Robert Billiot and his wife, Pamela Billiot continue to use the education they received from Nicholls in their jobs today. At age 47, Robert Billiot is the mayor of Westwego, and his wife Pamela, 45, is the principal of Joshua Butler Elementary.
Mayor Billiot graduated from West Jefferson High School in 1972 and continued his education at Nicholls until he graduated in 1976.
“I was mostly a commuter. I lived in Thibodaux for two years. We started out with a group from the neighborhood with about 13 of us from the west bank. The names that stick out to me is Kenny Fuels and Ricky Chaisson. They are also the two I stay in touch with from college and high school. I lived in the dorm for the first semester and I lived off campus after that for about a year and a half with Joseph Fonesca,” Mayor Billiot said.
Billiot continued in saying, “I attended very few sporting events and mainly I was to school and then I was gone. For the first year transportation was a bus that traveled from the west bank to Nicholls. The drive took about an hour and fifteen minutes.”
Pamela Billiot graduated from L.W. Higgins High School in 1974 and continued her education also at Nicholls until she graduated in 1977.
“I lived in South Babington Hall in my first semester and I lived in North Babington Hall in my second semester. After that year I commuted with Robert because we had the same friends-we were going out together at that time. For one semester I stayed with Kathy Tinsdale who is currently the Assistant Principal at Miller Wall Elementary School,” Pamela Billiot said.
In addition to her living on and off of the campus, she described what her day would consist of and what she did to complete her classes.
“I hung out and studied in the Student Union, and I did homework in the library. I also hung out in the courtyard. My other three years at Nicholls was taking many classes. I had graduated from high school in the mid-semester in January of 1974. After that I started taking classes at Nicholls. I began taking night classes at Fisher High School in Laffite, and on the campus when I lived on the campus. After I graduated from Nicholls, I went back to receive my master’s degree in Administration and Supervision in 1981,” Pamela Billiot said.
Mayor Billiot recalls his experience in being a teacher at Westwego Elementary for 11 and a 1/2 years.
“The first two years I was teaching there I taught art, music, social studies, and math. After that I taught nine and a half years in physical education. It was a program that worked not only with Westwego Elementary school, but other schools in the area. I learned a lot from the experience. I learned a lot about the community and what makes up the community. I enjoyed it,” Mayor Billiot said.
Pamela Billiot has also had experiences being a teacher for several years.
“I was a teacher at Vic A Pitre. For the first five years I taught second, third, and fifth grade. For those classes I taught all subjects. It was very exciting, and I loved teaching. I knew I wanted to be a teacher since the fifth grade. My role model was my fifth and sixth grade teacher Donald Pelous from Westwego Elementary,” Pamela Billiot said.
Additionally, she remarked that she misses teaching and hopes to go back to the classroom. However, as an administrator she feels she can and has helped more children- a school full of children.
The experience from Nicholls carries on with them in both of their daily lives.
“What I carry on with me is that the closeness of the University and the atmosphere is a one-on-one experience. That experience I took back here to the community. Here in the city it is also a one-on-one situation. I find myself dealing with not just a whole city, but dealing with individuals,” Mayor Billiot said.
“I bring the experience of it being a small university. There was a closeness between the students and the teachers. I became very close to several teachers, and I could go to them for any help. Some of the teachers went above and beyond to help me. Hopefully, that is the way we treat people now,” Pamela Billiot said.
With these experiences the Billiots’ expressed little regrets about the Nicholls experience.
“I have one regret. While I was living on campus I would have liked to have been more sociable. I want to tell people to enjoy campus life and get involved,” Pamela Billiot said.
The mayor gave advice to all students who are going for education into higher education after high school.
“It may not seem like it is worth the education today, and the desire to earn more money is stronger. But, when it is all said and done, and you have received things needed to be accomplished you will feel like you have reached a very high goal in life,” Mayor Billiot said.
“The advice I give to students going into education is that you need to get into schools and observe, participate and volunteer. Make sure that teaching is the career you want. When you have a break from school, volunteer in schools to find out if it is really what you want to do. Teaching is rewarding but it is also a challenge,” Pamela Billiot said.
The Billiots’ encourage that students get involved, learn, and make the best of the Nicholls experience.
“Nicholls was a great place to go to school. We encourage students to go there. Thibodaux is closely related to the west bank communities. Be active and social. We made many friends and I will always remember that atmosphere was for me,” Pamela Billiot said.
