Alexandra Ramirez
A different path brought Alexandra Ramirez to Atlantic Cape Community College.
The South Seaville resident already earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication from Rutgers University – New Brunswick last year.
But she found her career options severely limited and it began to leave her with a feeling of emptiness. It was at that point in time, after several internships, that Ramirez decided to further pursue her love of art she had as a double major at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland during her freshman and sophomore years.
“When I was at Mount St. Mary’s, I was a double major in Communication and Art, but none of my (Art) credits transferred (to Rutgers)," the Middle Township High School graduate recalled. "Career-wise, I realized I wanted to go in more of a creative direction and I felt like I wanted to pursue art again and create a portfolio.”
That is when the 23-year-old decided to enroll at Atlantic Cape.
“I know it’s working backwards, but I wasn’t getting the jobs I wanted and I needed to do something else, so I decided to go back to school," she said. "Atlantic Cape is more affordable, I can save money and it is close to home.”
Ramirez also brought her athleticism with her.
While at Mount St. Mary's, she participated in cross country. She rowed Rutgers her junior year.
During her orientation at Atlantic Cape, she learned about the college’s women’s cross-country program, which had just completed its first season last year.
After inquiring whether she still had remaining National Junior College Athletic Association eligibility, Ramirez was pleased to learn that, thanks to a season lost due to the pandemic, she had one year left.
As the sole runner on a second-year Buccaneers women’s cross-country squad, Ramirez entered her first competitive collegiate race since 2022 last Sunday, in the Brookdale Jersey Blues Invitational at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft.
She still was recovering from a stress fracture in her left tibia suffered during last year’s Atlantic City Marathon, which she completed in 3:51:13 and 13th out of 75 runners in her age 20-29 group.
Ramirez placed third in Brookdale, and earned a bronze medal with a time of 22:57.
With transferrable Art credits on her official college transcript, Ramirez is currently taking 12 credits worth of prerequisite classes from Art in Ancient Times/Gothic Era and Fundamental Drawing to Introduction to Computers and Art with Computers. Once she graduates, Ramirez likes the option of having two career avenues to explore from.
“I feel like both (Art and Communication) are helpful," she said. "I am a really big sports fan and I want to do something in sports marketing or graphic design in sports where I can be creative. I just love art just as much as I love running, so being able to do both right now is really cool.”
