LSUE awards spring degrees

Eunice native Dr. Kayla Fontenot talked about beginnings in a commencement speech Friday at Louisiana State University Eunice.
LSUE held its spring graduation ceremony at the gymnasium of the Health and Physical Education Building.
The university announced there were 185 students who were candidates for graduation. Graduates are listed on Page 2.
Fontenot, obstetrician and gynecologist in Eunice, asked the graduates to consider the moment as a beginning.
“... I urge you to refrain from considering this as any ending,” she said.
“One thing I’ve learned on my own personal journey is endings are usually beginnings in disguise,” she said.
Fontenot, a graduate of St. Edmund High School and LSUE, talked about becoming pregnant in her senior year of high school.
“At the time, my world seemed to come to an end,” she said.
Her son, Carter, was born while she a junior.
“I decided that I would not become a ‘typical’ teenage mom. My son would not become a burden nor would he represent the end of goals or dreams. I vowed to be a better example of what perseverance and hard work provides. I later graduated as salutatorian in 2001 from St. Edmund and then came to LSUE with a long term goal to become a pediatrician.”
LSUE was the beginning of her academic success, she said.
She transferred to LSU in Baton Rouge, but later stumbled on her first application to medical school after graduating in 2005.
“Again, it seemed as though another ending arrived,” she said.
But her next application to medical school was accepted and it was another beginning for her.
IN 2014, She returned to Eunice and started her practice.
“It has been a long journey. It is one that I am proud of and was filled with many endings/beginnings. My education opened many doors for me and I hope that your beginnings here provide each of you with success and achievement of your own personal goals,” she said.
After finishing at LSUE, Fontenot went on to LSU in Baton Rouge where she earned a bachelor degree in biological science and was named to LSU’s Outstanding Academic Achievement list.
Fontenot was accepted into LSU Health Science Center New Orleans where she earned her doctor of medicine in 2010. She went on to specialize at LSU Health in Baton Rouge.
She is a fellow of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has been a member the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, serving as a program representative and Louisiana Section vice chair and chair of the college.
She is affiliated with Women’s Healthcare of Acadiana, Acadian Medical Center, and Acadia General Hospital.
Her research includes work in the demographics of women delivering with late or no prenatal care and neonatal outcomes.
Fontenot lives in Eunice with her son, Carter.
LSU Eunice offers associate degrees in liberal arts, science, business information technology, criminal justice, education, fire science, general studies, management, nursing, radiologic technology, respiratory care, and numerous transfer programs in over 200 fields.
Dr. S. Reneé Robichaux, vice chancellor for academic affairs, presided over the commencement ceremonies. She explained that Chancellor Kimberly Russell was attending her daughter’s commencement ceremony in Texas.