Program for ex-foster youth helped grad set career path

Dec. 2, 2025 — DENTON — Tomi Choyce has a small, black, polka-dotted notepad with Big Plans typed across the top. On one page, she wrote down that she wanted to finish college. 

“The thing about writing things down, it's so important,” Choyce said. “They say, if you want to accomplish something, write it down on paper and keep it.”

Now, she’s ready to add the biggest checkmark. Choyce will soon graduate cum laude with her BBA from the Texas Woman’s Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Her ceremony is at noon on Dec. 13. 

Choyce’s journey to Texas Woman’s was not an easy one. She spent most of her childhood in the foster care system after her mother passed away. Going to college was a topic rarely discussed while she was growing up.

Choyce worked for over 10 years as a project analyst, but industry layovers, job loss and degree requirements led Choyce to think about returning to college. Various people had mentioned Texas Woman’s and its Frontiers Program to Choyce. 

The Frontiers Program is designed to help improve college graduation rates for students who have experienced foster care. 

One day in 2014 on her way to work, Choyce listened to a radio interview with TWU Chancellor Carine M. Feyten. It stood out. 

“(Chancellor Feyten) talked about how she wanted to look out for the foster youth and for veterans and for people who were unhoused and how the programs on campus needed to represent all students who were on campus. So I thought that was amazing.”

Choyce applied to TWU in 2019 but delayed enrolling. In 2022, she took the leap, beginning her journey in Denton. Staff from TWU’s Frontiers Program connected Choyce with campus resources and then kept in touch throughout her college experience.

Though she hit a few road blocks along the way, she also had many, significant accomplishments. 

She was named a McNair Scholar, an honor preparing undergraduates for PhD enrollment through intensive research. In April, she presented her research on the impact of pathological stereotypes and nonverbal cues at TWU’s Student Creative Arts and Research Symposium. 

Choyce was also elected a student senator and was one of 25 students from universities across Texas selected for the NEW Leadership® Texas program at the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership’s Center for Women in Government at TWU. 

She visited the Texas Capitol to advocate for higher education funding, student success and foster care policies. She testified in support of S.B. 577, a bill proposing trust accounts for foster youth who receive Social Security or survivor benefits.

Growing up, Choyce spent time in dozens of foster and group homes. Sometimes, she would wake up in one bed and then go to sleep that same day in a different house. 

“No one would ever explain to me why I was moving,” Choyce said. “It was always so traumatic. To this day, moving is so traumatic for me.”

Choyce was a student assistant in TWU’s Office of Audit Services and is looking to advance in the audit field. She is working on her graduate school applications and would like to stay connected to programs that support foster youth. 

“I'm excited because I always wanted to do this,” Choyce said about her impending graduation. “It's taken me so long because I've had so many obstacles. And, the fact that I was able to get it done this time, I'm proud of myself.”