The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Cost of Paradise
Dannika Pila and Arie YamasakiFebruary 7, 2024
Left to right: Trumpets Rylan Akau-Morgan, Peyton Kahiapo and Skylar Hamasu stand in first position during the City of Lights Parade on Dec. 2.
Great Minds Think Alike: Collaborations Between Mililani Schools
Gianna Brown and Arie YamasakiFebruary 7, 2024
Senior Marcus Morifuji faces off against senior Ava Mayfield in a game of chess. The Tabletop Gaming Club
hosted its first chess tournament on Nov. 30, any student was welcome to participate.
Checkmate! Tabletop Gaming Club Hosts Chess Tournament
Marcus Morifuji, Sports Editor • February 6, 2024

HOSA State Competition Wins Lead Students into Nationals

By Sierra Gamayon
[email protected]
(Photo courtesy of Maria Ana Enza Quimson (12)) For three days and two nights, the students of HOSA prepared and competed on Feb. 22 in their respective competitions. They also had the opportunity to listen to healthcare professionals recount their experiences in the field.

Every year the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) club members compete in knowledge, skill or team events based around the health pathcore with other students from around the island in a state competition. The students who place in states move on to Nationals that take place in Orlando, Fla. On Feb. 22 to 24 16 MHS students placed in the state competitions, taking gold in the category human growth and development, silver in medical reading and pathophysiology, and bronze in medical innovation advancement and prepared speaking.

“I am very proud of placing because not everyone places at states. This year, we had a total of more than 1600 students in HOSA statewide. It is very difficult to place at times because there could be 20 other people competing in the same event as you. I think we won because we worked as a team to develop our project. We were able to see each other’s views about certain things, and decide which was most important and effective,” said Senior Preston Baumgardner.

Of the events offered to compete in, Baumgardner competed in medical innovation It required them to create a presentation and accompany it with a seven minute speech; his team placed third. “The hardest part about these competitions is you never know who is going to be your judge and how well the other teams do. It’s hard to get a sense of where you measure up to others because there are so many different competitive events and topics to choose from,” stated Baumgardner.

These competitions have helped students develop essential life skills. “HOSA has helped me develop my confidence, I feel that I can do what I put my mind to; it has also strengthened my determination to be a part of the medical field,” said Senior Shu Yi Shi, who placed first in human growth and development.

This project allowed the students to show off different parts of themselves. “Presenting to the judges was my favorite part because we were able to express our ideas in our own words, rather than just reading it off our display board. We were able to add emphasis and emotion to the parts we wanted to through our prepared speech,” said Baumgardner.

They have been preparing for months and built bonds. “My favorite part of the competition was more so the times that we weren’t competing. It was bonding with everyone that was competing through studying and things like eating meals,” said Senior Maria Ana Enza Quimson.

This competition also gave them the opportunity to network with people in the health occupation workforce. “Being around the people that want to also be in the medical field, it helps me motivate myself because many of them have been doing this competition for so long but this is only my second year. There are also a lot of speakers that recount their experiences and that gives me a perspective of what I can expect when I study and work in this profession,” said Quimson.

Being in HOSA has opened up doorways into the medical field.  “I strongly believe that HOSA will help me become a healthcare professional because HOSA creates connections. HOSA exposes prospective healthcare professionals to different fields of study, internship programs, and many other things that are very helpful in building a career in the health pathway,” said Baumgardner.

These students plan to use this experience to start their careers in the health pathway.

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