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State Officers
State Officer Biographies Brittany Woods is proud to call Apple Valley High School home and is excited to graduate with the class of 2011. Brittany has always had her mind focused on education and plans on obtaining a bachelors degree in Nursing. From there she plans on continuing her education as she follows in her mother’s footsteps to become a nursing professor at a four year university. She also would love to work as a pediatric oncology nurse at City of Hope Helford Clinical Research Hospital. Ever since the third grade Brittany has wanted to pursue the nursing profession. Her passion for healthcare started early and becoming a member of Cal-HOSA has strengthened her passion and given direction to her dream. Along with school and Cal-HOSA, Brittany has been a cheerleader for over ten years. Just like Cal-HOSA, cheerleading is one of her passions. She has cheered for Victorville Pop Warner ,Junior All American, and High Desert Cheer home of the Spirit Athletics which is a competitive all star cheerleading team. She is now a varsity cheerleader at Apple Valley High School. In 2008, Brittany was one of 5 students selected from her school to take part in a program at her local hospital called dscoverE3” (discovery). Through this program she has been able to job shadow current healthcare providers and experience the hospital setting. Brittany loves learning from those around her and especially appreciates opportunities for leadership and growth. She is excited to serve the great state of California and is looking forward to another amazing year of growth for Cal-HOSA. Gurdev Singh Anand, from Yorba Linda, is in his third year as an active California Health Occupations Students of America member and is delighted to have been given the opportunity to serve as a Cal-HOSA state officer. A senior from Esperanza High School, Gurdev manages many extra-curricular activities. He is very involved in his musical lessons as well as his community. In his freshman year at high school, Gurdev was part of Esperanza’s football team until he injured his back. This injury sparked his interest in the medical field. As a sophomore, Gurdev joined Cal-HOSA and ran for president of the chapter. After two years as Esperanza HOSA President, Gurdev looks to stay involved with Esperanza but turn much of his focus to California HOSA. Gurdev loves to get involved with the community whenever he is given the chance. He has been a volunteer at numerous sporting events at his high school as a student who observes the athletic trainer, a career he is interested in. Gurdev is excited to further his education in the medical field, specifically Sports Medicine. Gurdev believes that California HOSA is a wonderful organization that has not only provided him with opportunities to excel in what he want, but has also given him the tools needed to achieve it. Gurdev considers it an honor and a privilege to make a difference in California HOSA. Jessica Tran was elected as a state officer at the 2010 State Leadership Conference. She currently is a junior at Oxford Academy in Cypress, California, where she has been heavily involved with her local HOSA chapter for the past two years. As a board officer for her chapter, she served as Project Chair for one year and as Secretary for the next. Now she is excited to be a state officer who can give back to Cal-HOSA, an organization that has undoubtedly brought her closer to her dream of a future career in healthcare. Jessica currently volunteers at Anaheim Regional Medical Center every week. She became interested in the medical field from an early age after she realized that she wanted to spend her time interacting with people and helping them in the future. Having to wear glasses since childhood, Jessica was inspired after many visits to the optometrist to become an optometrist herself. She enjoys the specialized work of optometry and looks forward to helping people with vision problems in the future. After taking an interest in anatomy and biology classes at her school, she plans to major in biology in college and then attend optometry school in the future. In her free time, Jessica enjoys listening to music, playing tennis, and spending time with her family and friends. She has played piano for many years but is still a beginner at the guitar. She is active in other organizations at her school, including National Honor Society and Key Club. She also enjoys tutoring elementary school students. Jessica is thankful to be part of Cal-HOSA. It has helped increase her knowledge about various aspects of the health field and has provided her with the opportunity to network with others who have similar interests and passions. Jessica became inspired to run for a state officer position after attending the 2009 State Leadership Conference in Sacramento, California. She saw the confidence and charisma that the state officers exhibited on stage and knew that she wanted that experience. She wanted that chance to develop leadership skills and to be a role model to HOSA members all around California. Now Jessica has that chance, and she is grateful for the opportunity to serve others and make a difference. She is excited for her upcoming term and hopes to inspire other Cal-HOSA members to take advantage of the countless opportunities in Cal-HOSA and to make the most out of their experience. Asondra Russell Asondra Russell is very ecstatic to be serving Cal-HOSA as your Representative-at-Large. She is currently attending Palmdale High School where her roots in the health care profession have excelled. This will be her third year as an active member of Cal-HOSA. She is dedicated to working hard and putting her best efforts into Cal-HOSA. Asondra enjoys great experiences, especially when it comes to helping others. In school she is a diligent worker, and loves to be involved with the Health Careers Academy, where she severed as chapter president. Being in the Academy has given her a great opportunity, where she’s had the chance to experience and learn firsthand from health care professionals within the community. At the early age of five, Asondra had already set her eye on the medical field. Through the great support of her family, advisors, and peers she has continued to pursue her career ambitions in the healthcare field. In fact, it was during her job shadowing experience that she the ER was the place she liked to work the most and where she was introduced to the profession of Nurse Practitioner. After she finishes high school she plans to sit for both her MA and EMT, in order to obtain a job at the community hospital, while attending university and then medical school. To Asondra, Cal-HOSA is a family where motivated students show great integrity in their lives and dreams, they all wish to pursue. Asondra is thankful for the opportunities Cal-HOSA has given her. She is excited to see what this year will bring. Kristen Lee, Region I Vice President, resides in the Bay Area and is a junior at Deer Valley High School where she is enjoying her second year in Cal-HOSA. She can often be found broadening her horizons by taking advantage of additional learning opportunities such as guitar and dance lessons. She discovered her passion for child psychology