Three Juniors prepare to compete at HOSA ILC

Anya Parikh ‘25, Reyna Patel ‘25, and Alexa Orlowski ‘25 have been invited to the Future Health Professionals (HOSA)

Courtesy of Alexa Orlowski

Orlowski, Parikh, and Patel at the State Leadership Conference (SLC) last year

International Leadership Conference (ILC) in Houston, Texas, taking place June 26-29, 2024 due to their high performance at the State Leadership Conference (SLC). Parikh, Patel, and Orlowski will be competing in the Researched Persuasive Writing & Speaking, Extemporaneous Writing, and Veterinary Science events, respectively.

The HOSA ILC is a prestigious event where students from the United States, Canada, China, and Korea gather to showcase their knowledge, skills, and passion for the medical field. This year, the ILC is expecting 10,000 student competitors, a big jump from the 2,000 competitors at the Illinois SLC that Parikh, Patel, and Orlowski attended March 20-22. “It’s incredibly nerve-racking to think about how many people are competing and how much studying I will need to do,” said Orlowski. 

Overall, the students are nervous but also excited to attend ILC. “I’m excited about competing at ILC because I’ve never attended the conference before, and I’ll get to go with 2 of my friends [Patel and Orlowski]… and I’m excited to meet other competitors,” said Parikh. 

Patel, who also competed at the national level for Business Professionals of America, said she was “absolutely terrified to compete at the International level for HOSA [before she] learned how much fun these big competitions can be.”

As the school year comes to an end and the ILC draws closer, the students prepare for their events. While Orlowski and Parikh use traditional notecards to memorize speeches and procedures, Patel plans to use skills from her AP Language and Composition class to write an essay. “Now that I’ve taken the AP test for Lang, hopefully, I can maintain my essay writing skill long enough to dominate at Internationals,” said Patel, whose event consists of writing an argumentative letter to a fictional policymaker regarding a given medical bill.

Orlowski, whose event requires her to perform certain tasks in front of judges such as “Preparation of the Operative Site” and “Simple Fecal Flotation”, said she “will try [her] best to replicate the tasks at home and practice timing [herself] doing them (although not with real feces!).” Orlowski says she chose the Veterinary Science event over other events in the same category because of her love for animals and because it is easier for her to memorize actions than “lines”.

Parikh, Patel, and Orlowski all recommend everyone join HOSA due to the variety of events and opportunities it offers. Patel expressed her gratitude that she decided to join HOSA, and she “can’t wait to make more memories at Internationals.” Parikh said, “some of my favorite memories from high school come from HOSA.”

“It’s hard work, no matter what event you choose, but the experiences that you gain from going to state: dressing up in business attire, staying in a hotel room with your friends, and being able to meet other people with your same interests are totally worth it,” Orlowski said.

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