FHC’s Health Occupations Students of America club, or HOSA, certainly lives up to its name: a club of students interested in the medical field who study health topics and compete in health competitions. However, members of this club have not only expanded their medical knowledge but some special friendships through HOSA itself.
In HOSA, members will pick a field of medical study to research until the regional competition. At this competition, students will take different tests to show what they learned about their field and be judged based on their ability in the given subject. HOSA is a club that enlightens health-interested students about different health occupations. Senior Hayden Bolter has been in HOSA for a few years, preparing him for a possible medical career.
“I would say HOSA is a club for future health professionals in America,” Hayden said. “It’s a competition where you get to pick a field of study and either take a test on it or show proficiency in a hands-on, roll type of thing.”
Last year, about 12 of FHC’s HOSA club members qualified for state competition. However, being a much smaller school with less HOSA support than other competitors, our members felt a little lost and overwhelmed but still excited about the adventure.
The HOSA team has also struggled with making payments for competitions and buying scrubs and other equipment. Last year, senior Melinda Xu felt overwhelmed by the number of duties she had as president of HOSA and payments to make on behalf of the club. Now that she knows how to run it, she feels much more confident in leading the 2023-2024 club.
“This year, with a bigger board, like the secretaries and treasurer, it’s a lot more helpful because there are more people who are supporting a leadership board,” Melinda said.
As an academic club, HOSA competitions don’t garner as many fans as sporting events do. They don’t even have as many as other academic extracurriculars, such as Science Olympiad, given that HOSA is a much more specialized field. Even though FHC’s HOSA club lacks a student section, they still find encouragement from each other.
In the past few years, there have been very few students in FHC’s HOSA club, usually ranging from somewhere around 10 to 15 people. That has changed in the 2023 season, with the size of HOSA nearly doubling to 25 people. Seniors like Melinda and Jiya Patel who have been in HOSA for a few years are excited for the radical change.
“It was hard to gain support last year, especially with funding,” Jiya said. “The competition was tough because we only had five to seven people, so I’m looking forward to [having more people] this year.”
While HOSA is certainly a club centered around academics, one of the aspects that these students love about the club is how close-knit every student is. Even though they only practice once a week for just half an hour, all HOSA members get to know each other very well.
As seniors who are all in their third year in HOSA, Jiya, Melinda, and Hayden find HOSA to be a fun club with a flexible schedule and welcoming environment; in addition, they have made lasting friendships with classmates who would have been mere acquaintances.
“Our club is so connected. Everybody’s comfortable with each other, everybody’s comfortable asking questions or just saying things out loud,” Melinda said. “It’s not like a typical class where people are shy or don’t want to say anything.”
One might expect HOSA to be a no-nonsense circle with a high commitment standard, but it’s actually a very chill extracurricular where members can have any range of dedication.
“One thing that’s really attractive about it is that it does look really good in college applications, and it’s not a huge time commitment either,” Hayden said. “It’s kind of up to you how much time commitment you want it to be.”
To put it simply, HOSA is a club where students who are interested in a health career can explore the seemingly endless array of occupations in the medical field. Even if they don’t become a doctor, nurse, or surgeon, HOSA is the perfect opportunity to explore healthcare professions and find out what they might want to study in college.
“Since I’m the President, I work with all these kids, and it’s so interesting to see how these people are working [towards] their careers and dreams,” Melinda said.
