Why I Went to College in Southwest Louisiana – and Stayed

Jeff Adkins

In 1994, Ana Denison left Mexico City and made the move to Lake Charles on a tennis scholarship to McNeese State University, where she pursued an undergraduate degree in marketing and management. After graduation, the university asked her to stay on to coach the women’s tennis team while she got her master’s degree in business administration.

“I came to a small town from one of the biggest cities in the world,” Denison says. “When I got here, there was nothing really here, but a few years later, the city started growing and a lot more businesses started coming here. We went from having only a few hotels and restaurants to having a wide variety of options.”

Denison met her husband while in college – part of the reason she decided to stay in Lake Charles – and went on to work for the Louisiana Lottery in the regional marketing office, later taking a break from work to raise her family, then dipping her toes back into the workforce at the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance just before the pandemic.

After the pandemic, she took a role as the business development manager at SOWELA Technical Community College, where her workforce program connects local business partners to short-term training programs, getting some 2,500 students a year into the workforce.

Denison shares what she loves about living in the Lake Charles region and why she thinks the area is a great choice for people thinking about building a life there.

What were some of the resources available to you at McNeese that helped you plan your life after graduation?
My master’s degree program involved a lot of research projects where we were able to visit different companies to see what type of job options were available to us. Lake Charles was still growing a lot and it took a little while for the job market to catch up – there weren’t as many opportunities 20 years ago as there are now since we have seen so much growth and now rebuilding after the hurricanes.

Lake Charles has grown a lot since you moved there as a student. What are some of your favorite entertainment options?
This area has a lot of great fishing at lakes here and in the Gulf, where there is deep-sea fishing. The area casinos have much more to do than just gambling. Their golf courses, swimming pools and restaurants are open to the public and are used by locals. We like to hang out by the pool. Some have a lazy river, all the casinos have spas and stores you can shop in and live music, so we might go have a drink and hang out at the pool and then go have dinner and see a concert.

Locals get discounts on rooms, too, so you can go fishing, park your boat and rest in your room for a while or go get a bite to eat. We’re getting a new children’s museum that’s three times the size of the old one, which will be great for families. Youth sports, especially baseball, are also very big here. There are a lot of indoor activities, too, like Lake Area Adventures, an indoor trampoline park that has different activities. You can bring your kids there, and it’s a safe place for them to be.

Are the area’s affordability and accessibility reasons people choose to move there?
People struggled a little bit after the hurricane because there was no housing available, which drove prices up, but now, we’re seeing things come back down, and there are more options for people.

Coming from Mexico City, where raising kids can be difficult because it’s such a big city, Lake Charles is great because it’s a 15-minute city. You can be anywhere in 15 minutes, and there’s almost no traffic. Lake Charles is safe, which is also great for kids.

We have a regional airport here in Lake Charles, but the international airports in Houston or New Orleans are each 2.5 hours away driving or half an hour flying. So, if I plan to go to Mexico City, for example, I’ll fly to Houston and then there’s a direct flight to Mexico City, and the whole trip will take 4.5 hours, so we have easy access to anywhere.

What types of networking opportunities are available for recent graduates or other newcomers who have relocated to the area?
The SWLA Economic Development Alliance is a great place to start, especially for people who are interested in starting their own business. They will help people promote their business. The casinos have lots of bars and restaurants where people go and hang out – there’s always something to do! 

What are some examples of can’t-miss local events?
We have a lot of festivals here. Chuck Fest, which is in October, has lots of food vendors, art vendors and live music. Chuck Eats is like the flavor of everything Lake Charles has to offer – everyone comes together and lets people sample their signature dishes.