HOSA: Integrating Students From All Disciplines
Written By Daisy Willis
University of Hawaii at Hilo HOSA PSA 2014. This video won two awards from the Maui regional and Oahu state conference in the Public Service Announcements event. The Hilo team was required to make a 30 second commercial of the given topic. Both Sheldon and Lark are featured in the video clip. Video provided by Lark Canico and featured on Youtube at, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7UvkgvQEUk
As far as student opportunities go, the health related majors at the University of Hawaii at Hilo boast a plethora of clubs and organizations designed to integrate students within their major and their community. HOSA (Health Occupational Students of America) is a student led international organization established back in 1974 for students with strong interest in the medical field. The overall mission of HOSA is to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality healthcare by providing opportunities for knowledge, skill improvement, and leadership development of all health science education students, thereby helping the students meet the needs of the healthcare community. According to the UH Hilo current chapter president, the organization is over 165,000 members strong throughout 48 chartered HOSA State Associations, and has approximately 3,600 secondary and postsecondary/collegiate chapters. HOSA in Hawaii was established back in 2005 and currently has over 4,900 members. The special thing that sets HOSA apart from its counterparts is that this organization accepts members from any major. They encourage students from any discipline to participate, and the current members at UH Hilo are a motley crew indeed.
UH Hilo Hosa State Competitors. Photo provided by Lark Canico.
Lark Canico, a five year member of HOSA and the current chapter president, is a communications major, and he spoke about how the organization has helped him to improve as a student, “HOSA has helped me in numerous ways. One thing I can say is that it helped me decide on a solid major in college and what I want to be doing after I graduate. I believe HOSA is a good resource for students to help [assist them in] what they want to pursue in the medical field. As the president of UH Hilo HOSA, the skills I apply are interpersonal communication and public speaking. As the head of an organization, I must learn how to be an effective communicator and be an active listener. Just because you are in charge, [does not mean that] everything goes your way. Everyone’s voices must be heard. A leader is a server and not a dictator. Being an effective leader is also [about] having the confidence to speak to your club members, officers, and the public. Being bilingual, I face these everyday struggles of speaking butchered English. It’s either my Filipino accent coming out or I use the wrong choices of words. It gets even [worse] when I receive weird stares from people and I end up stuttering. Though I have this flaw, I take it as a learning experience and find a way to turn this into something positive. Taking public speaking class has made a good impact on my confidence level. To this day, my accent slips out, I stutter, but I have learned to keep going.”
UH Hilo Hosa member and Kinesiology major, Sheldon Cabudol smiles for the camera while wearing his HOSA embossed attire. Photo provided by Lark Canico.
Sheldon Cabudol, a second year returnee to HOSA and a Kinesiology major, also spoke positively about the organization, saying “Being part of this organization has improved me as a student a lot! HOSA has made a big impact on my life. Without it I probably would have dropped out of college. Before joining HOSA I was doing real bad in my classes and ever since I went to the national conference last year in Orlando, Florida I've been so inspired to do better. I have seen so many students who have their lives all planned out, knowing what they want to be, knowing what they are going to do, and being so thrilled to be part of the organization that it made me realize what a great organization I’m apart of. It just made me want to do so much better and become a great person overall. It truly changed my perspective on things and I'm happy I joined. It was just such a blessing. I had the opportunity to meet new people, gain new friends, attend events, and just improve myself as an individual in such a genuine way.”
UH Hilo HOSA chapter president, Lark Canico poses in his HOSA embossed attire. Photo provided by Lark Canico.
HOSA is currently fundraising for their upcoming national competition by selling Big Island Candies Crunch Bars and 7/11 coupon booklets, so keep an eye out for them on campus! HOSA encourages students from HCC and UHH to join their organization, so if you are interested in traveling and testing your medical knowledge, join today! Want to reach out to the club? Join? Donate? Here's how you can contact them...
Instagram: uh_hilo_hosa
Facebook: UH Hilo HOSA
email: hosa.uhhilo@gmail.com
National Website: http://hosa.org
HOSA members display their awards in a group photo. Photo provided by Lark Canico.
