![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
STEM Spotlight: HOSA
HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) Operations officer Jessica Zhou (11) explains club details to Nila Dharmaraj (10) and Smrithi Sambamurthy (11) on Jan. 11. The club focuses on medical events and contests.
February 23, 2022
The Health Occupations Students of America Club, better known as HOSA, aims to help students interested in healthcare explore the diverse possibilities that the medical world has to offer. The club, which is part of a larger international organization, is advised by upper school biology teacher Dr. Matthew Harley and was founded by president Alivia Li (12) and vice president Emily Zhou (12) two years ago. The club hopes to open students’ minds to the wide variety of niche parts of medicine by engaging them in activities and participating in conventions on the regional and national levels.
“The field of healthcare itself is actually so diverse and interesting it definitely merits exploration and especially in a school like Harker where many people are medically inclined, I think it’s definitely a worthwhile venture to do,” Alivia said. “There are opportunities to explore emergency medical technicians, forensic science, or pharmacology, or pathophysiology, and all these professions you’ve never even heard of or thought about to be healthcare-related.”
The club provides resources for members to help them prepare for events such as textbooks and Quizlets, which are intended to let students discover different medical fields, meet professionals and compete with one another.
“Specifically what we’re doing is helping the students prepare for their competitive events, which range from everything to their individual events and team events,” Sasvath Ramachandran (12), HOSA’s director of operations, said. “They have exams, and they have physical components or demonstrations which students can prepare for.”
After a year online, the club has slowly been transitioning into in-person events and plans to travel nationally for different conventions.
“The state competition is at the end of March in Long Beach, where there are actual competitions, lots of networking, cool displays and booths and [information] about the healthcare industry,” Dr. Harley said. “Based on last year, our students also did well at states, and many of them moved on to nationals.”
Sasvath also feels that their year online subdued some of the club’s coordination. Back in person this year, HOSA will be able to provide their members with a fleshed-out experience.
“I hope they get a glimpse into these competitive areas like forensic science or different career professions within health and get a glimpse into what each of those offers,” he said.
HOSA hopes that they will be able to foster new passions and explorations of unique medical hands-on experiences and potentially inspire members to carry on learning about healthcare in the future.
“If someone can begin to discover a passion they have within healthcare just from this club, that would mean everything,” Alivia said.
For more information on upcoming events and meetings, follow HOSA’s Instagram page @harkerhosa.
