(upbeat music)
- Growing up around a lot of people
that was in Criminal Justice field.
I just knew that that was the
field I wanted to go into.
I wanted to help people.
- I grew up in a fairly rough environment,
police, they would show up.
They made the bad stuff that was happening
or going to happen stop.
I knew then that I wanted to be like them.
- I've been at Metro State
for a little over a year.
They have a really good
comprehensive program
and so I feel like it'll
open a lot of doors for me.
- I'm currently a
community service officer.
Professors definitely
encouraged that sort of thing,
police explorers, police reserves,
and community service officer positions.
- The teachers have just been phenomenal,
they want to get to know you as a person
and not just a student.
- [Megan] Some of them are
current law enforcement officers.
- They had that experience
to be able to tell us,
this is what I did.
- The different, kind of
specialization classes
that I've gotten to be a
part of have been really cool
for building my career.
We had Crime Lab come out and
we got to lift fingerprints.
- One of the opportunities
that I got through Metro
was the Urban Scholars program
and I worked for the
Governor the whole summer.
Also, career days, they hold
several throughout the year.
- You can just pick up pamphlets
and speak with the
different representatives
from different agencies
and Metro State hosts them
right in this building.
- I was the Vice-President
of the criminal justice
law enforcement club here.
We went through mock interviews,
that's been one of the things
that really helped me out
a lot trying to get into
a law enforcement agency.
- One of the key turning points for me
was my restorative justice class.
You learn a healing approach
to criminal justice.
- I used to think that being
the cop, that was the tough guy
was what a lot of cops should do
but here it's not the superhero,
it's the everyday hero.
- The law enforcement
degree is pretty specific
to being a police
officer or any other type
of law enforcement officers.
Then the criminal justice
opens it up a lot more
for positions at court
houses, probation, parole,
different types of social work.
- There's so many different
kinds of careers out there,
I'm really hoping to work in public policy
and then create meaningful,
systematic change.
- When you have these people around you,
not just going by a syllabus
and sending you on your way,
they're actually pointing
you to your future.
That's the type of school this is,
they look into their students
and they pour into their students.
(upbeat music)
