Laura Pate
Laura Pate
By Krissy Carter
From student to instructor, Laura Pate helps make students’ academic dreams come true. Pate graduated from Mississippi State University in 2007 with a B.A. in anthropology, and in 2009 she received her M.A. in English, also from MSU. After graduating with her master’s degree, Pate became the instructor of the Learning Skills Support Program at MSU’s Learning Center.
Pate is the only person in her family to attend MSU. She describes her time at MSU as “one of the best points of her life.” She made life-long friends, and her experiences influenced the person she has become today.
While attending MSU, Pate’s favorite class was English Literature to 1485. It was her first graduate seminar and it made her fall in love with Geoffrey Chaucer, Middle English and Medieval Literature. Dr. Richard Patterson was Pate’s favorite faculty member because of the influence he made on her life.
“He influenced my thinking and writing in so many ways. I never got the chance to tell him how much I appreciated all he had taught me before he passed away in June 2010. I still miss him,” said Pate.
Pate’s favorite MSU tradition is the cowbell, but she never actually received a cowbell until this year. She has always followed the tradition that a cowbell must be received as a gift and not purchased.
As far as a mentor, Pate named Dr. Becky Hagenston from the MSU English department. “She pushed me in my creative writing courses and made me a better writer. She's a wonderful support system who I often seek out for editing with my short stories, and after all of these years, she's still willing to read them for me and offer advice,” said Pate.
Pate says her students are her greatest success. She works with students daily, and seeing them work hard to achieve their own academic goals has been more than rewarding for her. The College of Arts & Sciences impacted Pate’s life by teaching her how to be a better communicator.
“I learned how to interact with others. I learned how to be a teacher and how to assist students in any way I could,” said Pate.
Pate’s advice to students and prospective students is for them to have discipline. “By learning to have discipline students can complete what needs to be done and achieve their goals, which is a college degree.”