In 1881, its founding women started the American Association of University Women (AAUW) with a purpose of advancing equity for women using advocacy, encouraging education and by financing research. Our branch has supported the AAUW founders in our community by offering scholarships to Century College graduates continuing their education towards a four-year degree. In the past we sought women recipients who demonstrated academic excellence and a financial need. With the changing times, going forward, we seek candidates who demonstrate academic excellence and a desire to help humankind.
Scholarship Awards to Century College Graduates
The AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship has provided support and funds since 1979 to a Century College graduate pursuing a four-year degree.
The AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship, endowed in 2016 by branch member Nancy Hendrickson, is awarded annually to a Century College graduate pursuing a four-year degree. Nancy’s heart was with advancing women to provide the support she did not receive as a young woman herself. With societal changes, we know she would support expanding the potential candidate list.
Due to privacy concerns beginning 2021, we will only be posting the recipients’ names.
The following are some of the most recent scholarship recipients:
2022-2023 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Mohammad Al Nadaf is the seventh recipient of this scholarship.
2021-2022 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Christina Garcia-Deleon is the sixth recipient of this scholarship.
2021-2022 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Amberly Newquist is the recipient of this scholarship.
2020-2021 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Tien Kim Nguyen the fifth recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship. Tien completed her work at Century College in the spring of 2020 and has gone on to the University of St Thomas to major in computer science. Tien’s goal is to complete her bachelor’s degree and continue on to get a master’s degree.
Tien was motivated by the AAUW NE Metro scholarship to complete her bachelor’s degree and pursue her dream career as a software developer. Tien has expressed gratitude for her mother’s inspiration and help in pursuing a college degree. Tien hopes that she herself will be an inspiration to other female students, especially in the STEM fields. She looks forward to being able to utilize her knowledge to help the community and her home country of Vietnam.
2020-2021 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Lovelyn Osaji is the recipient this year of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship. Lovelyn completed her Accounting Clerk Certificate and the transfer requirements for the University of Minnesota at Century College in the spring of 2020 and has gone on to the Carlson School of Management to pursue her bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
After her family left Nigeria and settled in America, Lovelyn watched her parents struggle to put food on the table and realized early on that education was the way out of poverty. She made a promise to herself to get a college degree and help her family. Despite her obligation to her own two children and her family back home, Lovelyn maintained a GPA of 3.94 at Century. Lovelyn hopes to graduate by 2023 and be a role model to her children that they can achieve whatever they set their minds to.
2019-2020 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Jalizbeth Dominguez-Matheis is the fourth recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship. In the Spring of 2019, she graduated with a Liberal Arts and Sciences, AA degree from Century College with plans to continue her education.
During her interview when asked what inspired her to pursue higher education, Jalizbeth stated, “My parents always instilled in me a sense of gratitude towards education and what it could lead to.” In elementary and high school, Jalizbeth felt like she “wasn’t cut out for school.” She did not believe she would be able to get into a college, but her parents were “inspirational influencers” in her life. Her parents went through financial hardships working multiple jobs, supporting their extended families back home while providing Jalizbeth and her brother with everything necessary to continue their education. She knows they want her to have a better life. Continuing her education in college, she “… feels like (she is) carrying their dreams and goals with (her) to the finish line.”
Jalizbeth plans to attend Augsburg University in the fall of 2019. Her goal is to attain a BS degree in Marketing, with a minor in either International Relations or Advertising. She hopes someday to help others achieve their degrees as AAUW Northeast Metro Branch has helped her.
2019-2020 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Salwa Farag is the recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship. She took prerequisite courses at Century College in the field of nutrition. She completed the program in the spring of 2019.
In the fall of 2019, Salwa plans to attend the University of Minnesota, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences through the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. She has not declared which of the three tracks in the Nutrition major she will pursue. She will make that decision later. Her educational goal is to become a registered dietitian.
As with many college students, she is busy balancing her time between family, school and life while pursuing her personal plans and accomplishing a four-year degree.
We wish to congratulate Salwa on becoming the recipient of the 2019-2020 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship.
