On Tuesday, March 26th, members of the competition team flew to Sacremento with Kirsten and Mr. Lange to attend the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Student Leadership Conference (SLC). The Conference itself was three days, but the team had the opportunity to attend the Youth Speaking up For Youth Mental Health Day a day before the conference started. The Mental Health Day featured keynote speakers and performers as well as Q&A panels to educate the future generation of healthcare and medical professionals about the importance of mental health. Our team members were among 200 out of the 4000 total HOSA students that had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about mental health.

The three-day conference opened with a welcoming ceremony that introduced all the participating schools. Students had the opportunity to go to workshops to learn specific leadership, critical thinking, and team building skills throughout the conference. Some students even showcased their talents in the Talent or No Talent show on the second night. The team got to catch up with the sports medicine team from Valencia High School, and made new friends as well.

Unfortunately, none of the competition team advanced to the second round in their categories, but Carmen Martinez and Vara Meephettarn, who did presentations on fire safety in the category of Public Health advanced to the second round and won 5th place for their presentations! Our team members who participated in Camp CAL HOSA, a leadership workshop were also recognized for  scoring an 80% or better on their post-workshop exam.

Overall, this new experience was a great learning experience for the sports medicine team, because the conference gave the team an idea of how they can take initiative and become leaders, possibly in the medical or healthcare field. It also taught aspects of professionalism such as proper business attire and punctuality.

We can’t wait to expand the HOSA chapter at our school and we hope to take more people to next year’s SLC!