Despite Loss of Mother, Student Achieves Goal Of Going To College

Two years ago, Anise Hayes was determined she would make it to college. She achieved that goal, but the one thing she did not count on though was losing her mother along the way.

In May 1998, Hayes was in high school when her mother was killed in a car accident.

"Graduation was very difficult because you see everybody taking pictures with their family and their mother," she says.

Anise had to learn to move on without the help of her mother, but two weeks ago, things turned around. She found out that she was the recipient of a $1,500 scholarship.

"I was real happy. I was hollering and screaming and running around the house," she says.

The scholarship was awarded through theTom Joyner Foundation. Joyner is the host of a nationally syndicated morning radio show. The foundation awards the scholarships based on financial need and academic achievement.

Hayes knows the money can only go so far, but she is prepared to continue on, no matter how hard it may be, because that is what her mother would have wanted.

"Me and my mother was real close. That's my heart," she says.

Later this month, Joyner will visitFayetteville State Universityand will get a chance to meet Hayes and two other scholarship winners in person.