Instead of attending their classes as usual Monday, some Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) students are on their way to state. 

Students that placed in the top 3 at the area competition advanced to the state competition in Corpus Christi.

“I’m extremely excited because it’s in Corpus Christi and I’m going with a lot of friends, so it’ll be a lot of fun,” sophomore Rebecca Fang said. “I’m doing clinical nursing, and for round one, I have to take a 50-question multiple-choice and then for round two, if I advance and I’m in the top ten, then I’ll do a skills assessment.” 

But the trip is about more than just competing as students like senior Stephanie Okorie are also learning about different parts of the medical field. 

“I went about two years ago. and when I went, it was in Galveston,” Okorie said. “Competition was at a complete different level than area, which was a shock for me. But I felt like it was a good experience overall learning and seeing what other people are doing. I felt like it helped me in medicine because there were so many different, unique categories to learn about. They have posters of different professions, and most of the professions were really unique, so it was cool to see that.