Undergraduate / Criminology as my planned major - UC Transfer Personal Statement [3]

Prompt #1: What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field - such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities - and what you have gained from your involvement.Feel free to rip it apart, hopefully it isn't too bad.

Growing up, I always had a general idea of what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to work in law enforcement. My problem was, up until college, I did not know how I was going to achieve my goal. It was at San Jose City College where I took psychology and sociology courses that I knew that Criminology was the path on which I wanted to embark.

As a child, my father and I would watch police television programs religiously. The Discovery Network would provide us with hours of entertainment every week, and at the same time, it sparked an interest that would stick with me until now. As I got older, I became more and more fascinated with how law enforcement worked, why social deviance happens, how crime can be prevented, and how criminals could be captured and dealt with. I read encyclopedias on serial killers, books on unsolved murders and mysteries, and they only fueled my desire to learn and gave more questions than answers. Questions that I found could be answered through the study of Criminology.

It is my aspiration to work in law enforcement, not just as a patrol officer but something greater, maybe at a federal level such as the F.B.I. agents that my father and I learned to love. There are many agencies with possibilities of employment, which is what I am aiming for. Whatever career I may get, I feel that obtaining a degree in Criminology will not only help open more job opportunities, but also make my resume stand out amongst others.

Understandably, it is difficult to gain experience in this field, but my volunteer work not only helped me learn some skills required for this line of work, but it also helped cement the fact that this is what I want to do in life. During my last two years of high school, I began to do community service, my first experience was in a summer camp for elementary students. I was cabin leader in charge of guiding kids through their activity filled week. I was placed in a position of leadership, which I found I really enjoyed as I felt great knowing that my group of kids looked up to me as a role model. I also did some volunteer work at my old school but if I had to choose one experience that stuck with me, it would be the time I spent working at JW House in Santa Clara. JW House is a "home away from home" for the families of patients being treated at hospitals in Santa Clara, providing families with a hot meal and a place to stay in their time of need. I, along with a group of 4 other people, helped for a night in which we cleaned the dining room area as well as cooked up a dinner for 50 people. Seeing a smile come to the face of the families caused an immense happiness to come over me because I knew that I had given them temporary relief. I think it was at that point that I wanted that feeling of happiness and warmth again, I wanted to know that what I did would help people, and what better way than to work as a public servant.