[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 121 (Friday, September 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1712-E1713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NWOKOMA SAMPSON AND THE MICROSOFT/AAPD FEDERAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 4, 2003

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to your attention and 
to the attention of my colleagues the outstanding summer internship 
program that has been implemented by the American Association of People 
with Disabilities [AAPD] and Microsoft Corporation. This Federal 
Internship Program provides ten college students--including Nwokoma 
Sampson, of Merriam, Kansas, which is in my congressional district--
with paid summer internships this year working in information 
technology for one of several participating agencies of the U.S. 
government.
  Nwokoma Sampson attended California State University at Northridge 
[CSUN], where he was the first black deaf student to graduate with a 
computer science degree. This internship gave him a means to expand 
upon the experience he gained in previous internships and on his 
general technology experience. I am confident that the internship has 
also afforded him the chance to become familiar with the federal 
government's working environment and to obtain knowledge that will be 
an invaluable tool for his evaluation when applying for permanent 
federal positions. I am including with this statement an article about 
Nwokoma's experiences that was recently published in the Kansas City 
Star.
  As Mariana Nork with the American Association of People with 
Disabilities has described their joint effort with Microsoft, ``This is 
a unique program because it's focused on people with disabilities. This 
program provides opportunities for the interns, but it is also a great 
chance for the participating public agencies to learn more about people 
with disabilities and to realize that there's a wide pool of untapped 
talent in the disabled community.'' Microsoft and AAPD developed a two-
year program to provide 25 paid information technology internships to 
college students with disabilities in ten different federal agencies, 
with Microsoft providing $325,000 to fund the program and AAPD 
overseeing the program's administration. The grant provides each 
student with a stipend, free accessible housing and transportation, and 
any costs related to arranging special worksite accommodations that may 
be necessary. The program is open to any college or university student 
who has a disability and has demonstrated an interest in a career in 
information technology. Participating agencies have included the Social 
Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the 
U.S. Department of Defense.
  Established in 1995, the AAPD is the largest cross-disability 
membership organization in the United States, with over 40,000 members. 
AAPD's mission is the political and economic empowerment of the more 
than 56 million people in the United States living with disabilities. I 
commend AAPD and Microsoft for their joint effort to develop and 
implement this important federal internship program, which has enhanced 
opportunities for several disabled individuals, including my 
constituent, Nwokoma Sampson.

               [From the Kansas City Star, July 30, 2003]

  Stubbornly Seeking Success: Merriam Man Hasn't Let Deafness or his 
                 Start in West African Poverty Stop Him

                           (By Kati Jividen)

       Call him Nwokoma Sampson or Oma Sampson. He is both. A 
     hearing man. A deaf man. That's according to his resumes.
       ``I did get some response from the one I posted using Oma 
     without indicating that I am deaf,'' the 34-year-old Merriam 
     man wrote in an online chat. ``But whenever I reply to the 
     recruiter seeking to do an interview, and I tell them I am 
     deaf, I hardly hear from them again.'' It's discouraging--
     Sampson won't lie. But, like everything else that has 
     happened in his life, he is not going to sit back and be a 
     quiet observer. He'll let someone else do that.
       ``When I was at CSUN (California State University-
     Northridge), deaf students who were enrolled in computer 
     science program with me dropped out,'' he wrote. ``By the 
     time we reached our second year, I found myself all alone and 
     struggling to the end. I guess that is why my parents believe 
     that I am stubborn, but I need to be stubborn with my 
     problems in order to overcome them.'' Sampson, who was born 
     in the jungle of West Africa, grew up in poverty. After 
     earning a graphic design diploma in Lagos, Nigeria, he put 
     everything behind him and moved to America ``in search of the 
     American dream or rather the proverbial golden fleece,'' he 
     wrote.
       In Nigeria, Sampson was the first deaf student to attend 
     the Yaba College of Technology. He also is the first black 
     deaf student to graduate with a degree in computer science 
     from Cal-State-Northridge. Plus, he wrote, English is his 
     third language behind sign language and Igbo, a language 
     spoken by the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. ``Nigeria had little 
     opportunity for me,'' wrote Sampson, who shares his home with 
     his wife of almost one year, Mei Yuk Maggie Sampson, a 
     counselor at Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe.
       ``Actually, I wanted to study medicine, but Nigeria 
     university at that time did not accept deaf students. Neither 
     do they provide interpreters for deaf students at the 
     university level. I had to choose graphic design, which 
     depends more on vision, so that I could teach myself and 
     survive in the class without too much trouble.''
       He found himself in the same predicament at Cal-State where 
     he recently graduated with a computer science degree and 
     $50,000 in debt. ``I could not work and go to school because 
     I had to teach myself everything and even study during summer 
     breaks in advance for the classes I am going to enroll in the 
     following semester,'' Sampson wrote. But now that Sampson has 
     earned his degree (six years in the making) he is able to 
     spend this summer on an information technology internship in 
     Washington, D.C. He is living in a dorm room at George 
     Washington University, working with the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency. He has helped with the agency's transition 
     to the Department of Homeland Security.

[[Page E1713]]

       Asked if he enjoys the job, he responded: ``It is not 
     whether I am enjoying myself or not. It is about 
     networking.'' His boss, the assistant to the chief 
     information officer of FEMA, speaks to Sampson in sign 
     language. Since his arrival, her signing has improved. ``Now 
     she has improved her sign language while I get to know her 
     better in order to establish a connection,'' he said. ``It is 
     this connection that I am looking for, which may one way or 
     the other help me in the future.''
       Sampson--and nine other students with disabilities--are the 
     first to partake in these competitive information technology 
     internships, said Mariana Nork, senior vice president at the 
     American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). The 
     advocacy group coordinated the internships, which are funded 
     by a two-year $325,000 grant from Microsoft, Transportation 
     and lodging is provided, and each intern is given a $4,500 
     stipend. All of the interns are top in their respective 
     classes, and all are seeking a career in information 
     technology. ``The disability community has continued to see a 
     high unemployment rate in this country. Our goal is to make 
     that change,'' Nork said.
       ``That is a multi-tiered task, but at the basis of it all 
     is education. We must educate people with disabilities about 
     job opportunities available to them in all of the careers. 
     The other side of the coin is educating the potential 
     employer.'' Seminars, such as one taught last week by 
     Microsoft, teach the interns how to correctly apply for a job 
     with a disability, said Sarah Meyer, senior manager in 
     Microsoft's community affairs department. ``To say this is 
     successful is an understatement,'' Nork said of the 
     internship program. ``We are delighted, the interns are 
     delighted and the agencies are delighted.''
       Sampson would be delighted to have a job. He spent five 
     months looking for a job in Kansas, to no avail. When he 
     heard about the AAPD internships, he applied and waited. ``I 
     post it and that was it,'' he wrote. ``I do not like to be 
     too anxious about anything. I just let tomorrow take care of 
     itself.''
       Sampson said his ideal job is to work as a software 
     engineer, programmer, application developer--anything that 
     comes with some element of programming so he can help teach 
     other deaf students. He may even start his own software 
     engineering business ``if I keep getting discriminated 
     (against) when it comes to hiring by private companies,'' he 
     wrote. Plans are already under way for him to go back to 
     school at the University of Maryland-Adelphi to get a 
     master's degree in computer science or software engineering. 
     Eventually he would like a doctorate. His success has led to 
     advice for other struggling students: ``Never give up as a 
     deaf person. Where there is a will, there is a way, and what 
     you sow, you will reap the fruit eventually.''

                          ____________________