Last week was the HOSA International Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas, and it was an experience of a lifetime. There were a total of 54 nations ranging from Alaska to Georgia to Puerto Rico that made it there. Though with these many nations the competition was tough, we still pulled through to have a great time.

When we got there on Tuesday, we all were in the hotel relaxing and getting ready for the competitions, which for some were starting the next day.

On Wednesday, we had the opening ceremony at night, but before that, we made our way to the convention center that morning and discovered the pins. These pins were from every place where the convention was being held. We each started with seven one-of-a-kind Georgia pins which we picked up right before, and we eventually traded for pins from other places, like California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Although pins were not the only highlight of this trip, they were a part of it.

The opening ceremony took place that night, there we saw two amazing guest speakers: Dr. Rick Rigsby and Vice Admiral M. Adams (U.S. Surgeon General). These two speakers taught me so much with their true stories and experiences mixed with advice, motivation, and inspiration.

After the opening ceremony, we all headed back to the hotel and started for the excitement of competition day for many and Medieval Times that night. That morning and afternoon, we all were kind of running around and wishing each other luck for the competitions, but at night, we went to see the knights and horses. After the show, we went back to the hotel, and Friday there was a busy day.

Some people were finishing off their competitions in the morning, but by the afternoon, there was a lot planned. First, we had dinner at this Mexican restaurant. Then we went to an award ceremony to cheer on those of our school winners. The last thing we did that night was pretty exciting; we went to a hypnotist show! He not only told us about his skills, but he showed them to us. It was pretty cool even though it did not work for many people. The special few it did work for gave the others an experience that the would not forget.

Saturday was our last full day for this trip, and that was actually a very adventurous one. We got up nice and early in order to go to the Rainforest Aquarium. There were many unique animals there that seemed to be pretty free. There were fishes from all over the world, flamingos, sharks and even a sloth! After we said our goodbyes to the wildlife, we made our way to the JFK museum. There we learned and saw where his assassination took place. We learned of him and all about his life. It was quite informative to see. After that. we all went for lunch and headed back to the hotel for a few relaxing hours before our award ceremony.

At the award ceremony, we cheered for all our fellow Georgians, but we also cheered extra loud for the top 10 people in the competitions from our school. Altogether, we had three people, two who made it to the top 10. and one who was third in the competition.

However, the night was not over yet, we still had the silent disco to attend! Yes, the theme seems quite absurd, but it was actually quite fun. The experience included receiving headphone with three different channels where we could choose what we wanted to listen to. That is definitely an experience I do not think anyone will forget. The clock then struck midnight, and we had to head back to the hotel, but our train was late, and the waiting at the station turned into a karaoke twist with our school and others joining us.

Overall this trip was an amzing one, with all the new people I met to the experiences I witnessed. However, before I close the book on this story there are a few people that made this a trip of a lifetime.

First, a big thank you to Nathaniel Alemayehu and Mohnish Mistry for letting me join your team. If not for you, then I would have not even been able to come on this trip!

Next to Anuhya Kanchibhatla, Sripriya Srinivas and Anushka Koratana, you were the best roommates a person could ask for.

On to Aditi Vellore, Shreya Dhupam, Niha Reddy, Simrita Jesthi, Sanjeev Kumar and Mohit Singh, it was wonderful getting to know you all, and I hope we get to continue to talk in the future!

To Melinda Gong, Aisha Rallabhandy, Nikhita Joshi, Esha Saini, Patrick Wang, Arnav Kabra and Madhav Premanand, it was great being with you all again!

Lastly, I would like to thank the amazing chaperons that went with us on this trip, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Bingham. Without the both of you none of us would have been able to even go to Dallas.

From the singing to the dancing to the eating, everything during my trip was perfect because of these amazing people!