A Retired Veteran Returns to College

Sterling Williams Jr. was retired from the U.S. Airforce, bored, and looking for a fulfilling way to spend his time. His niece made a suggestion: going to college. Williams was intrigued but concerned about keeping a flexible schedule. Between picking his niece up from school and waiting for appointments at the Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic, the idea of commuting back and forth for classes seemed like a significant obstacle. Then he learned South Texas College would give him a laptop and hotspot to attend classes remotely. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded South Texas College over $2.85 million dollars from the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC) to provide hotspots and laptops to students, expand network capacity, and support digital learning. Before the CMC program, Williams did not have a reliable computer or Internet access. Now he can log in from anywhere and complete his assignments at his own pace. “It gives me something to look forward to for the day,” Williams said. “I’ve got quizzes and classwork to do, and once I’ve done that, I can get on with the rest of my day.”