Because of UL Lafayette’s reputation across Louisiana as a leader in education and teaching, Malani Hoffpauir knew she wanted to earn her degree here.
“The program was what I expected and more. It challenged me in the areas I wasn’t expecting, but every challenge was met with somebody who was there to support me, as well,” Malani said.
“I never felt hopeless. I always had a professor to depend on when I needed clarification or questions or extra help — they were always there. They’re making sure that their students feel taken care of.”
Malani knew her education degree from UL Lafayette would set her up for success.
“My major reason for picking UL Lafayette was because of what it means to be an education grad from UL Lafayette,” she said. “It means something to those looking to hire teachers.
“Talking to other teachers about secondary education, they talked about how UL Lafayette holds their education students to a higher standard — and it means something when your teacher would go through the work to be a true professional in the career that you want.”
Malani majored in secondary education and teaching because of the deep connections you can form with older students.
“I love children of all ages, but there’s just something about me that I have a need to discuss deep problems or deep topics with a student,” she said. “I had really fantastic teachers in high school and they had us do projects that affected our community, and I wanted to be able to do that. I like developing their growth mindset and talking to them about their communities and how to change their communities for the better.”
Her student teaching experiences in the Teacher Residency program solidified her choice and career path.
“You get to see the aspects of teaching put into practice, and you get to see the areas that you already know you want to help with and fix and change, but also the areas you never thought of before,” she said.
“It allows you to dive deeper into that content area you choose and really solidify lessons plans and how you’re going to run a classroom. You get to check off all these boxes of what you’ve been learning about, and it becomes tangible and something that you create.”
Malani now teaches sixth grade at J.H. Williams Middle School in Abbeville. She teaches gifted students, which has inspired her to go back to school and earn her master’s degree in gifted education.
“I am loving this position more than I thought I would,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much I would like connecting with these students one-on-one. I have a caseload of 13, and I get to develop a relationship more with them. I’m loving it. It’s fantastic.”