Peconic Bay Zonta members Diane Greenberg (left) and Liala Strotman joined Ramirez at Suffolk County Community College, where she successfully completed level 3 of the school’s English as a Second Language program (ESL). The local Zonta group awards the scholarship biannually to a student in the ESL program who is studying to achieve an educational goal.
Born in Ecuador, Ramirez came to the U.S. as a teenager and completed high school locally. Currently, her dream is to attend college. She said, “I enrolled in the ESL program because after being in this country for 26 years and working hard to put my three children through college, it’s finally my turn to go back to school.”
Ramirez, a single mother whose children are now age 26, 21 and 18, currently employs three people in a company she started called Wilma’s Cleaning Service Corporation. While she is proud of her accomplishments so far, she is motivated to improve her skills. “I want to better myself, not only for me but to show my children that you can set goals and achieve them at any point in life," said Ramirez.
Peconic Bay Zonta covers the East End of Long Island and is affiliated with Zonta International, which works to empower women around the world through service and advocacy.
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