New York Women in Communications announces Matrix scholarship winners

New York Women in Communications, Inc. is the premier organization for communications professionals in the New York metropolitan area.

The membership represents all facets of the communications industry, including print, broadcast and online journalism, public relations, marketing, corporate communications, advertising, digital media and book publishing. Membership is made up of students, professionals at entry levels, mid-career stages and top management, as well as growing numbers of entrepreneurs.

NYWIC recently honored their latest Matrix scholarship winners and two SUNY students were among the honorees. We had the opportunity to ask them about their awards and how the scholarship will change their college careers and hopes for the future.

Alexandra Carmichael, a senior at Binghamton University had this to share:

Thank you for your congratulations! I would be happy to tell you about winning the scholarship. When I first applied to the New York Women in Communications Scholarship, I thought it was just another organization that helped to fund your tuition. It is so much more than that. The woman who chose me for the scholarship and is giving me the money, Catherine Carlozzi, is also now my mentor. She works in communications and will give me advice and contacts over the next few years as I graduate and search for a job. I can ask her anything.

In addition to the scholarship money and mentor, the winners also got amazing style sessions at The Limited to help us get a brand new, professional wardrobe. Looking professional for an internship or job interview can be expensive, so this was a great help. The Matrix Awards ceremony was also a great opportunity to network with influential women I would never have gotten the chance to meet. I was able to introduce myself to women with top positions in different magazines that I am aspiring to write for. I also got to meet Glenn Close, Ann Curry and Meredith Vieira, which was amazing. They gave me such inspiring advice that I really feel like I can do anything I set my mind to.

Overall, this scholarship is life changing for me and my family. I come from a working class family and my sister and I were raised by a single mother. I still don’t know how she did it. Paying for college has always been a struggle. This scholarship has helped me to pay for my last semester of college and will help me avoid even more student loans. I used to think that moving to New York City and working for a magazine was an over-ambitious fantasy, but now I really believe that it is possible. 

Another amazing story comes from Miriam Ward, a sophomore at SUNY New Paltz.

I’m finishing up my freshman year at SUNY New Paltz and I’m working towards a double major in Digital Media Production & History and a member of the Honors Program. I would love to work in Television Production or video. I found my passion for video and tv in high-school where starting in freshman year, I interned at my city’s public access TV  studio Rye TV. I interned at Rye TV throughout high-school, for all four years, and there I worked on production & post-produciton for shows in the Rye community. During my time at Rye-High School, I took video classes and during my senior year, I directed our live school announcements that broadcasted to the high-school and throughout Rye. I really found my love for the studio and television at Rye TV and at my classes in Rye. During the summers of high-school I interned at various production companies. Rye’s proximity to New York City gave me many opportunities to intern at some amazing production companies and even to work on a few independent features shooting in the city and Albany. During my senior year, I was awarded the Video Technology Award for the Arts from Rye High School and something else happened during my senior year that forever changed my life.

In my senior year of high-school I applied for a New York Women in Communications Foundation Scholarship. To my surprise, I won and winning the NYWICI scholarship forever changed my life. The community of strong and successful women at NYWICI inspired me to push myself even further in college. The support and encouragement I received at NYWICI along with my scholarship truly has given me the tools I need to succeed. This past september, I started my college career at SUNY New Paltz. I immediately found the communications department to be a place full of endless opportunities for me. 

While at New Paltz, I still was and continue to be, very involved in NYWICI. It was very clear to me after I won my award in 2011 that I was not just winning a scholarship, but being welcomed into a community of strong women who not only serve as mentors and inspirations, but believed in me & my career. In January, I applied for the NYWICI scholarship again. After submitting the application, essay, and letters of recommendation, I made it past the first round and had a phone interview. Then after that, I was called down to New York City for an in person interview with the Board of Directors of the New York Women in Communications Foundation. After all that, I received a phone call from Deirdre Wyeth, a member of the Foundation Board, a few weeks later saying that I had won. She told me I had won the Meredith Corporation Scholarship that came with an internship at the company’s headquarters in the summer. I could not believe it. Completely full of gratitude, surprise, and awe I could barely find the words to articulate my gratitude. I was speechless.

The scholarship is amazing, as one of five kids the generous award has helped me to put more emphasis on my career and give me more time to work towards it, than to be worrying about student loans and large amounts of debt. Finally in April the time came me for me to meet the other scholarship winners. There are seventeen other scholarship winners, ranging from high-school students to college students to graduate students. I was amazed and inspired by all the other scholarship winners, their accomplishments and drive were incredible. I was honored to be amongst these incredible young women. Finally Matrix Monday came, a day that I will never forget. Held in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria, us scholarship winners were treated like celebrities where we were honored along side the eight Matrix Honorees: Ann Curry, Tyra Banks, Peggy Noonan, Gayle Butler, Glenn Close, Maria Cuomo Cole, Laura Desmond and Zenia Mucha. Never in my life had I felt more inspired, for these women’s inspirational stories blew me away.

Matrix Monday was an unbelievable experience. From getting career advice from Ann Curry & Meredith Vieira to meeting the inspiring Zenia Mucha th Executive VP of Communications at Disney. The glitz and glamour was amazing and spending the day with my fellow scholarship winners was just wonderful. However, the best part of Matrix Monday was the inspiration and support I felt from the New York Women in Communication’s Foundation Board, scholarship winners, Matrix Honorees and members of NYIWIC. NYWICI has helped me to change my dreams into a reality. Before NYWICI, I had never had so much support from a network of successful women in communications. I am inspired, energized and even more determined than before to reach my goals in my career.

I am so thankful for the scholarship and for being a part of NYWICI. NYWICI has truly changed my life, and this organization will forever be an active part of my life, I am sure of that. 

Those are truly incredible stories. Generation SUNY is happy to extend our congratulations to these young, successful women! More information can be found on the New York Women in Communications website. We hope to see many more SUNY winners in the future. Congratulations Alexandra and Miriam!