HOSA members qualify for international conference

The+HOSA+team+poses+together+at+the+State+Leadership+Conference+%28SLC%29.+Well+versed+in+healthcare+knowledge%2C+20+HOSA+members+qualified+for+the+HOSA+International+Leadership+Conference.

photo courtesy of Jennifer Keillor

The HOSA team poses together at the State Leadership Conference (SLC). Well versed in healthcare knowledge, 20 HOSA members qualified for the HOSA International Leadership Conference.

Eshwar Murali, Sports Editor
April 13, 2022

From March 28-29 Future Healthcare Professionals (HOSA) competed at Missouri S&T for the Missouri HOSA State Leadership Conference (SLC). Students from Lafayette competed alongside 720 students at the SLC.  From this competition, 20 out of 26 students qualified for the HOSA International Leadership Conference (ILC).

 “It’s the best [number of students] we’ve ever had qualify [for the ILC] and the highest percentage of people who have ever qualified,” HOSA club sponsor Jennifer Keillor said.

At the SLC, students had to present, debate or test for this competition, with only the top three in each event qualifying for the ILC. Students were only allowed to choose one competition to compete in. Lafayette HOSA president and senior Ethan Xu competed in the Forensic Sciences category.

“To qualify for State, there was a multiple-choice test about forensic topics and vocab,” Xu said.  

HOSA students who qualified for the ILC
Seniors Aashish Allu, Pooja Reddy, Vinay Sriramanane, Arjun Suresh, George Tambassis and Ethan Xu; Juniors Riya Parikh, Samantha Zhang and Cathryn Zou; Sophomores Rohith Bandi, Adwyta Chelikavada, Sarah Ebenezer, Anna Harstick, Eyulia Mendoza, Grace Miltenberger and Sonya Sud; Freshmen Pragnatha Galla, Jessica Guan, Daniella Jayaraj and Samika Kumbham.

At State, however, the testing procedure was different. 

“They just gave us a packet of information. We had to write a report about it in 36 minutes,” Xu said. 

To prepare for their competitions, HOSA had monthly meetings to learn about the subjects and answer questions. Many students practiced on their own time as well.

 “Since I did Forensics, I talked to the forensics teacher, Ms. [Jessica] Kempf, and I got some textbooks,” Xu said.

HOSA member sophomore Sarah Ebenezer said she was impressed by the performance, especially since it was the first year back from virtual.

“We did really good this year. A lot of us ended up placing and going to ILC. It was also the first year back so that was really different because last year it was all online.”

The 20 qualifying members will be going to Nashville, Tennessee on June 22-25 for the ILC.

“I’m excited, it’s Nationals,” Xu said, “I’m proud of the team.”