By University Relations
Elizabeth Shaffer, Ringwood senior, is the fall 2018 recipient of the Dr. Dorothy Day Spanish Scholarship from the
Northwestern Oklahoma State University Spanish program.
Shaffer is majoring in biology with a psychology minor and has 12 hours in Spanish. She plans to attend professional school in
Oklahoma or Kansas to become an occupational therapist, and her goal is to be fluent in Spanish so she can help treat Spanish-speaking patients in northwest Oklahoma.
Shaffer said she first became interested in the field of occupational therapy when a friend went through this type of therapy following a car accident. At that time she determined she wanted to be the person who could help others.
Day, who is the founder of Northwestern’s Spanish program and the person for whom this scholarship honors, began her career at Northwestern in 1988. She was initially hired to teach foreign language and English, but she began the formalized Spanish program in the fall of 2001. She retired in 2003.
To be eligible for this scholarship, students must be full-time continuing Spanish students with a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average. Applicants must be Spanish minors who have completed three semesters of Spanish coursework. The scholarship may be applied toward university-related expenses, such as tuition, fees, room, board or books.