Woburn Woman Receives $1K Scholarship To Begin Trade At 38

WOBURN, MA — When Woburn's Glayce Miranda-Sena moved to the United States in 2005, she had "nothing but the clothing that I was wearing and a few bucks in my pocket," she said. Now, at 38, she's a member of the electrical workers union and the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship to learn the trade.

Miranda-Sena is one of the recipients of the first annual John A. Penney Memorial Scholarship to support her trade studies at the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center of Boston. She was chosen by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103 union and the NECA Greater Boston electrical contractors.

The scholarship recognized her determination to learning the trade, according to a news release. Students at the Center receive full pay and benefits while they learn their trade, a big difference from the work Miranda-Sena was able to find when she first immigrated, she said.

"Being a female immigrant and not knowing the language made it twice as hard to survive," Miranda-Sena said in a statement. "Working without benefits, underpaid, and sometimes working and not getting paid, didn’t make me give up on my dream of joining the Union Tradeswomen."

She began working four days a week as a IBEW apprentice this fall, for J&M Brown Company, in addition to one day of virtual classes at the Center. Miranda-Sena plans to graduate from the apprenticeship in 2025.

The scholarship was founded in 2019 by the late contractor John Penney's family.

"I was able to pay for my school books, tools, and some work clothing," Miranda-Sena said of the scholarship. My goal is to learn as much as possible, work hard every day to keep the doors open for people coming behind me, and have a successful career as an electrician."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.