Getting involved with research, community service & more: Meet geology major Abby Watson

Written byElizabeth Rose-Arcuri

鈥淚 do feel like I鈥檓 getting a more personal education here, especially in the geology program. Our professors know us all personally by name. I really feel at home with them.鈥

Geology major Abby Watson takes notes in the field during a geology trip
Abby Watson
Major
Geology
Hometown
Madisonville, La.

Where I'm From

I grew up with three siblings, and we all came to UL Lafayette for college. 

Where I Am

I鈥檓 a geology major, and I love our close-knit and supportive department.

Where I'm Going

I鈥檓 going to come back to UL Lafayette and get my master鈥檚 degree in geology after I graduate.

Abby Watson knew she wanted to study geology at UL Lafayette after she visited Hamilton Hall on campus.

鈥淚 saw all the cases of minerals around the building, and I was like, 鈥極h my God, I get to learn all of this,鈥欌 she said. 鈥淚 was drawn to looking at all the beautiful minerals they have on display, and was like, 鈥極ne day I will know exactly what that is鈥 鈥 and I do now, which is really awesome.鈥

Getting hands-on experience in geology

As a geology major, Abby gets hands-on experiences in her classes, thanks to partnerships and experiences that take her into the field.

U L Lafayette geology major Abby Watson on a field camp experience in Big Bend National Park

Researching at the Geology Museum

Through the School of Geosciences, Abby volunteers once a week with her classmates at the , which is inside the Lafayette Science Museum in downtown Lafayette. She learned about the opportunity from her advisor.

As a volunteer, she looks for fossils in the Geology Museum鈥檚 lab under the direction of Dr. James Martin.

鈥淲hatever we find, we show Dr. Martin, and he鈥檚 like, 鈥楾his is the jawbone of this kind of fish,鈥欌 Abby said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 just shocked, because this is a million-year-old fossil 鈥 how do you know that? He鈥檚 a genius.

"It gets you experience and gets you involved.鈥

Traveling across the U.S. for Field Camp

All geology majors at UL Lafayette are required to take the over one summer 鈥 an experience Abby is really looking forward to.

鈥淚t's six weeks of road tripping around the country, setting up a tent and looking at rock formations,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so excited, especially since I鈥檓 going to do it with that same group of people I鈥檝e been with through the program.鈥

Finding opportunities to get involved

Abby found the best way to get the most out of her education at UL Lafayette was to become involved, starting with before her first semester.

鈥淪OUL Camp is the perfect way for any freshman, especially anyone nervous about starting college, to get acquainted with the 亚洲自慰视频,鈥 she said.

鈥淵ou meet so many people, so you start off with friends instead of starting college alone. It was a really fun camp, and I really enjoyed meeting all those different people.鈥

Taking that first step to get involved has led to other opportunities for Abby outside her major, too. She does community service every year with and has been a member of .

鈥淏eing in a choir really helps with public speaking and public confidence,鈥 she said. 鈥淥ther than that, I really love to sing, and everyone is so talented. To look back at a performance and realize I did that, even though it鈥檚 not my major and it was a really hard piece 鈥 it鈥檚 really rewarding.鈥

A close-knit campus

Abby鈥檚 favorite part about UL Lafayette, though, has been the friends she鈥檚 made through the geology major and in other groups on campus.

Living on campus her first year let her meet more people and experience more of the 亚洲自慰视频 than she expected.

She loved living on a campus with beautiful oak trees and plants 鈥 plus, 鈥淣othing is more than 20 minutes away. It鈥檚 the perfect size for a university to be.鈥

And living on campus helped her make friends more easily.

鈥淥ne of the best parts about living on campus was that I met my roommate and suitemates, and they鈥檙e really the best,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e got along so well that I still see them all the time now.鈥

She鈥檚 also become close with her classmates and professors in the geology program.

鈥淚 do feel like I鈥檓 getting a more personal education here, especially in the geology program,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 have classes with the same people and our professors know us all personally by name 鈥 and even know our family members now. I really feel at home with them because I get to see them over and over again, I know how they teach, I know who they are, and I know their personalities.鈥

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