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Gloria Mitchell came to UL Lafayette as a transfer student. With an interest in land management, she decided Lafayette was the perfect place to study because of its connections to the oil and gas industry. 

She wasn’t disappointed with the weather, either.

“Coming from Pennsylvania, the winters and all the snow and ice and cold gets to be a lot when you have to walk to class,” she said. “I can deal with a humid summer in Louisiana as long as I don’t have negative temperatures and snow in the winter!”

She was also pleased with her major in professional land and resource management. Gloria’s favorite classes were the seminar classes specifically for students in her major. 

“Not only were these classes made up of only professional land and resource management majors of similar classification — juniors and seniors, I was a junior — but it was taught by one of the most knowledgeable teachers, Buster LeBlanc,” she said. 

“These seminars have a ton of industry speakers who came to talk about a variety of things, like leasing federal lands, how to use different land management software, and more,” she said. “It also encompassed a mineral rights research project that I felt has prepared me very well for what I do daily at my internship and will do in my career.”

It isn’t just the classes in the program that Gloria finds beneficial to her future career.

“What we learn is great prep for a career, but I think the required internship is one of the biggest benefits to students as well,” she said. “There, your education goes from theoretical to literal, and I use my knowledge from school every day in my internship."

“My first internship was at Beta Land Services, LLC, in Lafayette,” she said. “This was my first introduction to running title in Louisiana and gave me a great knowledge base. 

“My second and current internship at R&O Energy, LLC, also has me working in Louisiana, but in different parishes where oil and gas production is more common, so I’ve had to learn a lot more about mineral servitudes and how production affects them,” she said. 

“Everything I have learned in the program has helped me in my internships and will help me in my career,” she said. “Plus, the program sends a group of students to the largest petroleum exposition in North America, and it’s a great opportunity for students to network with industry people.” 

Gloria was able to attend NAPE, the largest petroleum exposition in North America, because of UL Lafayette’s own oil lease with Chevron. The property in New Iberia produces royalties, which fund the student trip to NAPE every year. 

"I’ve been twice, both times with very little expense for me, and that’s because of the New Iberia property,” she said. 

She has also been president of the , a student organization on campus for professional land and resource management majors. Through SAPL, Gloria has been able to get to know her classmates better and she has had the chance to network with local associations and the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) as a whole.

“Being a member of this association and other local associations also gives students access to major-specific scholarships, which has really helped my family and me financially,” she said. “Overall, it’s been great for networking, meeting other professional land and resource management students, and financing my education.”