2024 Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship: Ten Years Remembered
This spring, it will have been five years since the creation of The Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship, the eponymous scholarship that I founded in my mother’s loving memory (1952-2014). This May will mark 10 years since her passing — a decade that has been both reflective and transformative, not just for me but for all whose lives have been touched by my mother’s legacy. Patricia’s spirit of compassion and generosity continues to live on and inspire others, even so long after her departure. I welcome you to read more about my mother’s life and enduring impact in my inaugural PLV Scholarship post.
Last March, my mother’s mother Irene Vermeulen passed away at 104 years of age after a 15-year battle with severe dementia, having outlived her daughter by nearly a decade. My sister collected and digitized old photographs and periodicals that were stored in our grandmother’s garage. This priceless trove of family artifacts turned up long-forgotten photos of our mother and her family, as well as an unexpectedly moving piece written in memory of my great-great-grandmother Leonie Callens, a stalwart, business-savvy immigrant from Belgium who cared for her four sons and daughter as a widow upon her husband’s early demise. Leonie made a living by importing Belgian work horses to Southern California farms and even a founded a bank at around the turn of the 20th century.
In the heart of every initiative I’ve embarked on in my mother’s name, there lies a truth, beautifully encapsulated in a quote I discovered at the end of Leonie’s obituary:
Vain is any attempt to measure the loss of a mother to her children; after all the poets have sung and lovers dreamed, outside of heaven there is no love like mother-love.
This sentiment resonates deeply with the foundation of the PLV Scholarship, a tribute not just to my mother Patricia, but to the indomitable spirit of mother-love that she embodied — a love that nurtures, empowers, and invests in the potential of others. My mother was a proponent of higher education, of its power to enrich lives and ultimately change the world. This renders a scholarship a particularly appropriate cause for her to align with. I remember her telling me with humorous sincerity that I was a good “investment”; the investment has now expanded beyond myself to many other young women and men who are poised to leave their own mark on the world. Each scholarship awarded is a testament to the ripple effect of education as well as the love inherent in giving, igniting a chain of positive change that extends far beyond its immediate reach.
It is in this spirit that I commence the 2024 scholarship season. The PLV Scholarship is open to graduating high school seniors who have persevered through personal hardship that has shaped or transformed them in some meaningful way, whether that be by cultivating greater empathy and respect for others, inspiring them to take up the fight for a worthwhile cause, or influencing their future career plans.
Since 2021, this scholarship has been completely self-funded. Anyone who wishes to contribute can email me at plvscholarship@gmail.com. Please note that while your donation is not tax-deductible, you can rest assured that 100% of your donation will go directly to the scholarship winner (to be added to the current $1500 prize).
Details, Documents & Deadlines
The PLV Scholarship application deadline: Monday, April 29, 2024
Recipient will be notified by: Friday, June 7, 2024
Please send all application materials and any inquiries you may have to plvscholarship@gmail.com. Many thanks for your interest in the 2024 PLV Scholarship, and best of luck to those who apply!
