Be. Vital’s Annual Area Leadership Conference will take place on February 13th. Students from Weston Ranch will converge on the San Joaquin County Office of Education campus to take part in a rigorous and fun day of competition.

For students not familiar with the program, be.Vital is a school within a school where students explore science pathways to help increase knowledge in the fields of health care. Examples of some of the be.Vital classes offered to students are medical sciences, medical math, medical English, and medical history. Students in the be.Vital program choose courses to increase their awareness and enthusiasm for a future career in the medical and health services industries.

One student who looks to perform well at the conference is Brittany Vang. Vang, a senior, is the president of Weston Ranch’s be.Vital program, and she hopes to lead her team to impressive finishes.

“The Area Leadership Conference is like a baby version of the State Leadership Conference,” Vang told The Prowl. “Essentially, it’s where high school students who share a common interest in health care gather together to compete in a series of events to showcase their skills and application of health-related knowledge.”

Assisting Vang and her be.Vital teammates will be Mr. O’Donnel, who is the HOSA advisor and Ms. Beatty, who is the be.Vital coordinator.

“Brittany is an outstanding student and has made leaps in leadership skills as she has lead the HOSA future health professionals organizations as the acting president the last 2 years,” said O’Donnell.
The organization would not be the same with out her.”

Vang went on to say, “The conference will bring together future health professionals from different schools in the area to experience HOSA at its absolute best. It allows them to choose skills for competition, hones those skills through practice, and possibly win a medal. It’s important to understand that HOSA does not provide competition for the sake of competition.”

“HOSA provides these competitive events as a means for recognizing the students who are willing to put in the effort to pursue success through the opportunities provided. Not only is it a competition-oriented event, but it’s also a place where members develop effective leadership qualities and skills, build self-confidence through motivation, create friendships and social networks, and participate in community service projects.”

It will be a busy day for all competitors, including Vang. Since she is a senior, Vang will look to make a significant impact as this is her last competition.

“I will be participating in Exterporaneous Writing and the HOSA Bowl at this year’s ALC,” Vang said. “As it is my last year, I hope just to have fun and compete without the additional stress and confusion that most students feel during their first conferences.”

Vang wants to remind all HOSA member that whether they believe it or not, they already have what it takes to be successful in HOSA and be.Vital.

“Competing is taking baby steps,” she said. “These small steps will get you to where you want to go and need to be.”

be.Vital and HOSA are open to anyone, and you don’t have to be part of the programs to take the classes. For more information, please see Mr. O’Donnell or Ms. Beatty. Students can also follow and support these programs through social media vehicles at WRHSHOSA on Instagram or @HosaWrhs on Twitter.

The Prowl wants to thank Brittany for taking the time to speak with us, and we wish her and her teammates well on the 13th.  After the 13th, HOSA will participate in the CAL HOSA State Leadership Conference April 2-5 at the Long Beach Convention Center.