Over this past summer, 10 Kalani Health Academy students were hard at work preparing for their International Leadership Conference (ILC). They earned the right to compete in Houston, Texas, and one of our own, recent alum Anna Seavey, placed 1st!

To achieve this, HOSA students first had to compete at the state level at the State Leadership Competition (SLC). Chloe Ho (12), a current third-year in the program, explains that all second-years in the health academy had to participate in one of the various events of the conference for their class. 

“So first of all we had to do SLC for the class, I chose nursing assisting and when we got to the states place, the first thing you do is a test,” Ho says. “They test you on your skills so you have to study, you can’t just wing it. If you pass that test then you get to move on to the second round.”

Those who placed in the top three in the state got the chance to participate in the international competition held over the summer, June 24 to June 30. Luna Kodama (12), another current third-year student, recalls that although all the students were nervous about the tests ahead, the group was excited and ready for the “valuable experience” of the trip.

“I was able to interact with many of the members there [ILC]  which made me expand on my connections and learn more about their projects and the current problem in healthcare that we’re facing,” Kodama says.

They also got to partake in a special pin culture that has developed at these conferences over the years. The pins are seen as a starting point for meeting with others from different HOSA chapters and as a unique souvenir from the event. 

“We got so many pins!” Ho says. “The pins are a way to make everyone interact with each other because they want to collect different state and school pins. So we would go up to other teams and other people and ask ‘hi guys do you have any pins to trade with us’.”

Most of the students like, Tyana Trieu (12), another current HOSA third year, voiced that the ultimate highlight of the trip was seeing Kalani’s very own recent graduate, Anna Seavey, take first place internationally in the medical assisting category. 

“She got first place basically for our school and our state and literally all of us if you could see us, we ran up to her and literally couldn’t stop saying congratulations to her, cause we all love her so much,” Trieu says. “Even getting to know her within a couple days you start to love her.”

Ho recalls the exact moments during the award ceremony when it happened and explains the pride and celebration that everyone felt. She emphasizes how Seavey worked hard in preparation for the competition: “She deserved that win; she’s so cool!” 

“Oh my gosh, we were so excited!” Ho says.”  It was so good! She won! The way they announced it was that they called it out three, two, one. So first they announced the top 10, so I remember we were in third place and it wasn’t her and we were like ‘okay, okay, top two, top two’,  second place wasn’t her, so we were like “first place, first place” and it was her!  And the entire hawaii chapter screamed, it wasn’t just our school, everyone was super excited for her, it was really nice.” 

These students were only able to have these experiences because of the Health Academy elective here at Kalani. Students learn about the medical field and how to be professional and prepared for the future. They also do a lot of volunteering through the class. Kodma explains how she “ highly recommends” more students take the class, not just to learn about the medical field but also to learn about themselves. 

“HOSA really gives out resources for the students to understand themselves more and explore on different interest and then find their future career that they would want to pursue,” Kodama says. “So they’re like a guide towards your interest.” 

The class may be rigorous, but it’s well worth it to express Ho. Students gain vital skills and also recommend joining HOSA because “Mr. Kimura will prepare you for life!”

“Students should join HOSA if they’re looking to improve their general school skills, HOSA is a really good class to learn how to stop procrastinating, get your butt on top of things,” Ho says.

“In their first year of HOSA, you have to do career research on colleges and internships you could possibly do, so it’s very helpful in finding what you like and what you don’t like and third year you have to actually go out and find an internship, and I think having that real-world job experience is really good for seeing if you want to do something or not” 

Kodama shares that her favorite mentality she’s taken away from the class is that success is not about perfection but about what you learn from it. 

“When I was a first year I was very stressed, I wanted to make everything perfect, I wanted to have a perfect score on my grade but Mr.Kimura made it very [difficult] because his work required more than completing the assignment,” Kodama says. “He wanted us to explore more and learn more and have personal growth. He taught us that all A’s doesn’t mean anything and perfection doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a personal goal.”