On Sept. 27 through Sept. 29, two Rolla High School students involved in HOSA [Health Occupations Students of America], a global career and technical student organization, attended a conference that took place in Washington D.C. This event was for HOSA leaders to gain more knowledge about being future health care professionals, and to also learn about leadership, advocating for their beliefs, and developing their public speaking skills.
Senior Felicity Taylor, the President of HOSA, was one of the students who attended this conference.
“We went to WLA which was the Washington Leadership Academy, and we did activities and little workshop rooms to improve HOSA’s mission…so we get better ideas of how to improve it, such as promoting our chapter more,” said Taylor.
Sophomore Wyatt McDonald, the Vice President of HOSA, joined Taylor as the other Rolla HOSA representative. A highlight for the team was visiting the Capitol and engaging with politicians about healthcare issues.
“We actually went to the Capitol and were able to talk to the senators of the United States, and we were able to advocate for the Parkinson’s bill, which supports CTSOs [Career and Technical Student Organizations]. It’s basically a global fund that from nationwide, it splits up into states and then from states, it goes to each individual district,” said McDonald.
Aside from going into the Capitol building, the leaders also interacted with various people and locations to expand their knowledge and abilities.
“We went and paid our respects at the Arlington Cemetery by doing a wreath laying, and then to end our trip, we went around the Capitol and went and talked to many senators, some congressmen, and some representatives,” stated McDonald.
With this conference, HOSA leaders were able to learn more about their future professions and how advocacy can affect the results of changes in their local community.
“The conference was to help build our knowledge of what we can do as future health professionals and how we can take that information back to our community,” said McDonald.
