Why did you pick your major? Why do you like it?
I began my time here at Quinnipiac as a criminal justice major, a truly incredible program with exemplary professors and opportunities being very unique to this school, a fact that was evident from the beginning with criminal justice 101 and has continued throughout all courses offered in every subject. The professors are passionate about the material and devoted to their students learning, going out of their way to ensure that the entire class not only “knows” the material but truly comprehends it through practical questions and exercises. My first semester I took a sociology class as well. With the material applying to both the ideas of criminal justice and my personal interests, combined with the dedication of an incredible professor, I added a sociology major. Next semester, under similar circumstances, I added a minor in philosophy, a fervent passion of mine that I believe teaches essential skills applicable to every discipline as well as any facet of one’s life.
Do you have a professional field in mind?
Following whatever point I end up finishing my education (at least in the academic sense), I anticipate a career in law enforcement; in what capacity I am not yet sure, for the more I look, the more unbelievably extensive a career path it becomes.
What internships/research/experiential learning have you engaged in to help clarify areas of interest or prepare for life after QU?
While I have been able to participate in internships prior to my enrollment in college with various law enforcement agencies back home in Maine, the programs offered at Quinnipiac continue to blow me away with the unparalleled opportunities they present. At the end of my freshman year I was granted the privilege of participating this semester in the Inside Out Program, in which a small group of Quinnipiac “outside students” become half of the class which meets inside a corrections facility along with an equal group of inmates, the “inside students.” You can read more at the link above, but words still fail to do justice to the profound and intellectually challenging experiences it grants its participants. The aim of the program is to expose students with seemingly a polar opposite perspective on the subject matter, which includes (and extends beyond) the fundamental thought and philosophy behind the notion of justice, the history of punishment and the evolution of prisons in the United States. The perspective the inside students offer is invaluable, again going beyond their thought-provoking insights into the material. Their drive for intellectual discourse is unparalleled and often exceeds that of another average college class, committing to maximize every minute of class time to discussing and questioning the material. It is truly an experience unlike any other. Quinnipiac’s criminal justice program is unique to this school, consisting of a league of professors with relevant real-world experience in a wide variety of areas within the larger discipline. Along with classroom lessons, they impart their students with the essential insights gleaned from their extreme dedication to careers in relevant fields.
With regard to the other disciplines, every class I have taken within the sociology department consistently astounds me with its practical applications, never feeling like “just another class,” but an opportunity to expand your own learning through using your knowledge to better understand the various elements of society to which all of us belong or are exposed too. The department endorses and offers students many different opportunities for experiential learning by encouraging its students to participate in various activities and social functions around campus and to then actively record their observations, taking the material out of strictly the classroom and into the real world. Additionally, I would highly endorse the combination of sociology with criminal justice, as the insights it grants can be instrumental as well as strengthen one’s ability for intuition as to understanding elements of society that relate to criminal behavior. Sociology within criminal justice will further demonstrate for you the causes of crime or deviance in all of the many forms it takes in society, how to prevent it, and the how and why of the many different approaches taken to working to prevent and correct such behavior in light of its effects.
Philosophy is a discipline that I believe is underrepresented in academics as a fundamental resource for dealing with any area of one’s life. Quinnipiac’s incredibly comprehensive philosophy courses will not only teach you the accepted forms that we all think of when we hear the word itself or the name of its ancient practitioners, but teach you how approach thinking about an issue; how to analyze an argument, how to question, how to find flaws and provide counterarguments in a logical debate, and how to form rational beliefs and what values we ought to consider when we think of “morality.” While it is my belief this is something so fundamental its principles ought to be a staple in all levels of academics, it is never too late! There is an indescribable feeling of almost childlike wonder when you leave the classroom having been challenged to question a notion of your own life or self that had never before even thought possible, and have been provided with the tools by which to go about doing so. You will genuinely learn how to identify the otherwise “unexpected” and, through having done so, be better able to approach any situation and come out ahead.
Outside of the classroom, I’m able to walk out the door and right across the street to Sleeping Giant State Park, which can be a welcome shift in atmosphere from life’s occasional headaches. Once again, words fail me in conveying the supreme mental and physical benefits of being able to escape into nature. On its extensive trails (or off for the true experience), you can experience incredible views overlooking campus, or the pure unadulterated nature of the wooded landscape and its wildlife.
What advice would you give to a student considering your major at QU?
I love hearing other people’s words of wisdom just as much as the next (a love I also share with hearing prefatory statements that ironically acknowledge their own rhetorical nature), but yet I will advise any student considering attending Quinnipiac, or any college for that matter, to seek out and make their time here their own experience. Coming to this or any new environment, it may at times seem overwhelming with the myriad of options for clubs, activities, classes, friends etc., but never lose sight of the fact that you’re here for you, and not anyone else. Avoid the omnipresent pressure of both internal and external forces to have “the college experience,” for if you operate under this mindset, you will end up disappointed, for it will never live up to your conceived notion of “college.” College is whatever you want it to be, and is not synonymous with any of the perceptions that you have or what others may claim it to be. Never accept someone’s justification of themselves or an event with “Well, this is college,” for such a statement is completely arbitrary. College like society of any size is made up of the individual, you, and consists of every completely unique experience and niche that this school grants you the opportunity to find and explore confidently depending on your wishes, both inside and outside the classroom. You as the individual are always able to question and reject ideas (including this one), and owe it to yourself never to be coerced into accepting to the views of another without your own ideological consent. Rattle some chains, take your experience wherever you end up and shake it to its core.
