Recent Singley graduates Kathy Nguyen and Jonathan Rebollar earned first place at the annual Future Health Professionals (HOSA) EMT state competition. Alumni of Singley Academy’s health science career path, Nguyen and Rebollar put their training and experience to the test during several rounds of tests, projects and simulations to prove their medical knowledge and earn the top prize.
HOSA is an international club focused on training future health professionals, where Nguyen and Rebollar had the opportunity to volunteer, learn and grow their passion for medicine while at Singley Academy. Both joined their freshman year, and Nguyen went on to serve as vice president then president of the club.
Joining HOSA was the perfect opportunity for Nguyen and Rebollar to learn more about a career path both dreamed about since they were young.
“My middle school years, I would be at the hospital some, and usually I hated going. But there were nurses who cared for me and would tell me I had nothing to worry about,” says Rebollar. “I want to be one of those nurses, to help kids feel safe.”
Rebollar and Nguyen used their passion and the knowledge gained from their health classes at Singley to beat out hundreds of teams in the local and area HOSA competitions before making it to the state competition. During the final round at state, they worked together in a virtual simulation to answer questions on how to properly care for patients in a variety of emergency situations.
“Jonathan and I were in the EMT courses [at Singley], where we learned so many things that really helped us on round two,” says Nguyen. “We were stumped on some questions, but at the same time we were able to persevere and remember what we had learned in our EMT class.”
For both Rebollar and Nguyen, the win is confirmation that they are on the right path in pursuing their dream career. Rebollar plans to work as a patient care technician at a local children’s hospital while he studies to become a nurse at the University of Texas at Arlington. Nguyen will study neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin starting this fall while also working as an EMT until she goes to medical school.
