Students filled the room with a nervous chatter as the winning teams were announced. Two girls held hands, staring up at the board where the results would be posted, hoping that their names would appear and that cheers would echo through the crowd of their classmates that was pressing in around them.

The Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) team competed at the area competition Jan. . A number of the teams and individuals placed and qualified to advance to the state level. Juniors Caroline Holt and Sydney Jantzen were among them.

“Sydney and I competed in First Aid/CPR,” Caroline said. “With our skills, we were able to place third and qualified for state in Galveston.”

For these girls, it was a long journey to get this far. It involved practice and help from their friends.

“Many friends, dummies, phones and water bottles helped us to prepare for competition,” Caroline joked.

Though they spent plenty of time practicing on their own, Caroline and Sydney had support from the HOSA sponsors.

“They supported us in easing our nerves and answered many questions we had,” Caroline said. “Our sponsors were some of our biggest cheerleaders through this whole competition, especially during awards.”

Though they were prepared, they still faced nerves before the test. However, their confidence in their abilities allowed them to overcome this challenge.

“We were nervous but at the same time calm,” they said. “We had been practicing and felt confident we knew what we were doing. In the end I think by continuing to keep our cool and reassuring ourselves we knew what we were doing we were able to subside our nerves.”

Their success as a team encouraged them to continue competing and confirmed that HOSA is an organization in which to be involved.

“If you are interested in the healthcare field, you should definitely join!” Caroline said.