After having everything from athletics to school being shut down, and put online, the Carrollwood Day School HOSA- Future Health Professionals were eager to attend the 2022 Winter Leadership Conference on January 20th. With 47 club members attending and competing in a wide range of categories ranging from medical knowledge and leadership skills, expectations were high for state qualification. Additionally, students were excited to meet with other schools for one of the first times since 2019. Haliee S., a junior and a state qualifier for her event (Public Service Announcement), shared that, “the HOSA conference was so much fun! Not only did I get to compete, but I got to hang out with my friends, eat delicious food, and meet tons of new people.” Not only did Hailee feel this way, but Anika S, a sophomore, said that she “thought that it was a great opportunity to meet and compete with students from other schools who had similar interests to the rest of us.”
In the world of COVID-19, many things have been greatly effected and for the chance to have an “overall just a great educational experience” according to Anika S., “One Of the best parts was being able to have an in-person conference this year, opposed to the online competition last year. Chapter sponsor Kiran Vaswani-Sippy said that, “This year the competition felt more authentic. Students could feel the pressures from competing face to face with their opponents. Also, you could sense the feeling of strong school spirit as you walked around the City Life Church, which you could not feel during the virtual competition last year.”
At this year’s conference it was, “​​amazing to be surrounded by so many hardworking individuals who will make wonderful healthcare officials in the future,” according to Hailee S. . As States are approaching for the 16 students who qualified, and in the words of Hailee , “I am super excited to go to states and meet even more wonderful people. I plan to prepare for states by reflecting with my team on what we can do better the next time around and creating a plan to improve.” There’s always room to improve, and the State qualifiers will be working hard to get even better and hopefully move onto the National level.