Riffee said.

Nationals will be taking place in Nashville from June 22-25. This event will contain general sessions, competitive events and exhibits.

“From the group that qualified I expect that they will put forth their all,” Riffee said. “I have no idea in terms of what to expect because I’ve never been, so I don’t know what the competition is like I guess you could say.”