Pictured left to right are Dr. Jarrett Whelan, LCC Dean of Arts and Sciences, Rodriguez, and Dr. John Paul Black, Senior Vice President of Student Services and Workforce Development.

Lenoir Community College student Ashley Rodriguez of Trenton was selected as the recipient of the Arts and Sciences Department Laptop Award. A Career and College Promise student, she holds a 4.0 grade point average at LCC.

A student at Jones Senior High School, Rodriguez is a member of HOSA Future Healthcare Professionals, the National CTE Honor Society, the National Honor Society, and the National Art Honor Society. She has served as vice president of HOSA and won awards in regional competitive events in Health Care Display and HOSA Bowl.

She volunteers with the Jones County Health Department, the Jones Senior High School Tennis Team, and Carolina’s In Tents Events, while also assisting at Piggly Wiggly interpreting for non-English speaking customers.

She will graduate in May from Jones Senior High School and from LCC with an Associate of Science and Associate of Arts degrees. A first-generation Mexican American college student, she plans to transfer to North Carolina State University and study biomedical engineering.

“I wish to be able to help people who are sick and make their lives better by becoming a biomedical engineer, who manufactures medicine and can design and create prosthetics.