By: Kirsten Thomas

Sophomore Maya Brink and Junior Samantha Goodwin won the state forensic science competition on March 25. They qualified for nationals this summer. 

HOSA is a new club this year for students interested in biomedical science. It is a student organization for future medical professionals. Current student leaders are Nitika Arora, Samantha Goodwin, Natalie Rodenroth, Gracie Schindler, and Hannah Becker. Club members participate in competitions and community events to raise awareness and support for diseases. This year, HOSA put on a blood drive at the high school and promoted the Donate Life movement. 

At competitions, teams are given a case study and autopsy report of a patient who has died from some unknown cause. It is up to them to figure out the person’s cause mechanism and manner of death. Winners are selected based on overall placement in a written exam and the case study. 

In order to qualify for the state competition, Goodwin and Brink had to place in the top ten at regionals. In a surprising turn of events, they got first place! Goodwin remarked, “This was our first competition at all, since [HOSA] is a new club. We were not expecting to win at all.” 

Following regionals, state was a two day competition in Columbus with hundreds of attendees. A slight wardrobe miscommunication left them without the suit coats they needed to go on stage seconds before they were called. Two minutes before, they were rooting through a pile of blazers looking for ones that might fit them. “They were probably for six foot guys,” Brink laughs. Despite this last minute situation, they were able not only to keep it together, but to win in front of hundreds of people. 

As state champions, Brink and Goodwin received money toward a scholarship to spend a week at Georgetown University. At that event, attendees are able to make real life diagnoses of patients and speak with doctors from around the world using virtual reality. Nationals is a weeklong competition June 21-26 in Nashville. The top four teams from each state qualify.