Winning the Mary Kasch Scholarship is an incredible honor, and I am deeply grateful to HTCC, ASHT, and AHTF for this recognition and support. This scholarship represents far more than financial assistance; it reflects an investment in continued professional growth and a shared commitment to excellence within the hand therapy community. Being selected for an award that honors Mary Kasch’s legacy of clinical excellence, education, and mentorship is both humbling and deeply meaningful to me.
As a travel occupational therapist, I worked across a wide variety of practice settings, which strengthened my adaptability, broadened my clinical perspective, and sharpened my clinical reasoning. While these experiences were invaluable, I always knew that I would ultimately bring my career back to hand therapy. That clarity led me to complete a hand therapy fellowship with Stanford Health Care, where my commitment to this specialty was further solidified through mentorship, advanced clinical training, and exposure to complex upper extremity conditions. Even so, pursuing my goal of becoming a CHT was a significant undertaking, requiring substantial academic preparation and financial investment, which is why I applied for the Mary Kasch Scholarship.
The Mary Kasch Scholarship gave me the financial support to continue building on this foundation. I am proud to share that I successfully passed the CHT exam this fall, a milestone that would not have been possible without this support. As I continue to grow professionally over the years, I hope to transition into a mentoring role for future hand therapists, just as I have been mentored by so many. I am honored to be a recipient of the Mary Kasch Scholarship and proud to be part of ASHT, and I am committed to contributing to the field with the same spirit of curiosity, generosity, and dedication that this award represents.
The deadline to apply for the 2026 scholarship is March 1, 2026. Please note: The candidate for this year's scholarship must be planning to sit for the November 2026 or May 2027 examination.