Two local students place in top 10 in national health competition

Seventeen local students have returned from Orlando, Fla., with experiences to treasure while two students won national Top 10 honors.

Seventeen local students have returned from Orlando, Fla., with experiences to treasure while two students won national Top 10 honors.

The group, which returned from the four-day Health Occupation Students of America national leadership competition Saturday, represented Imperial County and California in the competition.

Sophia Marroquin, a recent Southwest High School graduate, placed in the Top 10 in the dental assistant category while Imperial Valley College student Issac Villarreal won a silver medal for his portfolio and presentation in medical photography.

“There were industry professionals from all over the nation that presented workshops on topics in health science such as careers, communication skills, study skills, employment opportunities and everything else,” Southwest High School HOSA adviser Jackie Valadez said. “I think the students got to see that, even though they’re in a rural area, that we can be involved with things on a national level.”

Valadez said the competition included more than 6,000 students from 48 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. The Imperial County students said they felt the pressure of the national stage.

“I didn’t expect it to be this hard but I was lucky to actually make it to the second round,” Marroquin said. “My category had two days of competition. The other days we got to visit the Downtown Disney area and it was fun.

“We got to mingle with different people and learn different things; it was kind of like a health fair,” she said. “I was nervous but I made it that far. Just making it to the second round was the icing on the cake.”

And though students from Brawley Union High School have competed in the national competition in the past, this mark the first time local students have placed in the Top 10, Brawley HOSA adviser Ines Estrada said.

“We’ve won state before but this is our first national medal,” she said of 19-year-old Issac Villarreal’s placement.

“Last year Issac competed in the same category, but he didn’t even place Top 10 from what I remember,” Estrada said. “He’s really perfected his photography skills and his presentation skills have improved,” she said.

“I was shocked because in past years California had rarely placed,” Villarreal said.

The advisers said they were happy about the students’ experiences.

“When (Issac) was called on for his silver medal, I think that was the best part of the trip,” Estrada said. “His hard work finally paid off. I think that was the best part,” she said.