At UL Lafayette’s Summer 2023 Commencement, Kreig and Rekeisha Triggs walked off the stage and headed toward their seats, diplomas tucked under one arm, opposite hands locked together. They had just earned their M.Ed. in Educational Leadership degrees.
This shared special moment was two years in the making and came after 14 years of marriage, but it all started due to an accident on Rekeisha’s part, well before either of them had discovered their passion for teaching.
“We met back in 2000, when I was 16. I was with one of my girlfriends. We were in the car going to get some Sonic, and Kreig passed by in another vehicle with a friend of his,” says Rekeisha. “I thought he was someone else who I knew, so I reached over and tooted my friend’s horn. I didn’t think Kreig and the guy he was with would come back, but they doubled back around, and we exchanged numbers.”
Fast forward nine years, and they were saying, “I do,” with an adventure of shared professional growth awaiting them.
Rekeisha’s Story
Neither Kreig nor Rekeisha earned their bachelor’s degrees or found their passion for education immediately after high school.
Rekeisha had started working toward her bachelor’s degree at UL Lafayette in 2003, but she took an eight-year break from school after her first year.
During this time, she worked as a finance officer for World Finance and a cage manager at a casino.
However, there was more waiting for her, and Kreig helped her realize that.
“My husband was that person to always encourage me to do more, telling me, ‘You’re so smart, you need to go back,’” Rekeisha recalls. “When I did go back, that first year, I was on the President’s list. Kreig gave me the boost to go back, and from there, I just kept going.”
In 2016, she graduated with her B.S. in Elementary Education from Nicholls State University.
In 2019, she was named Teacher of the Year for LaGrange Elementary School.
Kreig’s Story
Kreig worked offshore until 2011. He had worked plenty of jobs, but that time offshore helped him understand his passion for helping others.
“The thing about working offshore is that you just have a lot of time to yourself when you’re not working,” he says. “The only thing I could ever think about was how I loved learning, how I loved helping, how I loved teaching.”
When he returned from offshore, he used that passion for helping others to start a career in the fitness industry, working as a fitness instructor for many years and earning an M.S. in Exercise Science from California University of Pennsylvania in 2016.
However, like Rekeisha, he also wanted more.
“Every career or personal assessment I took came back showing that I should be a teacher or coach of some kind,” he says. “That made me think about when I was in school. Those were my best moments. I did some reflecting, I went to some local schools and school boards, and I found an alternative certification program.”
Eventually, Kreig put in his two-week notice at the fitness center where he worked. His last day was a Friday, and the next Monday, he was in the classroom teaching science.
He later merged his passion for fitness with his passion for teaching, working as an elementary P.E. teacher.
Journeys Collide in the M.Ed. Program
Each fall, two new cohorts of students enroll in the hybrid M.Ed. in Educational Leadership program—one Lafayette cohort, with in-person instruction taking place on UL Lafayette’s campus, and one remote cohort, with in-person instruction taking place at one of our regionally-affiliated district offices.
In Fall 2021, the program was set to enroll a cohort of educators from St. Mary Parish, and Rekeisha and Kreig, both with a few years of teaching under their belts, were asked by their principal to attend an informational meeting on the program.
That meeting was enough to sell them on the program, and they decided to go for it.
“We decided to do the program together,” says Rekeisha. “It was an opportune time to do it, and we would be together, so we just thought, ‘Why not now?’”
Deciding to go through the program together turned out to be one of the best decisions they’d made, and it made earning their master’s degrees so much easier for them.
“I appreciated that we had each other to fall back on throughout the program,” says Rekeisha. “If there was something I missed in class or didn’t get, he was there to make his notes, and we could share those notes from our lectures with each other.”
And simply having a built-in study partner wasn’t all—during difficult patches of the program, they always had each other to lean on for the support and energy they needed to keep pushing.
“We’d have to go into class at 5, after work,” says Kreig. “On days that she would be completely burnt out, and maybe I had a little more energy, I’d just drive. Something as simple as that made it so much easier to manage. I could relate to her frustration when she was getting tired or weary, and she didn’t have to explain anything because I knew what she was going through.”
Finding Success
Even as they leaned on each other for support, Kreig and Rekeisha had to know when and how to set boundaries.
Sometimes, that meant shutting the studying down for the night once they had hit a wall and coming up with a game plan together the next morning.
Other times, that meant sitting down by themselves to focus on their work.
“When it came time to do our assignments, we were in different rooms,” says Rekeisha. “He had to focus and come up with his own thoughts, and I had to focus and come up with mine. I would mostly be outside because I like to have a clear head, and he would be inside doing his own thing.”
They also preferred to follow different schedules.
Kreig is a morning person, so he often got up and attacked his work head-on as soon as the sun began to rise.
Rekeisha prefers working in the morning, too, but she also tried to use her evenings after school and Saturdays to knock out some of her work.
And even though they had each other and stayed disciplined, they still had their moments.
“There were one or two times where if something was due at 11:59, I was turning it in at probably 11:55, because I had a lot going on,” says Rekeisha. “Sometimes we get busy, so I’d advise students to plan ahead so that you don’t get behind. Even if you have to do 20 minutes of work here and 20 minutes there, just make sure you do it in advance so that you’re not late with your assignments.”
“I would tell anybody entering the program that it’s going to get tough,” says Kreig. “You’re going to have to manage your time really well, but it’s most definitely worth it. Ask questions when needed because sometimes you just may not get it, and it may get a little bit fast paced.”
Looking Ahead
Kreig and Rekeisha didn’t only grow closer with each other as they completed the program. They also found a community of educators, passionate about supporting each other, even beyond the classroom.
“At some point in the program, we created a text group, and it was one of the best things ever,” recalls Rekeisha. “Every day, we would check in on each other, encourage each other, remind each other. It kept us accountable, and we built those relationships with each other. We’re still texting each other, wishing each other happy birthday, and all that.”
“The professors are just flat out wonderful. And I mean that from an instructional standpoint and a personal standpoint. They really have your best interests at heart,” says Kreig. “I can’t say that I didn’t expect a great education, but I don’t know that my expectations were that high. Everything we need to be leaders in our parish was presented to us by UL.”
As for what’s next?
Kreig has already stepped into a new position as Dean of Students at W.P. Foster Elementary School in Franklin, Louisiana. He’s one of three students from his cohort to have received a promotion for the 2023-24 school year.
He hopes to continue moving up and creating change in his school system.
And soon, Rekeisha may be going by Dr. Triggs.
“Before this program, I never would have thought that I want to go back to school, but I do think that pursuing a doctorate is in my future,” she says. “I also want an administrative role, now that I’m equipped with the skills and knowledge.”