Health Occupations Students of America students attended the Area 1 competition at Roosevelt High School in San Antonio Jan. 14. Numerous competitors placed in the top five, senior Cathy Nguyen received a $2,500 scholarship, and junior vice president of McNeil HOSA was elected as Area 1 president for the next year.

“After many hours of working on our PSA video, we became more engrossed in our work,” junior Sarah Jun said. “Winning first place made us more confident in our skills of persuasion.”

The accomplishments of the HOSA members revealed the dedication and time sacrificed by each member.

“I gained a really unique experience from competing in CERT (community emergency response team) this year,” junior Susie Wang said. “I learned how to keep a calm head and utilize my knowledge in any situation.”

The various events of HOSA, including CERT, first aid skills, and other related skills, provided HOSA members the unique opportunity to develop skills which may be useful in the health field.

“I competed in public health with Natalie [Verhaeghe] and Pooja [Pisharody],” junior Anne Cao said. “We learned to be prepared for all situations and got a unique insight into the impact of diseases on society.”

HOSA also includes events, such as prepared speaking, public service announcement, and job seeking skills, that involve the soft skills of a health related profession. Along with the competitions, Invited speakers from various charity projects opened the ceremony.

“The thirst project and the stories of the children who lack clean water moved my heart,” Wang said. “After hearing his unique perspective, I donated to the cause.”

The Thirst Project gave a presentation about how the lack of clean water impacts the lives of myriad families and linked the cause to the honor and value of healthcare professions. Many McNeil competitors contributed by giving small donations.

“I was honored to be able to adjourn the area conference by pounding the gavel,” HOSA area president Sarah Lee said. “The hard work definitely paid off.”

Lee ran for the position of president of Area 1 and became officially elected at the Area 1 competition. She, along with other area officers, will lead next year’s leadership conferences and area competition.

“I am optimistic about HOSA for McNeil and Area 1,” Lee said. “I’m looking forward to leading Area 1 into another great year.”

The following members advanced to the HOSA state conference.

• Ali Misbah & Yeonseo Jung: first place Community Awareness
• Rebecca Choi, Andrew Huynh, Swati Iyer, Sarina Zhou: second place Medical Innovation
• Madhumitha Donthineni, Dohyun Jun, Safiyah Zaidi: first place Public Service Announcement
• Anthara Krishnan: first place Extemporaneous Writing
• Tejal Kulkarni: second place Job Seeking Skills
• Jacqueline Kim: second place Medical Spelling

The following members advanced to state through an online test:

• Anthony Nguyen: first place Epideminology
• Tejal Kulkarni: twelfth place Healthcare Issues Exam
• Jessica Nguyen: fifteenth place Healthcare Issues Exam
• Aditya Sankar: sixteenth place Healthcare Issues Exam
• Anjali Nigam: first place Human Growth & Development
• Akhila Ravikumar: third place Human Growth & Development
• Spence Blood: second place Medical Law & Ethics
• Jaden Fang: fourth place and advancing to state in Medical Math
• Celine Nguyen: second place Medical Terminology

The following members placed in area:

• Jasmine Tumewu & Deepti Yogananda: fifth place Health Career Display
• Tien Tran: fifth place Medical Assisting
• Natalie Malluru: fourth place Prepared Speaking
• Amritavarshini Mayavaram: fifth place Medical Math