From left, Verda Roberson with grandson Naim Hameed Wilson, 4, and his mother Nashira Wilson, a Foothill College student.

Wish Book Home

Thanks to Mercury News readers, all of the wishes in the 2002 Holiday Wish Book will be fulfilled. Links to details below:
Family
Food & Shelter
Education
Hope

Make an online donation

About Wish Book

Contact us

THE WISH: COMPUTERS, PRINTERS, SOFTWARE FOR LOW-INCOME, SINGLE-PARENT STUDENTS

College students log on to new opportunities

making it through high school and 18 months of community college without a computer hasn't been easy, says Nashira Wilson, 22, who has spent hours waiting in line to use one of the computers in the lab at school. Sometimes, she gave up and wrote out her papers in longhand. The brand new Macintosh that now sits in her living room is much more than a convenience. It has been life-changing.

Through the Foothill-De Anza Community College Office of Financial Aid, students such as Nashira, a single mother, can apply for a grant to buy a new computer. Nashira wrote an essay on the digital divide -- of which she says she is a prime example -- and received the grant to buy the computer this fall.

``I was asking about what scholarships I might qualify for and they told me about this one,'' she says, talking over the shoulder of her outgoing 4-year-old, Naim. ``I'll use it for school, he'll use it for computer games and learning, and my mom will use it for her business.''

Her mom, Verda Roberson, shares her East Palo Alto home with her daughter and Naim as well as son Markeevin, 11. She runs an event-planning business from her living room. The three generations may have to fight for computer time since the new eMac is a valuable resource to all of them.

Five nieces and nephews who spend their afternoons at the Roberson house are likely to benefit too, Nashira says. ``So many kids have nothing to do after school and they are just walking the street,'' she says. ``Here's something positive for all of us.''

When she finishes her last few credits at Foothill, Nashira plans to transfer to a four-year school to complete her education. She loves to work with kids, so counseling or teaching both seem like attractive careers. ``Whatever I end up doing,'' she says, ``I know I'll need this computer.''

For the last two years, Wish Book readers have been nourishing the fund that provides grants for such students as Nashira. Each gift of $50 (25A) will help make sure there is enough money to help more low-income, single-parent students get computers, printers and software.