Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Congratulations to Ashleigh M. Gil

Congratulations to Ashleigh M. Gil
 
The EPISD is proud to announce that Health Occupation Student Association (HOSA) member Ashleigh M. Gil has reached national level recognition in this years annual HOSA competition.
 
Nationally, HOSA is the one of largest student organizations that prepares members to enter the health care field. This is a tremendous accomplishment for Ms. Gil, instructor Mrs. Sandra Mello-Lopez and the entire CATE program. In the past, the CATE program has had previous national titles under the then-direction of Mr. G. Gonzalez.

Included is an essay that Ashleigh wrote about her experience in HOSA,

From an early age, I always knew I wanted to join the healthcare profession, but I didn’t know what I wanted to be. One day I knew I would figure it out. During my freshman year of high school, I enrolled in medical terminology taught by Mrs. Elizabeth Rodriguez and she informed me about the Senior certification program. At the time, there were three programs to choose from: certified Nurses Assistant, Emergency Medical Technician, and Pharmacy Technician. With this opportunity to become certified presented to me, I explored more possibilities for my future. However, I needed to gain all my pre-requisite classes and decide which certification class to choose.

 Apart from the senior certification program, Mrs. Rodriguez introduced me into the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) club. The following year, my sophomore year, I joined the club fundraising, community service, and online competition were all important aspects of the club. Since I was a new member, I focused on fundraising and completing my community service. My sophomore year ended and junior year as well on its way.

 I returned back to the HOSA club, but instead I focused on preparing for online competition. Out of all the events, I decided on nutrition because I simply liked to eat. I thought to myself, if I liked something, shouldn’t I also want to have some knowledge behind my interest. So I studied as much as possible and I took my first nutrition test as a junior. When the results were announced, Mrs. Rodriguez informed that I placed 1st in Area One. I advanced to state automatically.

After this I began studying harder. I read every day for an hour or two for four months. In April 2013, at state competition, I placed 6th out of 21 people. The top five are recognized and the top 3 advance to nationals. Disappointed but not discouraged, I vowed to compete in nutrition again to have a second chance the following year.

As my junior year ended, my HOSA club sponsor was promoted. Unfortunately, she could no longer be in charge of the club. Thankfully Ms. Amanda Garcia stepped in and organized the beginning of the club. With the help of Ms. Deborah Lopez, the club gained stability. It is because of these two ladies that the club continued to exist and allowed me to compete once more.

I dedicated myself to studying despite having prior knowledge from the previous year. I competed and when the results were announced, I placed third in Area One; I advanced to state again. When I realized this, I studied harder than ever before because I knew I wanted to go to nationals-especially since it would be at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. All of January and February of this year, I read for two hours five times a week. When March approached, I read an hour a day seven days a week.

My motivation to advance to nationals was simply that I wanted to go to Disneyworld. With all my preparation, I finally put my knowledge to test on Saturday March 29, 2014. I placed third in the State of Texas and advanced to Nationals. Currently, I am studying for my nutrition test and my pharmacy technician test. I hope to receive my certification by the end of May and place at Nationals in June. In the fall, I will attend Texas A&M University in college station and begin my four year journey to obtain my nutrition and dietetics degree and become a registered dietitian.