Brownwood High School recently sent 22 students to participate in the Area HOSA (Health Science Professionals) competition in Killeen, Texas. They competed against 989 HOSA members across Area 5 from Abilene to Dallas. Of those students, eight emerged victorious and have punched their ticket to the state competition in Galveston, Texas April 19-22.
The students who advanced are Aishwarya Nigayle (1st Place – Epidemiology), Emma Ringer (1st Place – Medical Photography), Kali Alvizo (1st Place – Research Persuasive Writing and Speaking), Naysa Leach (2nd Place – Sports Medicine), Brooke Minchey (3rd Place – Medical Spelling), Rylah Morgan, Aishwarya Nigayle, and Noeli De La Torre (Health Care Issues Exam – Top 10%), Trinity Sessoms (Area 5 Secretary) and Asihwarya Nigayle (State Officer Endorsed Candidate).
“This was the first-in person area conference we have attended in two years,” said BHS Health Science teacher Annalyn Deen. “It was very rewarding to see the students’ hard work pay off. We took two students to become officers, and both came away with positions. Aishwarya will be continuing on to state to try and become Brownwood’s first ever HOSA State Officer.” Deen continued, “Trinity was told at the last second that she was able to run for office. She got everything together in three days and rocked it, winning her position as Secretary.”
The students were excited and grateful to be competing face-to-face again at the conference. “I am thankful that we had the opportunity to go to an in-person conference again,” said Nigayle. “It’s so much better in person. It is a completely different experience than virtual.”
De La Torre echoed Nigayle adding, “It was really nice to see all of the other HOSA members from our area. I got to see them work and prepare for their events and I learned a lot from it.”
BHS HOSA has continued to flourish, and the students are coming away with helpful skills and celebrating continued success. “I am excited to see where the opportunities that I gain from HOSA take me,” said Sessoms. “I am very pleased to be the new Area 5 secretary.”
“It was cool to talk to students from other schools and see how they prepared for their events,” noted Minchey, who placed third in Medical Spelling. “I wasn’t really expecting to make into the top, so I was surprised when I made it into the top three.”
“I was so pleased with all of the students,” said Deen. “I missed the week before the competition and was not able to help them be as prepared as I wanted. They took charge of their own events and were ready when I came back. I am so proud of every one of the HOSA members that competed at Area this year.”