By David Perlmutt
dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com

Two years ago, Tarma Fontaine was drawn from her tiny Caribbean island of Dominica to Charlotte by a great-uncle who offered to help pay for studies in America.

Fontaine had relatives in Charlotte and was accepted at Central Piedmont Community College. So she arrived the day after Christmas 2007, moving in with cousins - with some uncertainty.

Two days earlier on Christmas eve, her uncle, Stephen St. Rose, had died in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, following surgery for a brain tumor.

Yet Uncle Stephen left enough money to pay for a semester at CPCC so that his great-niece could get started. And in early 2008, she launched into her associate degree in science, not knowing how she'd pay for the rest of her time there.

Tuesday, Fontaine, 22, dressed in cap and gown, crossed the stage at Bojangles' Coliseum with 600 other graduates to collect her degree. The past two years, she's been among more than 5,500 international students at CPCC from 164 countries.

"I was sad when I arrived in Charlotte because my uncle had died, but excited that I had the opportunity to study here to improve my education," she said. "Now I am happy. This has been an amazing experience here at CP. I was able to pull it off - by sheer miracles."

At her commencement, and another earlier Tuesday for CPCC's Adult High School/GED, Fontaine led the pledge of allegiance. She wants to pursue a degree in civil and environmental engineering and has applied to UNC Charlotte for the fall.

A story of perseverance

Fontaine grew up in a village of about 400 people on an island dubbed the "nature isle of the Caribbean" for its unspoiled beauty. With 72,500 people, it became an independent nation in 1978.

Her father, David, is a security guard for a petroleum company. Her mother, Malina, works at a day care - hardly capable of sending her to school in America with four other children at home.

She'd received a two-year degree in sociology and geography at Dominica's state college, but wants to be an engineer.

"My uncle offered to get me started," she said. "It was a steppingstone to something bigger."

At CPCC, Fontaine knew no one. There were cultural barriers. And, of course, money problems.

"Tarma's shown amazing tenacity and savvy in terms of sticking with it through many challenges," said Mark Helms, CPCC's dean of student life and service-learning. "She's had some curveballs thrown at her financially that would have made it easy to give up and go back home.

"But she's hung in there with such a positive attitude. ... She's a success waiting to happen."

A Levine Scholarship paid $1,250 per semester, and a "Leaders of Promise" scholarship through Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society, gave her an additional $500 each semester. She also got help from the Dominica government. The rest she earned working jobs on campus, including in the box office at CPCC's Halton Theater.

Leading quietly

Along the way, she got involved in student government. Last year, she was treasurer; this year, she ran for SGA president.

She won.

Fontaine also worked with the school's Habitat for Humanity club, building two houses in Sumter, S.C.

Her work and circumstances have taught her to reach out and quietly lead.

"You don't always have to be out front to be a leader," she said. "You can be the one who facilitates - who makes sure everyone's heard and everyone's justified."

After she gets a bachelor's degree, she wants to pursue a master's, then return home to help minimize any impact that future development has on her tropical island.

"Home is a beautiful place," she said. "I want to help make sure it stays that way."

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