HOSA Advances to Internationals After Five Years

Members Compete in HOSA, Share Personal Experience

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Photo courtesy of Kristin Knight

At HOSA’s State Conference, freshman Aashna Ravi and senior Kristin Knight pose before their competitions with junior Christina Laskaris who served as courtesy core. Of the competitors, Knight advanced to Internationals which are being held on June 19-22 in Orlando, Florida.

Nithila Ilangovan, Reporter
April 15, 2019

After two HOSA members competed at State on March 28-30, one of those members, senior Kristin Knight, advanced to Internationals (ILC) which is being held on June 19 through 22 in Orlando, Florida. This is the first time that HOSA is going to ILC since 2014. 

HOSA, which stands for Health Occupations Students of America, is a national student organization dedicated to future health professionals, or those interested in learning more about it. Knight, the president of HOSA, advanced to Internationals for competing in Clinical Nursing. In her event, she went through a testing portion and then competed in “clinical skills,” which required her to learn, practice and perform skills to mimic a clinical setting.

“Competition was amazing, as it was my first time competing at the state level for HOSA and it exceeded my expectations,” Knight said. “I met several kids from around the state and I had a chance to get to know some of the kids I competed against. After I completed the skills portion of my event, I wasn’t feeling very confident, and I was so shocked to see my name on the screen for second place in Clinical Nursing at the Grand Awards Ceremony.”

As a first-year member, freshman Aashna Ravi competed in Home Health Aide, and advanced to the State competition. Her event required her to first pass a test, then perform skills that the judges chose at the competition, such as taking someone’s pulse or temperature. She said her favorite part about competing was meeting other contestants. 

“Competition was very nerve-racking while still being a lot of fun,” Ravi said. “It was interesting to be going to a conference with other kids who were interested and passionate in the same things I was. Advancing to State was a big accomplishment for me as a freshman and I am really grateful for the opportunity to compete once again in a couple of weeks. It also means a lot because I get to go to State along with some of the people who really helped me grow this year in HOSA like Kristin Knight and Mrs. Beall.”

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What I enjoy most about HOSA is the environment and all the medical activities we participate in with people who also want to go into the medical field.

— Sruthi Keerthipati (11)

Junior Sruthi Keerthipati has been in HOSA for three years, and said she has learned better communication and time management skills through the organization. This year she competed in Epidemiology, which required her to take a multiple choice test that dealt with the history of diseases and preventive measures against disease outbreaks.

“What I enjoy most about HOSA is the environment and all the medical activities we participate in with people who also want to go into the medical field,”  Keerthipati said. “Competing was not so stressful for me since it was a multiple choice test online. I was honestly very shocked when I advanced to State but I’ve been so grateful for this opportunity.”