Friday, March 25, 2016

WC People: Meet Melody Gregory

WC People is an ongoing series of profiles of residents, staff, volunteers and others associated with Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay. Our community brings together men and women from all walks of life with amazing stories to tell. We are proud to share them with you.

Melody Gregory, 19, dreams of becoming an occupational therapist.

As a sophomore at Virginia Tech, she’s involved in a number of activities to help her reach her goal. She’s not only a member of the pre-health fraternity and the pre-occupational therapy club, but, she’s part of the College Mentors for Kids program. As part of this program she was paired with Michael, a student from a local elementary school who she spends time with every Monday afternoon. The program is intended to help Michael and his peers understand the importance of education, show them the benefits to cultural understanding and teach them ways to give back to their community.

Melody with her “little buddy,” Michael.
The mentorship program is extra special to Melody because she knows she would never have become a Hokie without the help she received along the way.

Melody is part of the first generation in her family to attend college. Both Melody and her father work at Westminster-Canterbury, making her eligible to for the Employee Scholarship Fund through the Westminster-Canterbury Foundation. The fund has been in existence since the inception of the Foundation in 1992 and typically awards between $50,000 and $60,000 each year to those employees and their children that apply.

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to go away to school without this scholarship,” Melody says. “This has allowed me to explore a better future for myself, and I’m so grateful for the experience.”

In between her schoolwork, extracurricular activities and working as a member of the waitstaff at WC on school breaks, Melody has already been researching different options for grad school so she can become an occupational therapist.

“It’s crazy that I thought I wasn’t going away to school and now I’m researching graduate programs,” Melody added.

Melody’s father, Larry, who has worked in maintenance at Westminster-Canterbury for 14  years, couldn’t be more proud of his daughter.

Melody taking a selfie with her dad.
"The Westminster scholarship foundation is an excellent program that offers employees or their family members an opportunity to further their education.  I am extremely proud of Melody for striving to achieve her goals and the accomplishments she has made."