SWBOCES Career Tech student elected president of statewide organization
Brianna Osorio of White Plains will lead New York HOSA in 2023-24
A student in the Emergency Medical Service program, Brianna plans to become a paramedic after high school. Long-term, her ambition is to become a trauma surgeon. Fear clearly does not dictate her choices. The presidency of New York HOSA, however, was an intimidating prospect.
“Hearing everybody else give their speeches, everybody’s so smart. They sound so confident. I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” the White Plains High School junior said. “When I made it, I thought, don’t let the fear control you.”
HOSA Future Health Professionals, formerly Health Occupations Students of America, is an international career and technical student organization. Brianna was elected president for the 2023-24 school year at its Spring Leadership Conference in Syracuse last month,
Students from multiple SWBOCES medical field-related programs typically attend the spring conference. Brianna was among a dozen students, all in the EMS program, who won awards in this year’s skills competitions. She and a partner took first place in CPR/First Aid.
As president, she’ll lead the planning of future conferences. She is already attending meetings and learning the ropes. She said she wants to bring out the best ideas of her peers and help them reach their potential.
At the conference, she was one of the last candidates who gave their speech.
“When you sit there listening to everybody, what they want to bring to HOSA and what they want to change about HOSA, it made me think, wow, they have good ideas,” she said. “I want to bring those ideas out as well.”
When Brianna first enrolled in the EMS program, she didn’t know what HOSA was. Her teacher, Robert Del Greco, encouraged her to join and has been pushing her ever since to take on more responsibilities. It was he who encouraged her, after an issue with her conference paperwork, to change her plan to run for HOSA secretary and run for president.
Some students simply rise to the occasion when presented with the opportunity to lead, Mr. Del Greco said.
“She struck me from the beginning as someone who would not back down from any challenge before her,” he said. “I keep throwing more and more at her, and she hasn’t budged.”
As soon as she found out she won, Brianna texted her mom and sister as well as a close family friend on whom she relies for support and encouragement. Still, she found it hard to believe the news herself.
“It’s insane,” Brianna said, laughing. “When they called my name I thought they were messing with me.”
