<p>COLUMBIA — Nicholas Herrud grew up in Spring Hill and was the first in his family to attend college. He started at Columbia State Community College as a Tennessee Promise graduate in 2017 and is now a Fulbright scholar at Notre Dame, with his academic work taking him to Eastern Europe. His story is the kind Maury County should be telling loudly and often.</p><p>In a profile published by Columbia State, Herrud credited professors Dr. James Senefeld and Dr. Barry Gidcomb with shaping both his scholarly discipline and his personal character. He described the smaller environment at Columbia State as one where students build genuine relationships with faculty — and where the lesson that you only get out of something what you put into it truly lands. Gidcomb, Columbia State's dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, said he and Senefeld have followed Herrud's career closely and are proud of everything he has accomplished.</p><p>Herrud's journey is a reminder that the road to remarkable things can begin right here on Hampshire Pike. Columbia State keeps proving that community college is not a consolation — it's a launching pad.</p>