Best & Brightest: From Homelessness to Inaugural Fellow: Several weeks after she applied for inaugural 2009 James H. Ammons fellowship, Joane Theodule drove four hours this past spring for an unannounced visit to Florida A&M's campus to ensure she was chosen.
'I didn't know she was coming! Something about that just impressed the heck out of me,' said Dr. Chanta Haywood, the dean of graduate studies and research at Florida A&M who approved Theodule's fellowship.
'Anybody who drives that far without an appointment, (then) I better see them. I have never seen anybody so focused.'
Forced to live on her own as a teenager, at first in her car and later in an apartment she financed from part-time jobs, Theodule had to be focused.
'That's when I was determined to finish high school and pursue higher education because no one in my family went to college,' she said. 'Nothing was going to stop me.'
