The Georgia Lee Metcalfe Memorial Scholarship is for students interested mental health issues who plan to pursue a career in mental health upon graduation.
Eligibility criteria
- Demonstrate financial need (complete a FAFSA for the current academic year).
- Enrolled full-time in the occupational therapy curriculum.
- Student must have demonstrated interest in mental health during their academic career with an interest to pursue mental health upon graduation. Interest will be expressed in a one-page essay. See examples of "demonstrated interest" below.
- Second year occupational therapy student.
- Minimum of a 3.3 GPA.
Deadline
- March 1
Award
- Amount varies
- Award will be credited directly to the recipient's student account in two distributions:
- First distribution in the fall academic semester
- Second distribution during the subsequent semester
Application instructions
Please include the following documents with your application:
- Proof of interest in mental health area
One-page essay should include examples of student's "demonstrated interest" in mental health practice.
- Volunteer experience.
- Scholarly works including research papers, professional posters, presentations, etc.
- Letters of recommendation/reference from people in the mental health field.
- Description of plan to practice in mental health upon graduation.
Submit your application electronically by completing the Google Form:
GEORGIA LEE METCALFE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Donor STORY
Georgia Lee Metcalfe enjoyed working with people. "She actually lived her job," says her mother Vera Metcalfe. "That's one of the reasons she got into occupational therapy."
Georgia Metcalfe was a certified teacher and earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science from Grand Valley State University. For a time, she traveled to Wisconsin and other states, working with a parks program. Soon, however, she discovered that her greatest pleasure came from working with people.
Following that proclivity, she decided to pursue a degree in occupational therapy through a correspondence course offered by WMU. In 1988, she returned to WMU's Kalamazoo campus and completed her master's degree in OT there.
Georgia Metcalfe began her OT career at Three Rivers Hospital, where she demonstrated her gift for helping transform people's lives from broken to whole. "She helped one young man who was totally incapacitated, and worked with him until he was able to move into his own apartment," her mother recalled. "She would figure out how she could help people by using her skills to reconfigure equipment, which made life easier for her clients."
Georgia Metcalfe passed away in 2007, leaving a legacy of caring and dedication among all of those whose lives she touched, especially her husband, Bob Davidson. She also lives on in the Georgia Lee Metcalfe Endowed Scholarship, established by her mother in 2010 to memorialize her daughter and the spirit of her work.
"We were very close," says Vera Metcalfe, "and I thought a scholarship might be something Georgia would approve of because she liked the work so well." She adds, "I would hope that it would go to someone who was dedicated to the field of OT and needed funds to help them along."