2018 2019 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Rachel Lee Newburry is the third recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship. She graduated from Century College in May where she earned a Human Services degree accompanied by Capstone Certificates in Communication, Gender Studies and Leadership. Rachel is pursuing a triple major in Psychology; Human Behavior, Gender Studies and Relations, and Communications at Metropolitan State University. She looks forward to graduating in 2020 and beginning research and internships in Human Behavior, Sexual Health, and Communication. Active in the community, she is a Second Harvest volunteer and an ally for the LGBTQ+ community. She is grateful for her scholarship. Rachel is also the proud single mother of a sixteen-year-old daughter.
2018-2019 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Qer Lee is the recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship which will enable her to pursue a four-year degree. Qer Lee graduated from Century College in May with a dual degree in computer science and computer information systems. She is enrolled at the University of Minnesota starting in the fall. She will be studying computer science and is interested in software development. Qer praised Century College and is grateful that receiving the scholarship will allow her to spend more time studying. She is the first in her family to pursue a four-year degree.
2017-2018 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Maria Lupita Reyes is the second recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship. She was born in Reedley, CA and came to Minnesota as a 3 year old. She graduated from Park High School in Cottage Grove. She said that while in high school an EL (English Learner) teacher really helped her to develop her confidence and encouraged her to aspire to higher education.
After completing her summer studies at Century she will graduate in August and go to the University of Wisconsin of River Falls in September where she will study to become an elementary school teacher. In middle school she realized that she wanted to become a teacher and return to the area where she grew up and teach. One of her most important goals is to gain more public speaking skills. She also wants to gain the ability to be able to help students in the EL classes. Maria was involved in the AVID tutoring program in the South Washington middle schools, which helps students develop skills that will help them to be successful in their studies. At Century she was involved with Movimiento Latino which welcomes all students who are interested in learning about the Latino culture. She was active in the Multicultural Student Center where all students can gather, make friends and ask for help, if needed. She stated that over the past two years she has worked hard to achieve her goals and will continue to do so at River Falls. She has a cumulative GPA of 3.83 and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Maria is fluent in Spanish thanks to the continued teaching of her grandfather and spending 6th grade in Mexico with her grandparents. Her grandparents now live in the Twin City area. She has a part time job translating information into Spanish for an area plastics company.
We extend our congratulations to her on being the 2017-2018 AAUW Northeast Metro Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship recipient and wish her success in her future.
2017-2018 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Mariah Sletten is the recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship. She graduated from Perpich Arts High School where she developed skills specifically in the areas of ceramics and drawing.
Century awarded her a Creative Writing Certificate which she plans on pursuing in the future. She will enroll at Metro State in the fall where she will study professional writing concentrating on editing. Since she is financially responsible for her living expenses her classes will be mainly on-line as she will have to work many hours.
Mariah currently works at the Minnesota Sword Club where she acts as manager and takes care of membership and orders. The club includes fencing and long sword fighting as well as Historic European Marshal Arts (HEMA).
During the summer she is involved with the Renaissance Fair in Glenwood, WI where she helps friends with their craft booth. This year she and her mother will have a booth selling bread with their homemade compound butter.
We wish to congratulate Mariah on being the 2017-2018 AAUW Northeast Branch scholarship recipient and wish her a very successful future.
2016-2017 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship
Ruth Meza is the first recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship. She is a second-generation immigrant – her father from Mexico and mother from El Salvador. She is truly bilingual as her mother insisted she perfect her English before learning Spanish.
At 15 she had a son and became fully independent. Her son became the impetus that helped her overcome many obstacles. She attended AGAPE-a high school for teen mothers, which also included parenting classes. She completed her senior year in three months graduating right on time.
Century College gave her new hope, opening doors of opportunities she hadn’t considered for years. As a full time student averaging 12-16 hours per semester she maintained a 3.75 GPA. At Century she was involved in “Movimiento Latino”, Multicultural Center, and a member of the National Honor Society Phi Theta Kappa.
She is a youth pastor at her church-Iglesia Apostolica Altar Familia – with special emphasis on young mothers. She has part-time employment, is a mother to her son and nephew of whom she has custody.
Ruth is the first of her family to graduate from high school, and the first to go to college. She has been accepted at the University of Minnesota, School of Psychology program in the fall, where she plans to pursue her undergraduate degree and continue on for a masters and a doctorate.
Our branch is very pleased to see the first annual AAUW Northeast Metro-Nancy Jo Hendrickson Legacy Scholarship be awarded to Ruth Meza.
