One could say fantasy and reality vie for dominance in Frenchette Sherman's life.

When the theater arts major graduated from San Francisco State last weekend, she was the top honors student from the College of Creative Arts, joining such illustrious acting alums as Danny Glover and Annette Bening.

The Richmond woman worked her way through college seven days a week, driving a cab, teaching martial arts and running a check-cashing service. She speaks gleefully of her favorite acting roles, many of which involve myth, science fiction or the supernatural.

As Hood Recipient of the College of Creative Arts, she was one of nine students out of more than 7,000 graduates to be honored.

But equally important to her is that she is the first member of her family to complete college. Sherman returned to the home she grew up in and lived with her mother, Charlotte Sherman, while she studied first at Contra Costa College before heading to San Francisco State.

Did she ever consider quitting? "Never."

She may have had a tough grind, but this is no sob sister. Soft-spoken, with a throaty laugh, Sherman clearly loves her craft and her pursuit of it, exhausting though it may be.

"It was a lot of hard work," she said. "I was terrified about going back to school at first, but after I got my AA degree I started to really love it. I got hooked on school."

She snapped up a wide range of roles in campus productions, but to listen to her describe her favorites is to see she is right at home playing powerful women.

Her top choice was "The Spirit of Christmas Past," played in the style of Beijing Opera.

"I was kind of like a superhero with her scepter, trying to get Scrooge to listen and be a good person," she said. "I had to arrive three hours early to get my make-up put on. I totally got transformed."

She was stunned when she learned her fellow students in the college of theater arts elected her Hood recipient. The honor meant she wore the traditional hood, modeled from the caul worn by English monks, lined with the school's colors in Saturday's commencement exercises.

"It was so surprising to me," she mused. "I worked really hard. I strove for excellence. I never tried to best anybody -- only to compete with myself."

Sherman said she will profit from tough assignments like a Brown Bag Theater class, when she had three weeks to prepare for a two-hour production as part of a three-person cast.

With plans to act in theater and film, it is unlikely Sherman's days will be significantly less hectic than during school, when she rose at 6 a.m. and retired close to midnight, going from class to work as an English tutor, off to martial arts, work, and home to study. She also has helped her mother, who recently suffered a stroke.

She is already planning for a master's degree. Inspired by a dynamic theater history teacher, Camille Howard, she plans to eventually teach herself. She is shooting an independent film that combines two of her loves: martial arts and science fiction.

She pondered for a time when asked about acting challenges she would like to see in her future.

"I guess for a woman, it would be to play a man," she said. "Say, Hamlet."