Looking back at the last few years here working for L’Acadien and The Vermilion I couldn’t think of anything else I would’ve rather done with my time while attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
There have been so many changes and challenges since joining in 2019. I am very thankful to be graduating and being able to continue working for the organizations throughout the years. I will be graduating with a bachelor of science in informatics along with a minor in business.
James Mays, photographer and former Editor-in-Chief of L’Acadien, was the person that helped bring me on staff back in 2019. Starting before the COVID-19 pandemic showed me how to face a changing world and how to be flexible and smart about how we operate. I can say after pushing through that major challenge shows the resiliency of the students here at UL Lafayette. While other publications on campus and other publications statewide stopped production we continued on and transformed how we operate.
Coming out of the heat of the pandemic I was given the opportunity to take a leadership role with L’Acadien. Looking back on that decision I couldn’t be more thankful for everyone that helped make that possible. It has given me another outlook on what we do here in little ole Guillory Hall.
Coming into the Editor-in-Chief role we had three people on staff with L’Acadien: Julia McDow, Kayla Billiot and me. Besides getting the new edition of the book together we needed to build a staff. Besides traditional methods of flyers and job postings, friends were our biggest staff builder. Recruiting people we already knew and were interested in joining was our best solution.
Some people may think that working in this office on campus can’t get you anywhere in life past your degree, but I and many others have a different viewpoint. I can attribute part of my other ventures to working here.
Besides being Editor-in-Chief I am also a photographer. With working here and with The Daily Advertiser I have been able to work for and/or have work published in many other universities, sports organizations and national publications such as: USA Today Network, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, the New Orleans Saints, University of Texas, University of Houston and many others. I have been able to cover so many events because of these organizations.
I have been able to build my skill set and worked my way up to bigger and more high profile events by learning and taking in what others around me were being successful at.
Being able to look up to two very great photographers also helped. Seeing James Mays cover Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun sporting events and Scott Clause with The Daily Advertiser cover pressing events in the state helped me grow to what I am today.
Through working with them and others I was able to in my time meet two U.S. Presidents and other high ranking government officials, meet many people in the community, see communities come together after devastating hurricanes, UL Lafayette becoming a R1 Carnagie ranked university and many other events that I could go on and on about.
During my time here as a photographer, Editor-in-Chief for L’Acadien and Operations Manager, I have had the privilege of seeing so many other people around me grow in their skill sets and leadership abilities. It has also been amazing to see how both The Vermilion and L’Acadien go from average organizations on campus to nationally award-winning ones.
During my time here L’Acadien has won a first place award with the American Scholastic Press Association and the 2022 Organization of the Year award. The Vermilion has also brought in several awards with American Scholastic Press Association and the Southeast Journalism Conference obtaining a first place for Best College Newspaper and a 2023 award for Organization of the Year.
I would also like to personally thank the staff members that worked with L’Acadien when I first arrived. James Mays, Andre Bourgeois, Amelia Markezich, Danielle Kemp and Emilie Hebert without them I’m not sure if I would have stayed with L’Acadien. I also had the pleasure of working with many staff members with The Vermilion over the years and I wanted to say how appreciative I am of them for working hand-in-hand with us at L’Acadien. Thank you to Madelyn Myers, Zachary Nagy, Lena Foster and Amelia Jennings.
There is one person who has been here throughout my time and others who has helped both organizations strive to be their best, Mr. Tarver. He has given every single person here an opportunity to show the best of themselves. Allowing everyone to grow and help guide us to bigger and better opportunities is what makes him the most deserving person on campus to help manage student publications.
Other faculty that I would like to thank for their help throughout the years in the Office of Student Affairs are Vice President Patricia Cottonham, Dean of Students Dr. Margarita Perez and Ms. Beth Washington. Without the support of these people it would have been that much harder to overcome some obstacles.
Thank you to everyone who has supported both The Vermilion and L’Acaiden and continues to support. Nothing has gone unnoticed and we appreciate everything.
I also want to show my thanks to other staff members that have done wonders throughout the past few years: Julia McDow, Sarah Guidry, Meg Norwood, Adhamm Safford, Boyd Daniels, Kayla Billiot, Kay Padilla, Faryal Atif, Marie Ducote, Morgan Courville and Ava Blanchard.
To those that are new and looking to grow with the organizations; remember the organizations will only be as great as the effort you put into them. They are living archives of the University and local community that will forever be a part of it. People may not appreciate the work you do today, but as they become alumni and grow older they will look back at the work all of you have done and appreciate the memories that you saved in history.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents Mathew and Shannon Broussard for supporting my journey while working here with The Vermilion and L’Acadien and attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I could not have done it without them.
As I sign off for the final time, I will truly look back at my time here and appreciate what it has done for my future and appreciate all of the memories made. It has been an unforgettable ride and I hope all experience the same.