Nicholas Tate liked UL Lafayette’s history program so much that he decided to come back for more. He is currently working toward his master’s degree in American History.
“I chose UL Lafayette because you feel like you are truly part of a community here,” he said. “There are great professors here that work hard to help you and push you to succeed and grow as a scholar.
“My favorite part of my undergraduate degree was learning how to think critically and apply those critical thinking skills to other aspects of my education, such as German, or to issues that we face today, such as systemic racism and oppression,” he said.
Nicholas majored in history as an undergraduate and he minored in German.
“My love for history started when I was 4 years old and was learning about my family history,” he said. “I chose German as my minor because it is an interesting and beautiful language but also because part of my family is German.
“Learning German has opened up more opportunities for research and scholarship that I otherwise would have not been able to do,” he said.
As a graduate student, classes look a little different for Nicholas.
“As an undergraduate I mostly took lecture classes,” he said. “The professor teaches from the front of the class and everyone listens and takes notes.
“As a graduate student the classes are mostly seminars,” he said. “The class sizes are smaller, and the professor asks a question and then leaves it up to us to answer it. This makes class more of a conversation and it really engages your critical thinking skills.”
Nicholas is currently working on his master’s thesis and he plans to keep going for his Ph.D. in history.
“I am looking at efforts to preserve the French language in Louisiana, how those efforts affected cultural pride and homogeneity, and how certain francophone cultures in Louisiana came to compete for and create Louisiana's national and global image,” he said.
“The experience is great as I get to conduct interviews and look through archives and documents – which I find fun,” he said.
