UH Hilo students excel at Hawaiʻi HOSA Virtual State Conference

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Y Kakugawa-Leong, (808) 932-7669
Int Dir, Univ Rel; Dir, Media Rel, University Relations, Office of
Posted: Mar 7, 2022

Seven students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo earned top honors in various event categories at the 17th Annual Hawai‘i HOSA – Future Health Professionals Virtual State Leadership Conference held February 28 – March 4, 2022.

The Public Service Announcement Team, comprised of freshmen Samuel Garcia and Aion Kaneko, and seniors Christian Lopez and Travis Makana Taylor, earned 1st Place for their 30-second PSA video and presentation on “Bone Marrow Donations Saves Lives!” Their PSA can be viewed at https://youtu.be/Clesd43nK30.

Sophomore Jennifer Nakano earned 2nd Place in Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking for her research paper and speech on “Vaping: Safe or Sorry?”

In individual testing events, freshman Ariell Siliado earned 1st Place in Epidemiology and senior Daniel Kimura earned 2nd Place in Medical Terminology.

Taylor also concluded his term as the Hawai‘i HOSA State Postsecondary Vice President, a position he held for two years.

“Serving on the Hawai‘i HOSA State Executive Council as the Postsecondary Vice President has been a life-changing experience,” he said. “HOSA has really given me extraordinary leadership skills while also allowing me to improve on skills that I had prior to being elected. HOSA has changed my life.”

The virtual conference had over 900 student participants statewide ranging from middle school through college.

Advisors Dr. Jarred Prudencio of the UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy and Mr. Lark J. Morin of the UH Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine provided student support on competitive events.

The UH Hilo HOSA team will next participate in the 45th Annual HOSA International Leadership Conference, which will be held June 22 - 25, 2022 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

HOSA – Future Health Professionals is an international organization with more than 250,000 members and 2.5 million alumni. HOSA was established in Hawai‘i in 2005 and has grown to more than 1,700 members.