HARLINGEN — The world may look like a “Big Blue Marble.”
Seen from the moon, it appears quiet and at peace, draped in swirling clouds hovering over parched deserts and green forests.
However, observed at ground level, it’s simmering with crowds of humanity begging for help. They seek relief from disease, hunger and injustice in places where those needs are seldom tended with any consistency.
Aaron Castillo, 16, and his partner Jacqueline Magno, 15, addressed this situation with the project they submitted for the Texas State HOSA Conference recently in Corpus Christi. HOSA stands for Health Occupations Students of America.
“We wanted to focus on Third World countries,” said Jacqueline, 15.
Their poster showed references to UNICEF and Doctors without Borders for their work in faraway places.
She and Aaron took sixth place at the state competition recently. They and five other students from the newly-formed HOSA chapter at the Harlingen School for Health Professions did very well at the event. Their advisor, Christina Ramos, was proud of their achievements.
“I think they did awesome,” she said. “They really put a lot of effort into their projects. These are examples of what our future successes will be.”
Another future leader demonstrated his potential by reading five rather complicated books about medical science. William Horn, 16, read five very involved medical texts, one of them titled “Dr. Mutter’s Marvels” by Cristina O’Keefe Aptowicz. The book is about a ground-breaking surgeon in the mid-1850s named Thomas Dent Mütter.
“It was about a plastic surgeon and what he contributed to medicine,” said William, who took seventh place for his event “Medical Reading.”
“I enjoyed it the most because it was just an interesting story,” said William. “His life was interesting.”
While William took a test on the books, fellow HOSA member Matthew Garcia spoke before a group of judges.
“I talked about who was morally behind the prescription painkillers as an epidemic,” said Matthew, 16, who took 6th place in Persuasive Writing and Speaking.
Matthew took the position that doctors carry the responsibility for addiction to painkillers.
“It’s their liability to uphold their patient’s safety to the highest standard,” he said.
He competed in the same event last year and qualified for the national level. This year, he seemed to shift restlessly in his chair as he recalled what he said was a critical mistake.
“I stuttered for a couple of seconds,” said the young perfectionist.
“It was disappointing,” he said. “Next year I’ll make sure I’m in the same event.”
Jacqueline’s partner Aaron was very happy with the new HOSA organization, considering it’s a fledgling program at HSHP.
“We have been doing really well,” said Aaron, who has just been named vice president for area 7.
“The HOSA has been growing by leaps and bounds for being in its second year of existence,” he said.
While the HOSA students are feeling pretty good about their success at this year’s state HOSA event, they’re looking forward to doing even better next year.
