When the American Association of Community Colleges holds its 89th annual convention in Phoenix, Arizona, from April 4-6, Norwalk Community College will have bragging rights.
NCC student Maria Gomez and NCC alumnus Rodolfo Rodriguez will each receive a national award at the convention.
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is the primary advocacy organization for the nation's community colleges. The association represents almost 1,200 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and more than 11 million students.
Maria Gomez 2009 New Century Scholar
Gomez has been named a New Century Scholar and will be honored as Connecticut’s top scholar from a community college. She has received a scholarship for a year’s tuition at NCC.
In partnership with Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges, AACC selected the top student in each of the 50 states to represent his/or her state as the 2009 New Century Scholar. Winners were chosen on the basis of their leadership, community service and academic ability.
Gomez is a Norwalk resident. She will represent Connecticut at the AACC convention’s opening ceremonies on April 4, 2009.
Gomez is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of others. “You are in the world to change it,” she says. She is a member of the NCC Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa and was the founder of the Norwalk Community College Music Club.
“Feeling sorry for the young teenage mother or the Panamanian orphan isn’t going to impact her/his situation. However, if you take the time to listen and help her out with her grocery bills or play with the child or bring him food and toys, that is doing something, that is changing someone(s) life,” she says. “I have learned that community service is probably one of the most healthy actions in the world.”
During the past year, Gomez has volunteered on Friday nights at Younglife, an organization that assists teenage mothers. She babysits the children, provides tutoring and helps the young mothers apply for federal assistance. On Saturday nights, she volunteers at the Bridgeport Mission Soup Kitchen. On Sundays, she does leadership training with young girls through a New Canaan High School program. Once a month she distributes donated food to the hungry with the Bowery Mission mobile soup kitchen. Gomez also volunteers with a YMCA program for special needs children and provides administrative support for the International Humanity Foundation.
She will graduate from NCC in May with an associate degree in Liberal Arts. She plans to transfer to a four-year college or university and study Russian literature.
Rodolfo Rodriguez 2009 Outstanding Alumni Award
Rodolfo Rodriguez (NCC Class of 1978) will be honored at the AACC’s convention with the 2009 Outstanding Alumni Award. He is one of only five winners to be chosen from thousands of nominees nationwide. The award will be given at the convention’s gala dinner on April 5, 2009.
The award is given annually to former students from community colleges who are making outstanding contributions in their chosen fields and to their communities. Rodriguez is a formerly impoverished Colombian immigrant who used his Norwalk Community College education as a springboard to a better life.
He is founder and president of Open Hearts, Open Doors, a non-profit organization that has provided support to poor children with life-threatening illnesses from more than 25 countries He shares his good fortune by bringing sick children from Third World countries to American hospitals for free medical treatment.
In his spare time, the 56-year-old from Riverside, Conn., arranges for children with diseases and deformities to get free transportation to the U.S. He also finds host families for them to live with during their recovery.
