The Mickey McDowell Scholarship will be awarded to a student continuing on to a four year university, community college, technical school, or vocational school who has demonstrated/documented overcoming challenges and/or adversity. Your submissions will remain confidential with the Ruritan Club Scholarship Committee. We are looking to benefit those students that have had difficult or challenging experiences in their lives of which there are so many. Here are some examples that are not intended to be exclusive in any manner – caring for a parent, sibling or grandparent; overcoming a difficult medical or therapeutic diagnosis; loss of employment and/or death in the family; and circumstances that made your academic goals more difficult to achieve.