“E-r-y-t-h-r-o-c-y-t-e. ‘Ethryo’ meaning red, and ‘cyte’ meaning cell,” Junior Nidhi Achanta proudly said on the stage of the HOSA State Leadership Conference Medical Spelling Bee. 

During the weekend of March 9th, Liberty’s Health Occupations Students of America club (more commonly known as HOSA) competed at the state level with about 50 other schools. Senior Allyson Phung, the Vice President of Chapter Relations, competed in the HOSA Bowl with three other students.

“In order to qualify for state, each person in your group has to individually answer multiple choice questions. At state, it’s a 4 v. 4 against another school. It’s like Family Feud; you have to buzz in with the answer before the other team,” Phung said.

There are many other competitions Liberty’s HOSA team competes in, namely the Medical Spelling Bee and a Community Awareness Presentation.

“I competed in the Medical Spelling Bee, which is a spelling bee where all the words are medical words,” junior Matthew Nendick said. “To practice, I sat with Nidhi and opened the medical dictionary randomly to practice words.” 

Of about 15 participants, Nendick placed fifth, and Achanta, the current president of HOSA, placed second. At the competition, all members of HOSA enjoyed competing and learning more about the medical field.

“I get to share my excitement for the medical field,” Achanta said. “There are a lot of different issues in the medical field we discuss such as gene editing, savior siblings, and physician-assisted suicide.” 

At state, the team bonded in their shared hotel rooms, team competitions, and a hypnosis show.

“My favorite memory from state was a hypnosis show where Daven [a member of HOSA] was in the show. He said it was fake, but it was fun to watch,” Achanta said.

As the school year ends, and HOSA prepares for their next year at Liberty and state competitions, their members are encouraging others to join.

“At HOSA meetings we get along really well. We do a lot of group events, debates, and fun games together to prepare,” Phung said. “No one is singled out, which is great. Everyone participates and is open with each other.”