While some students have no clue to their careers, others excel in their desired field. As early as their childhood, these students have learned about their interests and have even been recognized for their excellence in those interests.

That recognition came when 11 students placed first, second, and third at Missouri’s HOSA state conference, which was held on March 28-29 in Rolla.

The following students have been recognized as national qualifiers on Liberty’s Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) team: Alexis Kayser, Emily Gharabegi, Addison Donnell, Sami Childress, Colette Linden, Cameron Graham, Ben Collins, Daryn Adler, Alexis Guffey, Addison Haddock and Madison McGuire. All students were under the guidance of Mrs. Aydelott, Liberty’s HOSA sponsor.

The hard work that the team put in this year showed at state by sending 11 students to nationals.

“There’s definitely a correlation, the kids who worked really hard and took the initiative to ensure that they were prepared and knew what they were supposed to be doing and rehearsed and practiced their events,” Aydelott said.
Students compete in various events that are made to test and challenge their knowledge and skill set. For example, students competing in clinical nursing may be asked to know how to hook up an oxygen tank to a patient while other events may be a challenging knowledge test or a presentation.

Students are continuing to practice and perfect their skills as nationals approach, which will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on June 22-25. These are skills that will carry on to most of the students’ dream careers, which are largely in the medical field.

“HOSA is a co-curricular club like DECA, for students interested in the healthcare field,” Mrs. Aydelott said.

With only one Project Lead The Way Biomedical teacher here at Liberty, HOSA is fully supervised by Mrs. Aydelott, who also organizes the state conference. In charge of registration, paperwork and running the entire show, Aydelott merely supervises the students, while they work hard at honing their healthcare skills.

Aspiring to be orthopedic surgeons, pediatric doctors, anesthesiologists and more, these students are preparing themselves for the future by enrolling in PLTW classes and participating in HOSA, for the pure eagerness to learn.
Sophomore Addison Haddock, whose dream is to work in the medical field, joined HOSA for its hands-on experience.

“It honestly feels amazing,” Haddock said. “I am doing this (HOSA) mostly for experience and just meeting all the new people. You feel proud of yourself and gain so much more knowledge just talking and bouncing ideas off of other people.”

The road to joining HOSA led even farther back for some students, whose love for the medical field stemmed from childhood, like junior Ben Collins.

“When I was younger, my parents always said, ‘Oh, you’re so smart, you should be a doctor.’ So I always kept that at the back of my mind and throughout middle school, I really liked my science classes. And because I was so big on science when I came into high school, I heard that PBS (Principles of Biomedical Science) was this huge medical science class that could really get me learning about a future career where I could use science,” Collins said.
As for what occurred at state, these students will also remember as part of their past too.