Congratulations to first year DPT Student, Steve Witchoskey for receiving the Claudette Finley Scholarship Award! Students selected for this award are done so by the faculty teaching anatomy and are based on criteria including excellence as a student in anatomy courses, willingness to teach others, demonstrated financial need, and participation in campus and/or community activities.
Steven Witchoskey
What inspired you to apply for this award?Â
After reading into who Ms. Finley was and the huge impact she has had on hundreds of working clinicians and what the award stood for, I was inspired. I pride myself on taking opportunities to do right by others and putting my own personal goals aside to help fellow classmates in creating the most optimal time together during our 3-year program!
What did you enjoy most about your anatomy course?Â
One of the reasons I wanted to be a physical therapist was because of my immense interest in the unbelievably complex study that is anatomy. Being able to learn from some classmates and help teach others was an amazing experience and overall helped each of us have success in the course.Â
In what ways were you able to demonstrate leadership among your peers in the program?
So far, I have been able to help provide my classmates with opportunities in pediatric volunteering, connected half of our class with physical therapy mentors already in the profession, made sure our class had a 100% flu shot vaccination, helped form all 15 of our program’s student committees paired with appointed leaders, and organized a professional headshot picture day, amongst other events. It was my commitment that I vocalized to my classmates when I was elected that I wanted to be a vessel for my cohort to help amplify their voice
What would you like to say to the donors of this scholarship?
After doing some research on Ms. Finley, I hope she is still thoroughly enjoying her scuba diving! The legacy she left after retirement still lives on in our program and I’m unbelievably grateful to accept this award in ode to her commitment to UF DPT.