2016-2017 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Kelly is the recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship. She graduated spring 2016 from Century College with an AA degree, and with the honor of Phi Theta Kappa membership.
She is attending Bemidji State pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice, with an emphasis in Victimology. Having already completed 8 summer credits she is currently taking three classes totaling 9 credits. They are Judicial Process Criminology and Delinquency, and Research and Statistics. Kelly’s goal is to work as a victim advocate, helping victims of crime as they make their way through the criminal justice system and obtain social services. We wish her every success in her future.
2015-2016 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Renee Irene Cortez is the recipient of the 2015-16 Scholarship awarded by the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch. Irene, her mother and boyfriend came to the June Salad Supper where she was presented with a certificate representing her award. Renee graduated from Century College this May with an Associate of Arts Degree. In the Fall she will attend Concordia University in St. Paul to pursue a degree in Communications Studies and eventually a Masters in English to teach at the college level.
She was home schooled and attended the YEAH (Youth Educated at Home) program graduating in 2011. She also took classes in the PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Opportunity) at Century. She was chosen as a PSEO representative for recruitment for two years. According to Renee the PSEO program gave her the skills she needed to be successful at Century.
While maintaining a 4.0 GPA at Century she had two jobs: one as a tutor in English, mathematics and communications. The second was as a student ambassador to help new students adjust to the college experience. She also wrote for the Century Times and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa.
Renee believes that her career choice will allow her to make a difference to others as literacy and caring teachers will make a lasting difference in society today. We congratulate Renee on being our 2015-16 Scholarship recipient and wish her
2014-2015 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Morgan Davis was born in Indiana and moved her with her family to Minnesota when she was three. After graduating from Woodbury High School in 2010 she attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for one year planning on studying mathematics. At the beginning of her second year she was diagnosed with leukemia. She had a successful bone marrow transplant and after a two year battle is in complete remission! During this time she decided to become
a veterinarian.
This last year was spent at Century College taking general classes. In the Fall she will be attending the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and will be enrolled in the two year Animal Science program with an emphasis on pre-vet courses, with the aim of attending veterinary school. She has two part time jobs in Woodbury. One as a math tutor at Mathnasium and the other at PetSmart. Our AAUW Branch is delighted to award her this Scholarship and wish her all the best in the future
2013-2014 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Saida Mamdjonova came to Minnesota in 2008 from Tajikistan as an exchange student. Tajikistan is a small mountainous country bordering on northern Afghanistan. Her host family, the Evers, live in Chisago and were teachers at Centennial High School and she attended school there graduating in 2009. She graduated from Century College this June with an AA in Human Studies. While at Century she was very involved in International student activities, the Arabic and Spanish clubs as well as tutoring English and math while maintaining a 4.0 average. This Fall she will be attending the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she will pursue a degree in International Studies and hopes to have a career in the diplomatic corps. She also plans to become proficient in the Arabic and Spanish languages.
There are five daughters in her family and she is the second oldest. One of her younger sisters will be coming to the US this October as an exchange student but as yet Saida does not know where she will be located. Her father is a hydro-electrical engineer who currently works in Afghanistan on a dam building site. Her mother has a masters degree in mathematics from
Moscow and is a teacher.
Everyone who attended the Salad Supper enjoyed meeting Saida and talking with her. She answered questions about her country and it is hoped that she might be able to come to one of our meetings to tell us more.
2012-2013 AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship
Briana Thomas is the 2012-13 recipient of the AAUW Northeast Metro Branch Scholarship. The scholarship is offered yearly to a female Century College student who is going on to a four-year college or university. Briana will be attending the University of Minnesota Duluth this fall where she plans to pursue a degree in Communications and Journalism.
Born in Woodbridge, Virginia, her family moved to Minnesota when she was a young child. She graduated from Mahtomedi High School where in her junior and senior years she was very active in theater, especially at the Maplewood Community Center. At Century she was involved in the theater, the fitness center, the Planning Activity Committee, and the newspaper. She was also in a work-study program, working three days a week in Career Services where she typed as well as completed other projects asked of her. During this time she also worked part-time for the Presbyterian Homes as a food server.Briana says that she likes to work with people, especially children. In her spare time she likes listening to music, singing, and knitting. We wish her success and happiness in the future.