• 2009 Berkeley Community Fund High Hopes Scholarship recipient
• Holy Names University

I want to go to college because I want to help people for the rest of my life. I want to be the first person in my family to go to college. I am determined to succeed and I will not let anyone or anything stop me. I come from a family where graduating high school is a miracle and all I want to do is go to college to show everyone that a kid who has been in foster care for 16 years can be somebody. I will not become a victim of circumstances. All the adversity I have been through has made me a strong and determined person.

Shahidah’s updates

“Shahidah is a strong-willed, self-sufficient student who is willing to stand on her own for what she believes in. Shahidah goes above and beyond the expectations of a student…. She is particularly gifted in her ability to unapologetically prove a point without making another person feel small.”

Teacher, Berkeley High School