After a year of preparing, studying and placing in a statewide competition, 18 members of HOSA have earned the opportunity to compete at the International HOSA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida. In order to qualify, students had to place in the top three of people competing in their chosen individual competitions at the state.

“It’s super exciting to see this many students make it to nationals, knowing that they worked as hard as they did to be able to place among the best in the state,” Co-club sponsor Dawn Hahn said.

The leadership conference spans over four days in June, where students compete in different knowledge and skill tests such as natural disaster preparedness, CPR or following lab procedure. Junior Tanay Parwal competes in parliamentary procedure along with a team of other FHN students, and will continue to prepare for the upcoming competition over summer.

“We’ve been studying a book called Roberts Rules for Order, in order to prepare,” junior Uma Upamaka said. “It’s very cool because we’ve been learning how to better present our ideas in a more cohesive format and how to work better as a team.”

Outside of the competition, students have the opportunity to hear from people working as medical professionals in multiple different fields. They also get to visit with representatives from different colleges that specialize in various medical and business career paths. The conference is held at Disney World in Florida, meaning that on top of all the HOSA related festivities students will also get to visit the parks.

“I’m very open to see new things,” Parwal said. “I know HOSA international has a lot of other things to do than just competitions. Plus it’s in Orlando, that’s where it’s at.”