Class of 2011 Awards
Every year the UW-L Occupational Therapy Program recognizes students who have distinguished themselves throughout the program. The award winners were announced at the Student Recognition Ceremony on December 17, 2011.
2011 Award Winners (from left to right): Kayla Johnson, Carrie Einck and Jessica Mayer
Academic Achievement Award:
Jessica Mayer
This award is to recognize excellence in academic achievement in
the graduate occupational therapy program.
It is given to students who have demonstrated the ability
to set a high bar for their own academic performance, and then
meet or exceed that bar without fail.
It recognizes hard work, consistency in effort, and
ownership of one’s own learning.
Please
note: this award is not only about grade point average.
It is also about curiosity, maintaining a “best effort”,
taking charge of one’s own learning, and serving as a role model
in pushing others to learn.
This
student seemed to have a natural ability to take information
from one class and apply it in many of her
other classes.
She was able to mix science with art and see the big
picture of occupational therapy.
In addition, she eagerly would take her school projects
to the next level.
For example, in a clinical lab course she was able to take the
research literature, theory, and her past experiences and apply
that to a client.
From there, she was excited about sharing this experience with
others and was even accepted to present this project at the
national level. Her
curiosity, intelligence, ability to go above and beyond, and her
ability to see “occupation” in so many ways, serves as an
example and role model.
It is with warm regards that we give this year’s Academic
Excellence award to Jess Mayer.
Congratulations, Jess!
Leadership Award:
Kayla Johnson
Throughout the Occupational Therapy graduate program, students
learn about the importance of leadership and advocacy—not only
for patients but also for our profession.
We discuss what it means to be a leader and we have
concluded, a leader is someone who is assertive, generous,
supportive AND who brings out the best in others.
Although we believe that all of our students have strong
leadership abilities, we would like to recognize one student in
particular who has demonstrated leadership excellence through
our academic program and participation in the Student
Occupational Therapy Association.
Kayla Johnson was our 2010-2011 SOTA president; helping to
organize, support and coordinate many programs throughout the
school year. (And
there were several!!)
Additionally, she was the AOTA Student Delegate during
her first year of graduate school, representing her peers and
UW-L at American Occupational Therapy national conference.
Kayla’s organizational skills, energy, positive attitude and
willingness to take charge led us to choose Kayla as this year’s
recipient of the Leadership Award.
Congratulations, Kayla!
Spirit of OT Award:
Carrie Einck
The Spirit of UW-L Award is given to the
student who embodies the values of UW-L Occupational Therapy
Program, and has made a demonstrable effort to apply them in
his/her life. This
particular student had a strong work ethic.
She had an ability to put her nose to the grindstone, and
get ‘er done – and usually with a smile.
In my coursework with her, I saw her consistently ask
questions beyond the obvious:
why would a
client behave this way or that?
What is really
going on? She seemed
to ask the deeper questions.
She was creative in figuring out adaptive ways to
approach a task, or in organizing the task at hand to make it
easier to complete.
She seemed to approach a problem from a more holistic aspect,
asking first what might be beneficial for the client.
For
her strong work ethic, her over-all positive attitude, and her
attention to the client-centered and occupational aspects of
engagement, this year’s award goes to Carrie Einck.
Congratulations, Carrie!