Kathy Dugas, history professor, decided 7 years ago to begin her “second career” as a teacher at Nicholls.

Dugas was a secretary for 25 years at a law firm in Houma. She came back to Nicholls at the age of 42 to get her undergraduate degree in history. She continued her studies at the University of New Orleans to get a master’s degree in history.  

“I decided I wanted to do something else,” Dugas said. “You know baby boomers are suppose to have that second career, and I am one of those.”

Dugas teaches western civilization, 101 and 102, and women’s history 201. Next semester, she will be teaching english history 381.

“I am excited about teaching that course,” Dugas said.

After leaving her first career, Dugas continued her love of history and decided to teach it on a college level.

“History always interested me,” Dugas said. “I can remember as a child I used to read books about the English kings and queens. They are larger than life and it makes it exciting to teach about their lives.”

Dugas confesses that the villains of history always captured her attention.

“I like talking about Alexander the Great because he was sort of out there,” Dugas said. “I also like to talk about Adolf Hitler too. Not because he was nice, but because he is an interesting character.”

Outside of school, Dugas likes to read and spend time with her four children, and she loves to travel. She gets the chance to travel to Europe every summer with the Nicholls Europe program with Jim Barnidge.

“Outside of the program, I love to travel on my own,” Dugas said. “For Christmas, I went to New York and Washington.”

In between classes, Dugas spends most of her time creating tests, grading papers, and getting prepared for lecture.

“Mostly, all my time is taken up for teaching,” Dugas said. “There is always so much to do to keep busy.”

When walking into Dugas’ office, her bookshelves are stocked with a variety of books.

“I like to read history books of course,” Dugas said. “I do not like horror books, but I like suspense, romance and biographies.”

Dugas’ favorite part of teaching is interacting with students.

“Having children who I love to interact with makes being with students enjoyable,” Dugas said.  “Between classes, students drop by and talk to me about lectures.”

Dugas explains that her career change makes her work environment more exciting than it was when she worked as a secretary.

“As a secretary it gets to be the same thing day after day,” Dugas said. “Teaching is different everyday. Every semester is different in which you have new faces and new subjects, and I do not get bored with it. There is no end to history.”