Champions of Change

Maclay Students Compete at Florida HOSA State Conference

Photo taken by Rachel Paul

From April 16 to 18, Maclay students along with advisor Rachel Paul headed to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the 2026 Florida HOSA State Leadership Conference. This marks a major milestone for the club’s first year since its inception. HOSA is a student organization for future health professionals. 

Students left on Thursday, April 16, and attended the conference’s opening ceremony that evening at the Orlando World Center Marriot. For all the professional events, students were dressed in business attire, including blazers, trousers, white blouses or ties dependent on gender. 

Competitions took place Friday and Saturday and included either objective testing or presentations. Freshman Arnav Kolli and junior Nidhi Ponnaganti completed 50-question multiple-choice exams with a short answer free response section in 60 minutes, while freshman Bhavya Tatini Swarna presented a research-based project to judges. Swarna competed in Family Medicine Physician, where she interviewed real doctors and gathered data. Kolli competed in Biomedical Equipment Technician and Ponnaganti competed in Healthcare Administration. 

On Friday, students were able to explore the conference expo, which featured representatives from organizations and programs such as UF Shands, HCA Healthcare and the University of South Florida, offering insight into future careers and pathways. 

On Saturday, students attended the closing and awards ceremony. Ponnaganti earned fifth place in the state in the Healthcare Administration category, while Kolli also placed fifth in Biomedical Equipment Technician.

“Winning fifth place at HOSA made me feel really good because of the weeks of work I spent preparing,” Kolli said. “It felt like [my hard work] had all paid off.”

Students also visited the Vineland Outlets and Disney Springs during their downtime between competitions. The group returned to Maclay on Sunday.  

Students interested in the healthcare field, traveling to Orland,  gaining real-world insight and earning awards should join Maclay’s HOSA chapter next year!