SPRING HILL — Nicholas Herrud, a 2017 Columbia State graduate and Tennessee Promise recipient, has been named a finalist for the prestigious 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program, earning the opportunity to study 20th-century Eastern European history and border interaction at Vilnius University in Lithuania's capital.
For Herrud, Columbia State was the crucial first step. As the first in his family to attend college, he credits the college's personal approach and faculty mentorship with shaping his academic path and perspective. "By showing me that you only get out of something what you put into it, especially in a class, you appreciate getting things out of it more because you have that personal connection with the professors," Herrud said. Retired English professor Dr. James Senefeld and history dean Dr. Barry Gidcomb were among his most impactful mentors.
After earning his general transfer degree from Columbia State, Herrud transferred to Austin Peay State University, where he graduated in 2020 with a degree in history. From 2020 to 2023, he learned Polish while earning a master's degree in Polish Studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. This year, after a grueling five-month wait, Herrud was selected into Notre Dame's doctoral program—one of only 10 accepted from roughly 250 applicants. Now in his third year, the Fulbright opportunity will allow him to deepen his research into interwar borderlands and Eastern European history. "Opportunity kind of finds you, but you have to be ready to be able to respond to it," he reflected.