“I had never been consistent in anything other than enjoying volunteering, and I just learned I could do nonprofit work with prisons,” Feldman said. “Maybe that seems a little weird, but I think this is going to be a great opportunity.”
The Department of Criminal Justice organized their first student networking event in the Indiana Memorial Union Solarium. About 50 students met with representatives from 13 organizations, including the IU and Bloomington police departments, the Indiana Crime Lab and nonprofit organizations Boys and Girls Club and Middle Way House.
Students switched from table to table in “speed dating” style, talking to a different employer every 10 minutes. There are broader internships and careers within criminal justice than many students realize, criminal justice advisor Andy Bloomgarden said.
Feldman talked to representatives from the Maurer School of Law, Middle Way House and the Marion County Probation Office.
“I’m a senior now, so it’s really important that I pursue my interests now that I know what they are,” Feldman said. “Talking to all these people who have built up their careers is making me feel even better about pursuing this, even though I don’t know exactly where it’ll lead yet.”
Freshman Nicholas Thatcher, on the other hand, said he has wanted to be a police officer for as long as he can remember. Thatcher said he hopes to join the IUPD cadet officer program, which hires students to work as cadets and part-time officers during the school year.
The event allowed him to compare state and local police for the first time, Thatcher said. He said he hopes police experience with IUPD in college will give him a leg up on job applications after he graduates.
Even within the same criminal justice organization, different people can pursue vastly different careers. Marci Wease and Sgt. Ryan Miller, both from the Indiana State Police, sat next to each other when speaking to students.
While Miller is a police sergeant, Wease is a forensic DNA analyst for the Indiana State Police’s crime lab.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was in college, but when you think of criminal justice, law enforcement shouldn’t be the only thing,” Miller said. “Marci plays just as important of a role as me, but it’s a completely different focus. I want to make sure students know what their options are and help direct them towards what they really want.”
Forensic science sometimes feels like the “redheaded stepchild” of both scientific fields and criminal justice systems, Wease said. But forensic sciences combine skills many students have, she said.
“I always had an ‘outside-the-box’ mentality, which helped me think of this job as an option for me,” Wease said. “It’s not hard for students to find opportunities as soon as they recognize how many options they actually have.”
As students rotated through networking tables, many were reluctant to move on from organizations they liked.
“I’m interested in law, psychiatry and criminal justice, but I knew I didn’t want to be a lawyer, a psychiatrist or a cop,” sophomore Lauren McDowell said. “But forensics sounds like a place I could fit in. I feel like I don’t even need to look anywhere else now that I’ve learned so much about forensic science.”
