November Undergraduate Student Spotlight

Gabby Hoffpauir-Rosatto, Class of 2024

Gabby Hoffpauir-Rosatto (she/they) is an English major with a creative writing con-centration and a history minor. Gabby says that what she loves most about being an English major is writing, which has always been “incredibly powerful” to her. “I’m always interested in pushing the boundaries of language,” she explains.

Gabby has thoroughly enjoyed her English coursework, particularly ENGL 370: Ghost Hunting with Dr. Shelley Ingram, which she described as “truly transformative.” In that course, Gabby began to see ghost hunting as a form of “uncovering history.” In this, her last semester, catch Gabby around the hallways of HLG or in one of her English courses, ENGL 329: Intro to Screenwriting with Prof. Josh Capps, ENGL 410: Poetry with Dr. Michael Shea, or ENGL 496: Toni Morrison with Dr. Maria Seger.

Besides her English coursework, another highlight of Gabby’s time at UL Lafayette has been her job at the Guilbeau Center for Public History’s Southwest Louisiana LGBTQ+ Archive. In that role, she has done all sorts of fascinating work: procur-ing artifacts for purchase, networking with the community, organizing events, and conducting oral histories, for example.

Gabby is set to graduate in December and looks forward to postgraduate life. She plans to pursue an MFA in creative writing, likely in nonfiction or poetry. “Whatever the future holds,” she says, “I’m grateful for the choice I made to study English. It strengthened my critical thinking skills and gave me the ability to view the world with a much more compas-sionate perspective.” —Maria Seger