at an early age and is grateful for the assistance that her education and Cal-HOSA experience is providing her in accomplishing her career aspirations. Cal-HOSA is not only an organization but it’s become a part of her lifestyle. She is always willing to lend a helping hand and believes on sending positive messages about health care to her community. In the future, Kristen hopes the people she inspires will be the next healthcare professionals of tomorrow. She’s also looking forward to this exciting year as the Region I Vice President and hopes to meet as many members as possible at the upcoming State Leadership Conference. Mala Thakur, your Region II Vice President, has been involved with Cal-HOSA for over four years at both the Secondary and Post-Secondary levels and is excited to have the opportunity to give back to our great organization. She manages a variety of responsibilities including; service, education, and athletic leadership all while staying connected to Cal-HOSA. Mala loves helping people out whenever she gets a chance. She volunteers at both Shelter Inc. locations whenever she gets the chance. Mala also helps manage a family business where she orders and keeps inventory of groceries. Mala loves interacting with people and especially tutoring fellow classmates. She currently attends Diablo Valley College and has plans to transfer to either UC Davis or UCLA within the year. She is working towards a major in biochemistry and is focused on pursuing her dream of becoming a pediatrician. As for having a friendly competitive spirit, Mala won the bronze medal for the Career Health Display Board at the State Leadership Conference in 2009. Cal-HOSA has not only taught Mala great leadership skills, but also has provided her a better knowledge of the medical field. She is thankful for the change Cal-HOSA has brought into her life and hopes it will do the same for many others. Rhiana Mitchell is happy to be serving Cal-HOSA as Region III Vice-President. A senior at Palmdale High School, she is grateful for the opportunity to participate in all that high school has to offer. Through her experiences in Cal-HOSA she has found a place to expand her passion for animal health as well as leadership. Constantly moving around at a young age, Rhiana was unsure if she would ever have the opportunity to settle down at one school. When a chance came at the end of 8th grade to live with friends of her family and attend four years at Palmdale High, she excitedly accepted. However, for the first little while she continued to struggle with deciding who she wanted to be and what she really wanted to do with her life. She knew she had a desire to help animals and when she joined the Health Careers Academy at Palmdale High School she finally knew she had found a path to fulfill her dreams. As a senior, Rhiana has become a very active member at her school in the College Club, track and field, cross country, and the Cal-HOSA organization. She is also currently working on her internship at the Palmdale Veterinary Hospital. Rhiana also took advantage of leadership opportunities that came her way in Cal-HOSA and even though they caused her to stretch she is grateful for the chance to excel. She has been a part of Cal-HOSA for two years now and last year she had the honor of serving as president for her chapter. She also ran for state office but was not elected at first. However, this didn’t stop her from trying again and in the fall of 2009 she achieved her goal of serving as a state officer. Rhiana has worked hard and loves that she has the chance to give back to Cal-HOSA and serve her friends, the members. Rhiana strives to excel in her current position and will definitely continue in Cal-HOSA when going off to college as a post-secondary officer next fall. A junior at Oxford Academy, Vicky Yu serves as Cal-HOSA Region IV Vice President. She has been an active chapter member of Cal-HOSA for three years, held the position of Historian last year, and is currently Treasurer. At school, she is active in many other associations and clubs as well, including Key Club, Red Cross, and National Honor Society. She has been playing violin in her school’s symphony orchestra for four years and participated in the Orange County Junior Orchestra for one. In her community, Vicky volunteers an average of four hours a week at her local library and senior center. In her free time, Vicky enjoys playing the violin and listening to alternative rock and electronic pop music. She is also an avid watcher of the medical drama TV show House, M.D., which was instrumental in furthering her love for all things in the health field. Incredibly ambitious, she aims to major in biology, having a special interest in pathology. Being active in Cal-HOSA has helped her gain knowledge of pathology and other fields of medicine. Cal-HOSA’s 2009 State Leadership Conference in Sacramento inspired her to run for Region Vice-President with its high level of professionalism, enthusiasm, and dedication. She believes the organization is a great way for students with similar interests to connect and share ideas, as well as develop leadership skills to become a better role model in their communities. To Vicky, Cal-HOSA represents not only the dreams of ambitious students, but as a way for them to attain their dreams, whether it may be as a surgeon, lab technician, or optometrist. Vicky is excited for the upcoming year and is grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in Cal-HOSA. Sonilie Kay Cano Proudly serving as your Post-Secondary Representative is Sonilie Kay Cano. She is a very family-oriented individual who likes to take on educational challenges to further her career in medicine. Sonilie comes from a big family and family means everything to her. She enjoys spending time with them even if it’s just a random Sunday having game night or watching movies. She has two older sisters, the oldest who is Down Syndrome. Having a sister who is born Down Syndrome and who was recently diagnosed with Lupus, her primary specialty she would like focus on is neonatal care. Sonilie graduated a year early at Richard Gahr High School in Cerritos, California class of 2007 with honors. She is currently in her third year of college as a full-time student at California State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California and additional to that she is also taking classes at Southeast ROP. In pursuing a career in medicine, Sonilie is majoring in biology in plans of continuing on to medical school. Already having her foot in the medical field she is currently working two jobs, one as a Medical Assistant at F.O.R.M.A. in Costa Mesa, CA and as a nursery caretaker at Good Shepherd Church in Los Alimitos, CA. Last year, Sonilie competed for the very first time at the State Leadership Conference in Medical Reading and was awarded the gold medal. She then went on to receive a silver medal in the same competition at the National Leadership Conference last summer. Sonilie is thankful for the endless opportunities that Cal-HOSA has brought to her. She is especially thankful for her advisor, Ms. Billie Jo Espitia, for convincing her to join this great organization and providing constant support and leadership. |
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