Sara Ramirez (left) and Eridania Rodriguez recently received the American Association of University Women Scholarship to attend a national conference.

Two Northern Essex Community College students Sara Ramirez of Haverhill and Eridania Rodriguez of Lawrence, recently received scholarships to attend a national conference of women leaders at the University of Maryland this spring.

Each year the North Shore Area Branch of The American Association of University Women (Massachusetts) awards two scholarships to two local female students so they can attend the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL), according to Tia Roy, Admission & Enrollment Counselor in NECC’s Office of Admission & Enrollment services. Roy, who also serves as communications coordinator for the organization’s state branch, received the scholarship when she was an undergraduate.

“I had an amazing time and therefore brought NECC into the mix of schools the organization reaches out to for possible applicants. That opportunity as an undergrad led me to have the role of communications coordinator for the state organization now.”

This year the conference is May 30 through June 2.

Ramirez, a general studies major at NECC is the liaison for NECC’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance. She also works for Student Life as a work study student and is an orientation leader. Following graduation, she hopes to transfer to either Bridgewater State or UMass Lowell.

“This (scholarship) is an opportunity for me to reach a new level of leadership,” Ramirez said. “To learn what success can look like for me.”

Rodriguez is a liberal arts major at NECC. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, a staff member of NECC’s literary arts magazine Parnassus, a 2017 NECC Writing Award recipient, a member of the PACE program, and a volunteer at the College for a Day event.

“I am really, really excited for the opportunity and I know I am going to learn so much,” Rodriguez said. “I am really excited to learn the tools to become a better person and to help society.”

For additional information on the scholarship, contact Roy at troy@necc.mass.edu, call 978-556-3716 or visit the organization’s website.